This summer has been very busy for our triathletes. Here’s a short report of their sporting adventures around the world.
This summer has been very busy for our triathletes. Here’s a short report of their sporting adventures around the world:
The summer started with a challenge for James Isbister, Emily Hogge, Felix Young and Alberto Lapedriza. They took part in the first “Bike the UK for MS” trip, organised by our friend from the Cycling Club, James Whateley. They cycled the full length of the UK from John O’Groats to Land’s End (almost 1100 miles), and raised funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. It was a tough but unbelievable adventure. They were extremely lucky with the weather: it was hot and sunny for the almost the 14 days (probably the hottest that Scotland has seen in the last decade); and they managed to get amazing tanlines.
Dave Evans and Kate Comber took part in Ironman France in Nice at the end of June. They raced extremely hard and got amazing results. Dave finished 2nd in the Men 18-24 Age-group race with a time of 9 hours and 33 minutes; Kate finished 1st in the Women 25-30 Age-group race with a time of 10 hours and 5 minutes. They smashed it and raced unbelievably fast! They had both classified for the IRONMAN World Championships taking place Kona, Hawaii next October in previous Ironman events, and they used this race as a kind of preparation for their big race of the season. Best of luck in Kona!
Kate Baker, Emily Hogge, Hannah Larbalestier, Elle Twentyman and Felix Young went to the Pyrenees in the south of France the last week of July. They climbed some serious mountains, and had the opportunity to heckle the best cyclists in the world taking part in the Tour de France. Kate was so keen to emulate the pros that she managed to break her shoulder in a descent. It was a week full of funny stories and unfortunate events, but they are all eager to come back next year.
In August, Chris Molloy, Josh Alculumbre and Africa Mason competed in the London Triathlon, one of the largest triathlons in the world with over 13,000 participants. They all raced in the Olympic distance (1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run), and did a fantastic job, with really fast times. Africa took part in the Elite Female race with a very competitive field. She did really well, with a really quick swim, especially taking into account that it was a non-wetsuit swim. Chris and Josh competed in the Male Open Olympic race. Both of them raced really hard, but it’s worth mentioning Chris’s super quick cycling section and Josh’s fast swim.
Sunday 10th of August saw the last of the British Super Series event at the Albert Docks in Liverpool where Africa Mason and George Schwiening competed in the British Senior and Junior Elite Triathlon Championships. The British Championship is always a very competitive event, with the USA's pro triathlete Gwen Jorgensen (that ended up winning the World Triathlon Series) taking the title. Both Africa and George completed in the sprint distance event (750m, 20k, 5k) on a great course, minor exceptions about the jelly fish. The weather however had other ideas - Bertha storm dealt us such tough conditions that BTF cancelled the Elite Boys race!
George Schwiening had a smashing performance in the Elite Relay race at the European Duathlon Championships, winning gold. And just 48 hours afterwards, she finished 6th overall and 1st U23 at the European Duathlon Champs! What an amazing job!
Elle Twentyman and Hannah Larbalestier competed in the Age-Group Sprint World Championship, part of the World Triathlon Series Grand Final in Edmonton, Canada. Nearly 3000 age group triathletes from around the world flocked to Edmonton to represent their country. They are the best of each country in their age group and fought hard to earn the right to compete in the World Championships. Both Elle and Hannah raced hard in the sprint distance event (750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run), and did GB (and Bath) proud.
Last but not least, Kate Comber - recent PhD graduate - won the Cotswold Classic triathlon on the last Sunday of August.
After such a busy summer, we hope they all take a couple of weeks of rest before coming back to Bath to start the exciting training plan we’ve put together, and to enjoy the awesome events and socials that we’ve planned.