It’s been a busy time for WTC members with Sharon’s podium and others competing at Hever, marathons real and virtual, and Steve and Rachel’s exploits in Spain. Everyone has been on their own personal journey. For mine, think back to September 2019, pre Covid19 and the panic buying of toilet rolls (some people must still have a stockpile!). After 8 years away from running due to injury, I made my multisport come back that year targeting September’s National Aquathlon Championships. The lead up wasn’t great with 5 weeks of aqua jogging before the event, much to the bemusement of pensioners swimming at Westcroft. Just finishing the event felt like an achievement but I also qualified for the age group aquathlon European and World championships off the back of it!
Fast forward 2 years to September 2021. The dates and venues for 5 European and World Aquathlon championships had been set, then deferred or cancelled due to Covid19. I ended up with a lot of airline vouchers and a few refunds! To compensate for the lack of racing abroad, British Triathlon decided to hold an “Age Group Celebration Cup” at Mallory Park motor racing circuit near Leicester. This time the event was only deferred once and by a mere two weeks! With a lake in the middle of the racing circuit (an incentive for drivers not to spin off I guess), the day featured an aquathlon; triathlons, duathlons and an aquabike for British Triathlon members who had qualified for team GB.
My event, the aquathlon, consisted of a 1,000 metre lake swim (1.5 laps) and an ultra-flat 5k run (4 laps). Most competitors were in their blue team GB kit which was intimidating in itself. It was a rare opportunity to wear the kit: it would look odd elsewhere! There was an in water start but one woman did not get that far, tripping on entering the water and breaking her wrist. Fortunately the medical team were close by and quick on the scene. The swim had an unusual ending too. It was shallow enough to walk from the last buoy to the exit point, not something I’ve ever practised! Once out, it was head for the impressive looking blue matting. However, unlike televised events, there was only so much blue matting to go round. It didn’t quite stretch to the transition entry point, approaching 100 metres distant, after which we funnelled into the hard and lengthy pit lane. Annoyingly, the run to transition was eventually included in the swim time. Usually removing the wetsuit feels like a fight with an angry octopus but for once it went smoothly. I guess there was plenty of time to get the top half off before reaching transition. Out on the run the wind had got up. At one end of the course it was like running in treacle, at the other end it actually felt as good as it could when heaving for breath. After 4 laps there was a fork into the finishing chute where an announcer was naming each finisher. I was totally on my own but the announcer kept telling me to sprint, hence the expression on the event photo! I finished 66 seconds behind the winner in my age group upholding rusty standards.
Having had both the 2021 and 2022 Aquathlon World Championships cancelled already, a new 2021 championship was announced a little before the Celebration Cup. Off the back of the Celebration Cup, I opted to take up my place; after all I definitely had a qualifying performance to get me in to 2022 events. Details were very sketchy: the organisers’ advice was to hire a car in Madrid and make a 3 hour drive into the wilds of western Spain. The venue, El Anillo in Extremadura, was also being used for a world cross triathlon championships and appeared to consist of a reservoir in a nature reserve with no public transport within a 40 mile radius! The date is 30th October for my race. Those of us going are logging our travel and accommodation plans on Google Forms so hopefully it will all come together: fingers crossed for no cancellations!