A WARRINGTON barefoot water skier is coming home from the USA with medals from the IWWF World Championships in Florida, which were cut short by Hurricane Milton.

Tom Heaps, 25, from Grappenhall Heys won silver in open men’s jump, one of only two Great Britain competitors to finish on the podium after having to shelter from Milton in a local resident’s home.

There were difficult weather conditions from the start of the competition, which resulted in scores lower than expected.

The arrival of the devastating Hurricane Milton put an end to the Championships, which were held at Lake Myrtle in Auburndale, Florida.

The organisers postponed two days of competition, hoping to restart it once the storm had passed.

However, it proved impossible and results of the earlier rounds stood as the final result.

The silver medal for Heaps, who trains at Weaver Sailing & Ski Club in Frodsham, is the climax of a great season.

This summer the former Bridgewater High School student returned from the European Championships with four individual medals, including gold overall.

Great Britain took a squad of eight athletes to the World Championships. Both the open team and the junior team finished fifth overall.

The teams have been praised for coming together to help Floridians recover from Hurricane Milton.

“Big shout out to the British Barefoot Waterski Team, who took shelter at our home on Lake Whistler,” said Vanessa White in a message posted on social media.

“They have spent the day helping the neighbourhood clear up after the hurricane. Thank you.”

As the name suggests, barefooters do not use skis but only their bare feet on the water.

They are towed by a boat which generally travels faster than for other waterski disciplines, reaching speeds of up to 45mph (72kph).

Like regular – or classic - waterskiing, barefooters compete in the three events of slalom (crossing the boat’s wakes from one side to the other repeatedly), tricks and jump.

In jump, all that matters is the distance achieved off the ramp and a successful landing.

Heaps has made the podium many times at national, European and World Championships since 2016.

At the 2024 European Championships he won gold overall, silver in jump and bronze in both tricks and slalom.

He is a former junior boys’ world champion and world record holder in barefoot jump.