Continuing on her amazing success at the World championships 4 weeks ago, 1st home at the English National Sprint Championships at Mallory Park in Leicester was Isle of Wight athlete Millie Williams.
Millie had a strong swim, coming out of the 750m swim in 12:46 in 5th position and 2nd in the 20-24 category. In the 18 km bike route – which was 6 laps of the track – Millie worked hard on her own for the 1st 4 laps but then managed to get in a pack and finish the course in a fast time of 35:21, entering T2 still in 5th position but now in 1st spot in her age group. A quick 20:24 for the 4-lap 5km run course saw Millie hold her position to come home in 1:10:14, 5th female overall and 1st in the 20-24 age group and also English National Sprint Triathlon Champion.
Millie said:
“After a really tough swim. I was happy to get out on the bike, I just put my head down and went as hard as I could through the strong headwinds. I’m extremely happy and proud to take the English national title”
Veteran Liz Dunlop – who is also an IW Talented Award athlete – came 1st in the 65-69 age group and also became an English National Sprint Triathlon Champion. A good swim of 16:08 saw Liz enter T1 in 24th position overall. A bike split of 41:55 and a solid run of 25:46 gave Liz a finishing time of 1:26:48.
Laoise Bennis had another good race to finish 15th overall and just missed out on a podium place to finish in 1:16:45 and 4th in the 25-29 age category, with splits of 15:39, 36:42 and 22:23.
After the event, Laoise commented:
“I had a really nice swim where I settled in and ploughed away. This is definitely my weakest event so I was happy with it being my fastest swim this year. “
Article continues below this advertisement
Cotswold Lake 62 Standard Distance Triathlon
Wight Tri member, Joanna Jeffcotte, took on her 1st standard distance triathlon at the Cotswold Lake 62 Standard Distance Triathlon, with a 1500m swim, followed by a 39 km cycle, and finishing with a 7 lap 10.5km run around the lake.
Joanna had a great start to her event, with a fast swim of 24:55, exiting the lake in the 2nd female overall position. A solid bike split of 1:27:22, followed by 56:07 for the run, brought Joanna to the finish line in 2:52:00. She not only completed her 1st standard distance triathlon but also achieved a podium spot in her age group by taking 3rd in the 30-34 category and finished 6th female overall.
After the event, Joanna said:
“I was so nervous! Terrified it would kill me, which it did a little, but felt amazing, and I was so buzzing at the end and finished it about 30mins quicker than I thought!.”
