It is with great sadness that we have to report on the death of Martin Sweeney. Martin died Saturday October 8, 2017, following a period of frail health. We all recall when in 2013, despite not being in shape to race any longer, he came to Hog Hill for the European Championships to meet with the top slalomers and enjoy a full weekend of racing and ended up cone marshaling all day long. Some of the younger skaters and also most of the long-distance travelers had no idea who he was, yet everyone had certainly seen him on his famous world record video online plenty of times.
In the early 80's Martin with his unique slalom talent set the tone for the UK slalom scene's push for harder and harder courses. If you could get through on any of your first three attempts, it certainly wasn't hard enough. Add in a cone or two where you'd have to slide to get through and it was just right for him. The type of really tight courses the Brits enjoyed later became known as English slalom. Martin never really felt comfortable at European races outside of Britain as cone distances would be much wider, and thus required none of the specific skills he had developed over the years.
Using one of the steepest hills on the famous race track Brands Hatch Martin invited Guinness to witness his setting of a world record that would be hard to beat. 100 cones tight slalom straight down the hill. Nobody had ever done anything like it before. A record was set and Guinness certified it. As the internet gained popularity some 15 years later Martin received millions of views on his record video.
Martin, rest in peace now and say hi to Piercy and Turner from us all!