Barton Peveril Student Sets Sails for Olympics

Barton Peveril Sixth Form College (@bartonpeveril) student Millie Searle is setting her sights on Windsurfing at the Olympics, after placing 6th at the Techno293 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia in August this year.

Searle, who joined Barton Peveril from Brookfield Community School, qualified for the event after a successful season of events competing in competitions across the United Kingdom organised by the UK Windsurfing Association.

The Techno293 European Championships features the best Windsurfers in Europe, who compete in a bid to represent their country in the World Championships at Lake Garda, Italy in October. Searle will now compete in the World Championships after her success in the European event.

The Barton Peveril student currently represents the Andrew Simpson Centre in Portsmouth at competitions in the United Kingdom and Team GB at international competitions as part of the British Youth Sailing National Squad.

Speaking on her success, Millie Searle said:

‘I first got into windsurfing while on holiday in Lanzarote, I then continued the sport here in the UK through the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) levels. This led me on to Team15, which is a Saturday club for young windsurfers. Other windsurfers at Team15 informed me on regional winter training groups, which I trained with for a year before getting accepted into the British Youth Sailing National Squad allowing me to compete abroad in international competitions which I have done since 2017. 

‘My goal for the sport is to continue up the Olympic pathway and experiment with different forms of Windsurfing. I would love to encourage young girls to get into Windsurfing and make the sport more sustainable. So far, I’m proud of my success nationally and internationally with my best result being 6th in Europe but I would love to podium at the World Championships in Lake Garda in October.’