Rushen balancing speedway success with exams

For 16-year-old Poole Pirates rider Cooper Rushen, exams have not been his sole focus this summer.

On Sunday, in the middle of his GCSEs, he won the 2026 British Under-21 Speedway Championship in Redcar, hours before completing a biology exam in Essex.

"I'm just riding the speedway journey at the minute, it's a rollercoaster," he told BBC Radio Solent.

"I'm riding pretty much five days a week and balancing it all with exams and I'm enjoying every time I get out there.

"I've been learning this whole season and the rest of my career will be about learning, and I've definitely seen a big improvement in my riding with all the time I've been on track."

Rushen overtook the other three riders on the first two corners before finishing the race having led from the front.

The teenage rider is now home schooled to help with his speedway career and long journeys after meetings.

"I dropped out of school a little bit earlier just to kind of take the pressure off," Rushen added.

"I was getting back at 4am from a race and then waking up at 6am to go to school just to do some revision.

"Instead I decided to do that at home and it's been tough balancing it all but for example the other day I studied five hours all the way to Redcar because I had a biology exam the next morning.

"It's just part and parcel of it really, it's tough being a young rider in the sport and I don't think a lot of people realise I'm trying to balance it all but the adrenaline keeps you going and hopefully there's more to come."

The Pirates are back in action on Wednesday when Rushen will step out of his reserve role for the BSN Series semi-final against Edinburgh.