Leilani Cartledge was always destined to make waves in ski racing. After all, the sport runs in the family.
Leilani, known to everyone as Leilei, is the third generation of the Cartledge family to strap on the skis, following in the wake of her grandfather Noel, and father Jason.
Now, Leilei has notched the biggest achievement of her young career to date after winning the prestigious Victorian Female Skier of the Year award for the 2021-22 season at the Ski Racing Victoria Point Score Series Presentation and Awards night in September.
The SRV point score series are ski races that are held on lakes, with a majority held at Lake Charm, near Kerang.
At just 15 years of age and competing against senior skiers, Leilei is one of the youngest people to ever win the award, which is voted on by the SRV board.
Leilei didn’t even realise she had been nominated for the award and she said winning it came as a big shock.
“To be honest, I was going for the junior skier of the year award, I didn’t even consider getting female skier of the year, I am 15 and that is for all ages,” Leilei said.
“It was a big shock to get it, but it felt nice to be rewarded for what I have been doing and getting recognised in that way.
“The other people who were nominated were older, I just didn’t even consider it.”
It was a stellar season out on the water for Leilei, who won every under-16 girls race in the 2022 point score season and also placed first in two under-18 races as well securing third overall in the open women’s category.
But the season got off to a rough start after a huge, high-speed crash in her opening point score race.
“At the start, the first leg race I did well in all my junior classes, but then in the open women’s I had a massive stack,” Leilei said.
“I slowed down a lot after that. I came back to the next race and I was a lot less confident that I was beforehand.
“Then slowly I started getting more and more comfortable with everything again. To go on and win was awesome.”
As well as claiming the top female skier gong, Leilei received awards for finishing first in the under-16 girls expert, second in the under-18 girls expert, third in the open women's and open women’s two-up, alongside fellow local 16-year-old Eden Henderson.
Leilei’s success wasn’t just limited to lakes however, as she also had a number of fantastic performances in river races as well.
She finished first alongside her brother Kohdi in the under-16 boys races at the Southern 80 And Wentworth Ted Hurley Race, and also earned wins at the Robinvale 100 with Henderson, the South Australia State Titles, and Barry Carne Memorial in Wagga Wagga.
Leilei often races alongside Kohdi, who was the recipient of the SRV junior skier of the year prize this year.
Leilei had been skiing since she was young, but her competitive debut came in unexpected circumstances and on one of the biggest stages in ski racing.
“When I was nine my brother (Kohdi) was supposed to ski in a race at the Southern 80 but he broke his leg and so I skied instead,” she said.
“I had skied but never raced before. I was so nervous at the start, but once I got up and going, I was fine.”
Since that day, Leilei has never looked back. She is now a veteran of six Southern 80s, and said it was always special to take part in her home race.
“Everyone talks about it, it is the one people know about and it is in our town so everyone from Echuca watches and people know who I am and when I’m skiing,” she said.
“It’s good to have people who don’t normally come and support me because of the travel there.
“It’s nice to have that support behind me and have all the people I know care about me watching, but it also adds more nerves to it and wanting to perform well for them knowing that they are watching.
“But I think it does help me. In the back of my mind if I get tired, I’ll think I’ve got to keep going and get home to see them.”
Ski racing has taken Leilei all over the country, and now it is set to take her to the international stage as well.
She will travel to New Zealand to take part in the junior trans-Tasman challenge lake series in November, and is hoping to qualify for the Australian team which will take part in the upcoming junior world championships.
The trip to New Zealand will be Leilei’s first time competing overseas, and she said she was both excited and nervous for the experience.
“I’m really nervous. I don’t like not knowing who I am against and how they ski, I like when I know who I am going against,” she said.
“I was supposed to do it last year but didn’t get to because we couldn’t travel.
“Last year was my first time making the team and then we couldn’t do it, but this year I made the team again and we’ll get to go over there this time.
“I am also trying to go for the Australian team to go to the world championships. This is the last year that I’ll be able to do juniors, so hopefully it doesn’t get cancelled.”
Leilei will race at the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation 2022 Waterski Oceania Championships at Max Kirwan Lake Mulwala in November, with the first Victorian point series race to be held at the Barrie Beehag 100, which has been pushed back to December.