AS the multisport season continues to gather pace, Farnham Triathlon Club members have been winning medals at national and international level.
Four from the club travelled to Aviles, Spain for the ITU World Standard Distance Duathlon Championships having qualified earlier in the year.
The race, comprising a 10km run, 40km cycle and 5km run, was notable for the introduction of draft-legal cycle racing in international age-group competition.
Joanna Wright had showed her potential with a national bronze medal at the Windsor qualifier and this time went two better at world level with a four-minute victory in the 20-24 category.
After an opening run of 43mins 07secs, she took the lead on the technical bike section with a rapid 1-11-41 and comfortably stayed ahead on the second run with 23-45 to take the gold medal in an overall 2-22-27.
Bryony Cameron Smith secured a bronze medal in the F30-34 age-group with another consistent all-round effort, clocking 41-48, 1-13-52 and 23-13 in the respective disciplines for a total 2-24-02.
Derek and Sue Graves, Farnham’s globetrotting couple, were stepping up to the standard distance after an earlier ETU sprint competition in Germany and both performed creditably, although outside the medals. Derek placed seventh M70-74 in 3hrs 1min 49secs, while Sue finished fourth F65-69 with 3-28-28.
Leeds Castle hosted the Triathlon England Sprint Championships and three FTC members travelled to Kent in search of national medals. An interesting 750m swim in the 900-year-old castle moat preceded a fast but undulating 26km cycle on the nearby A20 time-trial course before a closing 5km off-road run in the castle grounds.
Sprint triathlon generally produces fast and furious position changes as individual strengths come to the fore and this event was no exception.
James Long was second M40 out of the water in 11-38 and then led most of the cycle section with his 41-50 before being overhauled late on.
Dropping just one further place after a 5k run in 20-08, Long held onto third in 1-15-46.
There was even closer racing in the M50 category as Dom Brooks conjured a 41-52 bike after a 12-13 swim to take a two-minute lead into the run section. Despite being chased down for the entire five kilometres, Brooks held on by just one second to take gold in 1-18-48.
Farnham’s third contender, Tristan Gee, just missed out on the M20 podium. Swim and cycle splits of 12-33, 47-51 put him third, only to lose out in the final strides of the run with 20-23, giving him an overall 1-22-49 and fourth place.
The supporting open race gave Neil Whitehead the chance to compete in his first race for Farnham Tri and he returned a respectable 1-47-07.
Ironman Austria attracts 3000 athletes from 60 countries and this year a squad of seven Farnham members made the trip to Klagenfurt for this iconic competition, comprising a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile cycle and 26.2-mile run.
Most had previous experience over the distance, but Allie Richardson was making her first attempt at Ironman after an intensive training schedule. A perfectly-paced race earned her 33rd place in the F45-49 category in a total time of 13hrs 46mins 45secs.
First to finish for the Farnham club was George Gray who showed great consistency to record 10-10-38.
FTC results:
George Gray, Cat M35-39, Pos 403, Cat pos 98, Swim 59-52, Bike 5-14-50, Run 3-49-29, Overall 10-10-38; Carlton Spears, M45-49, 1388, 232, 1-15-36, 6-10-21, 4-02-03, 11-49-00; David Tiplady, M45-49, 1937, 336, 1-17-16, 5-51-51, 5-34-43, 13-10-03; Alison Richardson, F45-49, 2098, 33, 1-24-25, 7-10-00, 4-58-47, 13-46-45; Carl Atkinson, M35-39, 2234, 358, 1-10-10, 7-07-35, 5-46-15, 14-27-02; Mark Richardson, M50-54, dnf; Nicola Dennes, F40-44, dnf.
A smaller than usual Farnham contingent took on one of the oldest UK races at Windsor Castle. Over 2000 competitors tackled a 1500m swim in the Thames, a 40km cycle and 10km run. Nic Harker recorded 2hrs 16min 2sec for third in the M40 group. Sandra Hunter (5th F35) was next with 2-36-57, followed by James O’Connor (12th M25) 2-41-24. David Barrett completed the sprint distance (750m, 30km, 5km) in 1-53-44 (4th M60).
The Dambuster Triathlon in Leicestershire served as a qualifier for the ITU World Championships and attracted three from FTC. Richard Brooke will be going to Cozumel, Mexico in September courtesy of a third M45 place in 2-15-16. Other finishers were Gill Barrett (9th F55) in 3-09-48 and Nicola Ferguson (25th F30) 3-25-49.
Young newcomer Jacob Cross has been performing well on the aquathlon circuit with overall second places in the opening two Phoenix (Guildford) races and an impressive win over a 1500m swim, 10km run in the Hercules Festival of Sport in Northwood, Middlesex, clocking 1-01-15.