RAF twins selected for national wakeboarding squad

TWINS Ross and Richard Phillips have been selected for the Great Britain wakeboarding boat squad.

The 30-year-old brothers, who are both corporals in the RAF, will form the masters men’s team for riders over 30 with professional wakeboarder Matt Crowhurst.

Ross, who is 15 minutes older than Richard, is an armourer on the Merlin helicopters at RAF Benson while his brother is a military transport technician at RAF Brize Norton, near Oxford.

The brothers joined the RAF in 2002 and competed for the service as mountain bikers before taking up wakeboarding, which involves riding a board on water while being towed by a motorboat. It is a combination of water skiing, snowboarding and surfing.

Ross took up wakeboarding in 2007 while posted to Dunfermline. The following year he introduced his brother to the sport and the pair joined the RAF East Midlands Club at Tattershall Lakes in Lincolnshire. Both represented the RAF in 2009 and Ross won the RAF championships four times before being appointed team captain in 2011. Richard became RAF champion in 2012, beating his brother in the process.