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TEENAGE speed climbing sensation Orrin Coley, who inspired Bahrainis to take up an interest in the sport, has scaled new career heights by becoming the UK adult champion.
He is hoping to come back to the kingdom to further promote its growing popularity shown by the vast interest generated by his appearance in Seef during the summer.
“I had a fantastic time in Bahrain, one I will never forget,” he said. “I still have all the photos I took on my phone which I’m always looking at!
“I’d jump at any opportunity to return. We’re unsure on an exact date but if all goes to plan I hope to be coming back for another event at some point in 2014!”
Coley, who at the time held the title of British Junior Speed Climbing champion, was joined by three times world champion Edyta Ropek, from Poland, in the first-ever demonstration of Speed Rock Climbing which took place at the Al A’ali Shopping Complex in June.
The Ministry of Culture’s 2013 Season of Sport moved into its final phase with one of the most dramatic exhibitions of sporting skills and one of the most visually dramatic pieces of sporting equipment that had ever been seen in the kingdom. The Speed Climbing wall, a vertical structure rising 15 metres into the sky, dwarfed the Al A’ali restaurant complex.
Bahrain’s adrenaline junkies and sports fanatics flocked to take part and organisers were stunned by the interest generated.
Climbing sensation Coley’s meteoric rise to the top of his sport took him exactly 12.19 seconds when he stormed his way last year to the British Junior Speed Climbing Championship title at the age of 17.
Now he’s taken a step to greater glory by winning at the British Speed Climbing Championships 2013 held in the new facility built in Sheffield called Awesome Wall’s Climbing Centre. The event, held in conjunction with the British Lead climbing championships, attracted more than 100 participants and the atmosphere was electric.
In total, 38 competitors took part in the speed competition of which nine were in the male senior category.
“Speed climbing is still a relatively new breed of climbing in the UK and has initially been embraced by the youth category so the competitors are now beginning to move up into the senior age group,” explained the 18-year-old Coley, who lives in Leicester, a city in England’s East Midlands.
“I was focused on my main competition, the previous year’s winner Calum Forthyth. I knew I could clock a better time than his previous year’s achievement but had no clue if he had improved over the intervening year.
“When I saw his qualifying times of 13 and 14 seconds I knew he had improved a lot, but still believed that if I stayed focused, I had it within me to win as I had managed a personal best of 9.89 seconds in the European Youth Cup held in Imst, Austria in July.
In the final race to determine the new champion Coley achieved a personal best again of 9.17 seconds – an all-time British best – beating Forthyth who finished with a time of 15.25 seconds.
Coley said: “I felt amazing winning it, the real prize for me wasn’t the medal, trophy or prize but the pride of regaining my title as British champion but this time as a senior.”
As the young star climber has no speed climbing events coming up until the summer he is currently directing his focus towards bouldering, a form of rock climbing which takes place on boulders and other small rock formations, usually measuring less than 20 feet from ground to top.
He is ranked second in the British Juniors and 10th in the Seniors in this discipline. He has also been selected to be part of the Senior GB Bouldering Team and aims to compete in World Cup competitions one day.
Coley is also looking forward to another adventure in Bahrain. He said: “It was great getting to meet so many different people in Bahrain and seeing many people have a go at climbing!
“It was inspiring to see things like age, gender and ability playing no part in people’s choice to climb.
“Despite it being a public event, no one seemed afraid to give it a go and situations like that really make me happy.
“I love to see people trying new things particularly when they enjoy the experience and realise their own potential. It was really special to be a part of that and I really hope that one day the people of Bahrain can have a permanent climbing centre so that more people have the opportunity to experience climbing and for them to have the opportunity to challenge themselves further.”
Speed climbing is one of a new breed of sports that last summer’s event organiser Sportique88’s MD Martin Whitaker believes has a place in the future of Bahrain’s sporting landscape.
“We are very hopeful that speed climbing will return to Bahrain in 2014 and obviously Orrin would be one of the competitors that we would hope to attract back here. He developed a really strong relationship with Bahraini youngsters during his visit and it would be good to continue in this vein and make him into a ‘household’ name within the youth community.”
