We had an excellent club turn out to the beautiful grounds of Bowood House for an open water triathlon. The setting was beautiful but all our athletes were faced with a gruelling uphill run out of the swim into transition! The cycle course was a fast, flat circuit but the run was more challenging with plenty of uphills.

The morning started with 9 year olds Elsie and Emily completing a 200m swim, 3km cycle and 1.5 km run in the Tristar 1 event. We are so proud of their efforts for getting their heads in the water in the lake swim, giving their everything to run up the hill in their wetsuits and carrying on to complete a great bike leg and fabulous finishes on the run.

Next off were Katie, Bella and Jasper in the Tristar 2 event for 11-12 year olds (300m swim, 6km cycle and 1.8km run). All of them posted some great individual times and the photos show just how much effort they put into their race. We can’t wait to see how these athletes progress.

15 and 16 year old Ben and Billy took on other youths, juniors and adults in the super sprint race (400m swim, 12km cycle and 2.5km run). Ben came out of his swim wave with not another competitor in sight for quite some time! They both showed what they were capable of on the bike and run and ended up with a fabulous 4th and 6th place in the youth category.

Finally it was the turn of the sprint triathlon which saw Gethin, Thomas, Lottie-Rose, Millie, Jason and Ali take part in a 750m swim, 21km cycle and 5km run. Having to complete 2 laps of that hilly run was an achievement in itself but which most of our athletes took in their stride. Gethin placed 7th youth (and was a fabulous 38th male out of 250 at just 15 years old!). Thomas finished brilliantly as 2nd placed junior. Whilst Millie and Lottie came an incredible 1st and 2nd juniors. Jason posted some great splits but ultimately was beaten by his 16 year old daughter Lottie! Ali was pleased to actually finish but ended up with a pleasing 9th place in the 45-49 age group.

What an amazing set of results but also what amazing camaraderie we saw from our club members and parents. The cheering and encouragement for every one of our triathletes round the course was what made the event so special.