Lady Diana Lewthwaite, the Olympic alpine skier and much-loved owner of legendary eventer Supreme Rock died on 30 January, aged 79.
Born in London, Di was the daughter of William Tomkinson and Olympic skier Helen Tomkinson (nee Blane). She attended Roedean School in East Sussex, where she excelled at sports, leaving aged 17 to train with the British ski team.
Di travelled around the Alps in her little Mini for the next five years training, racing and earning money as a pisteur. Known for her talent and bravery, she competed in around thirty World Cup events and the first World Alpine Championships to be held in the Southern Hemisphere in Chile in 1966 where she was eighth in the downhill. In 1968 she represented Great Britain at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble.
That year she met Sir David Lewthwaite at a ski ball, and the couple married in 1969. Sir David founded ski chalet company Supertravel, and following her retirement from competitive skiing, Di worked full-time in the business.
The couple welcomed daughters Emma and Mary-Claire, in 1971 and 1972. Both developed a love of horses, and when Emma finished university she and her mother bought Supreme Rock after viewing him at the Grafton Hunt team chase. Emma had weekly lessons on “Rocky” with Pippa Funnell and evented him to intermediate level, before Pippa took on the ride in 1996.
Pippa and Rocky enjoyed great success, including double gold at the European Championships in Luhmühlen in 1999. The following year they were part of the silver-medal winning team at the Sydney Olympics. In 2001 they won double gold at the European Championships at Pau. In 2002 they won Badminton – a triumph they repeated in 2003, helping secure the Grand Slam of eventing for Pippa. Di and many of her family members, known fondly as “The Barmy Army”, would attend all Rocky’s training and competitions, including the Olympics, and Di took great pride in Pippa and Rocky’s achievements.
“Mummy was always very competitive and loved all sport,” said her daughter Emma. “She admired the way that Pippa was so thorough in her training and her discipline. As an athlete herself she always considered how things could be done better or what else she could improve, and she really recognised those same qualities in Pippa.”
Pippa said Di was “always a number one supporter”.
“We shared many wonderful moments from Rocky’s early days picking up rosettes with Emma, to winning medals at Olympics and Europeans and not forgetting his amazing Badminton wins. Thank you Di, you will be greatly missed”.
Di is survived by Emma and Mary-Claire, and five grandchildren. Sir David predeceased her in 2004.
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