Spirits were high among Team UK after their first couple of pre-competition days in Lyon, France.
The 31 champions were particularly animated as they flew out to France over the weekend, landing safely in time for some sightseeing in the beautifully rainy city of Lyon before getting down to business.
This week, Team UK will be competing against hundreds of young professionals in 27 skills competitions across four gruelling days at WorldSkills.
Today, the talented young people headed down to the Eurexpo Lyon just outside of Lyon city centre, the massive exhibition centre showcasing all 62 skills, to familiarise themselves with their workshops.
Diligent and dedicated
Much of Team UK were ready and roaring to go as they flew over the channel.
But Kasia Gierek, a degree apprentice from Warrington and Team UK’s competitor in chemical laboratory technology, was deep into revising formulas during the flight to Lyon.
Gierek’s training schedule has been intense as she has only been training since February.
Unlike some of her fellow competitors who live far away from their training managers, Gierek luckily lives a short drive from her – Michael Hughes from the University of Manchester – so was able to meet him regularly.
A rest and relaxation day was on the cards the day after the team landed, which involved some sightseeing of Lyon, the so-called Manchester of France. The flip-flopping of sun to rain to heavy rainstorms in the last 24 hours confirmed the city’s informal nickname.
On Monday, Team UK were on site to engage in a familiarisation exercise, which involved getting to know the workshop and all its equipment they’d be using for the next four days.
FE Week spotted Dior Regan, the painting and decorating competitor from Lincoln College, close to the media centre. She arrived at the Eurexpo centre in the morning to test out the wall and materials she’d become very familiar with over the competition.
Over at the Robot Systems Integration workshop, Team UK’s duo champions Charlie Carson and Jason Scott from Northern Regional College were becoming familiar with their competition.
We noticed them handing out badges to competitors from other countries during familiarisation day.
Tomorrow is the opening ceremony. President Macron is expected to give a speech to the audience and Team UK will be proudly flying the flag during the parade of nations.
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