Six triathletes from the Burnham-On-Sea area have been selected to represent Great Britain at the sport’s world championships this week.
The athletes, all members of West Country Triathletes, qualified to represent the country at the ITU Age Group World Championships, which are part of the World Triathlon Grand Finals being held in Hyde Park, London from 11-15th September.
The local runners will be racing on the same course as the Olympic Triathlon where Alistair and Jonny Brownlee famously won gold and bronze medals at London 2012.
“We are all feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness. It’s an honour to represent the country,” Celia Miall, one of the runners, told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
Four of the runners are in the sprint race, which consists of a 750m swim in the Serpentine, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run.
Toby Duggan and Jack Plummer will be first off as they compete for the Male 16-19yr title while Charlotte Rogers will compete in the female 16-19 group.
And Celia, who works as a nurse at Highbridge Medical Centre, will compete in the 40-44 age group.
There are just 25 places for Brits in each age group. These spots are secured by finishing in the top few places at specific national qualifying races held earlier this season or by winning a medal at a previous Championship. The qualifying races have been hard fought this year with the World Championships being held on home turf.
The two other West Country Triathletes are both competing in the Standard Distance race, which consists of a 1500m swim, 40km bike and 10km run.
Martin Rogers will compete in the 45-49 age group, who has represented GB in age group races twice before in Duathlon (run/bike/run).
Martin qualified by gaining a Bronze medal at the National Triathlon Championships in Liverpool.
The other WCT member in this race is Jeannie Fry of Brent Knoll who will compete in the 50-54 age group. Jeannie’s training has been more focussed on long distance, and she won a Bronze medal in France this year at the World Long Course Championships.
Celia added: “As West Country Triathletes is a small friendly local club with around 80 members, with most training sessions based around Cheddar and Burnham, we are very proud to have so many members on the GB team.”
“The age group races are not being televised but the elite races will be on BBC and definitely worth a watch as GB are set to win some medals, particularly in the men’s race with the Brownlee brothers fighting for the World title.”
