Top British female age group triathletes raced for the coveted title of British Aquathlon Champion on Saturday at the West Midlands Water Ski Centre on the outskirts of Birmingham.
The event also attracted future stars of triathlon as it was part of the British Elite Youth and Junior Aquathlon Championships and also the second race of this year’s British Triathlon Junior Super Series.
The senior and youth athletes took on the 750m lake swim and 5k off-road run along the edge of the lake. With the water temperature at only just over 13 degrees Celsius the race was a test of the athletes’ ability to deal with the cold as well as their mental and athletic strength.
The senior women’s race saw elite athlete and current World Duathlon Champion Katie Hewison (pictured) take on the amateur field. Not surprisingly she took the victory, although she was not the first woman out of the water, that honour going to Katie Henderson racing for the Tri20/Vicory.
Hewison used her run strength to move up from 6th place after the swim to first covering the 5k in a blistering 16.19 and finishing in a final time of 28.56. Second place went to Seonaid Thompson in a time of 31.18 and Katie Henderson took bronze in 31.42.
The current European Junior Triathlon Champion, Georgia Taylor-Brown, continued to show the form that won her gold last month in Eilat. Fellow British Triathlon Olympic Talent Squad athlete Sophie Coldwell took sliver with Sophia Saller from Optima Racing Team taking the final place on the podium.
The youth race was a 400m swim and 2.5k run and the victory went to another British Triathlon Olympic Talent Squad athlete, Sian Rainsley followed by Megan Mcdonald and Leah Peploe.
Sportsister,
The Women’s Sports Magazine
