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CSIS - Arthur wins World Championships
On the run up to last weekend, Arthur had been enjoying her best season. In the space of a few weeks she had won slalom titles in the British Open Championships, the British under 21 Championships and the European under 21 Championships.
As one of the youngest competitors in her first senior World Championships in Linz, Austria she was unknown to at least half the field. But after taking second place in the preliminaries and skiing perfectly in the final to finish top, ahead of America's Karen Truelove and Australia's Karina Nowlan, the whole of the water skiing world seem to be talking about her.
Before the Worlds I'd been skiing pretty well, said Nicole, who arrived back in Scotland yesterday. I'd been working with a coach called Mike Ferraro from the States for the last few weeks and he had sorted out the mental side of things.
He told me my skill level was the best in the world and for me to win the tournament I just had to think about what I was doing and be smart.
It boosted my confidence and when I went out on the water it was the first tournament I'd not been nervous at, which is quite ironic because it was my first Worlds and I was competing against people from Japan, Korea and the States who I had never seen before.
I was just out there to enjoy it and I had a good feeling and I knew it was going to go alright. I just did it and enjoyed every single minute of it.
Having graduated from Stirling University this summer with an Accountancy degree, Nicole is now a full time athlete.
I wanted to complete my education so that I could devote myself full time to training and racing, said Nicole, whose father John is a former British Junior Jumping Champion (1975).
Being full time has been good so far. I base myself here and it means I can go off to Spain for a week's training which I couldn't do if I was still studying. I get a huge amount of backing from the Central Institute of Sport. They look after my Strength and Conditioning training and they've supplied me with sports analysis equipment for my computer. The support has been fantastic.
Being World Champion - and she thinks she is the youngest in the sport's history - has opened other doors for Nicole.
Because of winning the World Championships I have entry into all the World Cup events, held all over the world, she said.
Next year will be even bigger and I'll be skiing in the US Masters in Georgia, the States.
In a fortnight's time, Nicole will attempt to add one more crown to her burgeoning collection when she competes in the European Championships in Italy.