Saturday the 7th and Sunday the 8th September saw Welsh Triathlon take 44 athletes and staff from across the Pathway to take over British Triathlons Big Weekend.
The weekend compromised of the final races of both the Youth & Junior Super Series and the Senior Super series as well as the Accenture mixed team relay cup and the Inter Regional Championships.
Saturday showcased Welsh athletes across the individual events. In the youth races WDA athlete Osian Perrin won with a rapid 07:31 2.5km run split. In addition to winning the individual race Osian won the overall series for 2019. Other WDA athletes Orla Davies, Tia Froom and Fiona Bostock all performed well in a challenging female race to round out a consistent season.
“It was great to see so many youth and junior athletes representing Wales at the British Tri Big Weekend. There were some brilliant performances to end the season on a high and a real team spirit across all the athletes, from IRC to Senior. I’m excited to get the Development Academy kick started from October with our joint regional camp in North Wales” Vicky Johnston Development Coach
In the senior races NTPCW athlete Jenny Manners secured a 2nd place finish after a commanding performance. Junior and WDA athlete Laura Sharp had the joint 2nd fastest time out the water with another NTPCW athlete Ellie White. Ellie went on to secure an 8th place with a run split over 1min faster than her time from last year!
Not to be outdone in the men’s senior race Matthew Wright (NTPW) ran through for a 2nd place backed up Josh Lewis (NTPCW) in 5th. Ollie Turner (NTPCW) rounded out the top 10 in 9th after delivering a technical masterclass in the swim and bike elements of the race. Keep an eye out for both Josh & Ollie in the upcoming Super League event in Jersey.
“It was a great weekend of racing with athletes throughout the Pathway coming together and showing the best of Wales on a national level. From a Centre perspective it was really pleasing to see some of our athletes have genuine breakthrough performances, then to have two teams fighting it out at the front of the Mixed Relay Cup on Sunday was amazing and shows the depth of our squad now.” Luke Watson Head Coach
To round of the action of Saturday the Welsh Inter Regional Championship team stepped in to deliver some action. Compromised of 12 athletes from the TriStar 2 & 3 age groups the Welsh took to the course delivering passion, excitement and fast racing matched by the loud and enthusiastic support of the parents!
“It’s was an honour to be the Team Manager of such a focussed and inspiring IRC Team who raced so well and displayed that they all have a great future”. Rhys Thomas IRC Team Manager
On Sunday it was the turn of the relay teams to showcase what they could do. The youth & junior squads kicked off the action with a 12th place finish and some gutsy performances all around. In the TriStar relay Wales A secured an 8th place overall with every member swimming a top 15 split!
The annual Accenture Mixed Relay Cup brought together the British Triathlon Performance Centres, as well as teams from Oxford University and Australia. The National Triathlon Performance Centre Wales (NTPCW) put in a dominant performance leading the way for the majority of the race and securing a place on the podium with a 3rd place finish and the B team just one place behind in 4th. This is the first time the NTPCW has got onto the podium at this event and testament to the hard work the athletes, coaches and support staff have put in to developing the centre.
It’s been a busy race season and Welsh Triathlon would like to congratulate every athlete who has been involved from the TriStar series through to the World Series. We would also like to thank our clubs, volunteers, coaches and parents for supporting the sport we love and helping to make Wales the proud home of triathlon.
