Jasmine Cooper is a current student at Cardiff Metropolitan University, and a member of the Performance Squad at the National Triathlon Performance Centre Wales (NTPCW) in Cardiff. In this article we chart her progression through the pathway during her time at the university, which highlights the opportunities available to student-athletes in the programme.
Jasmine Cooper has always been a swimmer and runner throughout her athletic career, ever since her early years. Her first triathlon experience actually came as far back as 2009, however running was always her forte and she focused on that during the majority of her time in school.
When she started at Cardiff Metropolitan University in 2019, Jas joined both the swimming and running clubs, which had a great combination of performance and social environments. Running remained her priority until she encountered a foot injury in September 2020. Steve Mitchell was her run coach at the university, and had this to say:
“Jas came to Cardiff Met having performed at a high level in athletics as a junior, although she had some difficulties performance wise in the season before starting at university. Jas was dedicated to her training, including the introduction of S&C and biomechanics work, and this resulted in her returning back to a level which was faster than she had ever been. It is great to see Jas transferring her strong running into her triathlon, and I wish her every success with her triathlon career.”
To compensate for her inability to run, Jas immersed herself in swimming, attending every session that the club had to offer. It was at this time that Dan Davies, the Cardiff Met swimming coach, who knew about her running ability, and suggested that she join the new Development Squad within the triathlon programme. The squad was set up exactly for athletes like her who had ability in the single disciplines, and the desire to translate them into multisport.
Jas said, “I’ve always enjoyed doing a variety of sports and had often thought about starting triathlon over the years, swimming had always been a complement to my running training, and I did the odd triathlon for fun. When the opportunity to join the NTPCW squad presented itself I thought I’d make the switch to fully focus on triathlon as I thought I had potential at the sport.”
Transitioning to triathlon was somewhat challenging, as Jas was not confident on a bike, especially as she hadn’t ridden with cleats before. The Development squad proved invaluable in honing her cycling skills, alongside fellow athletes who each had strengths and weaknesses in different disciplines. She explains how a few of the girls she trained with also struggled with the cycling and they bonded over their shared journey of improvement:
“When I first joined the NTPCW I knew triathlon was going to take a lot of hard work and patience, particularly with the bike. Triathletes train an insane number of hours compared to runners; the biggest adjustment was the increase in training volume. For the first year I gradually built up my rides to the same volume as the performance girls, I enjoy cycling with them and it helps being surrounded by better athletes to improve my technical skills and confidence on the bike. Year on year I’m seeing improvements thanks to the coaches focusing my training on the bike, the extra bike session, a targeted technical session and specific gym exercises, such as example single-leg leg press, have been instrumental to my development.”
Jasmine’s relentless dedication paid off – she was an ever-present at the morning swimming sessions, which were a combination of the triathlon and swimming programmes, whilst still running with the athletics club, and she progressed rapidly. She competed in the British Elite Super Series races in the summer of 2022, regularly posting top-3 run splits, and even came as high as 9th overall at the Eton round by winning the B final of the eliminator. During that summer, she trained with the Performance Squad and secured herself a promotion to that group in the autumn. Our Performance Head Coach, Luke Watson, commented:
“Jas’ story, starting out with the individual swimming and athletics clubs, before going onto triathlon, is a great example of how the different programmes can come together to support and develop athletes of all levels at the university. She has fully embraced the opportunities available, has worked extremely hard, and it has been great to see that pay off and for us to be able to recognise it by selecting her for the Performance Squad.”
In 2023, Jas went from strength to strength. She continued competing in the British Super Series, however her best performance came in the French Grand Prix Triathlon Series. She achieved a pair of top-5 finishes early in the season in duathlon and triathlon, including one podium, but the highlight came with a win at the Round 3 triathlon in Metz in July. This was especially rewarding for Jasmine at this time as she had been prioritising her cycling, adding in extra bike sessions whenever she could, working hard on her technical skills, and she was delighted to have been able to stick with the front pack in that race for the first time. She said, “I had prioritised the bike a lot in training and it just clicked in that race.” Her coach, Jenny Manners had this to say:
“Jas and I had devised a training plan with the aim of unlocking her cycling potential, so that she could really use her run strength as a weapon in races. She fully committed to the programme and put a lot of effort into challenging herself with the cycling whilst also working hard with the swim and run disciplines. Her results this year are a testament to her determination, she has such a positive attitude to training and I am really proud of her achievements”
We are all very pleased with the incredible progress that Jasmine has made since joining our programme. A huge congratulations to her for her success, and we look forward to continuing to follow her development in the coming years.
