2024 has been nothing short of exciting for me so far, with a strong progression through the season, racing my first international as well as becoming a National and World Champion…
This year I’ve been racing in the British Triathlon Super Series for my 2nd year, in what was my last year as a Youth A, before I move up to Youth B next year to begin my step-up to Sprint distance racing on the road.
This year XTERRA brought in youth racing and a first ever Youth World Championship which was my first international triathlon, where I raced, in Italy a few weekends ago.
February
In February I raced at my first cross duathlon at the XTERRA Matterley Basin event in Hampshire.
I raced in the Sprint race (2.5k run at either end with a 10k mtb in between) winning my category and overall by nearly 10 minutes, over an hour.
With a mountain biking and off-road background this was a perfect event to start my first cross race and influence me to want to race some more in the future.
Spring (April-May)
April
I’d been taking my GCSE’s from May through to June so this spring was busier with revision and exams but I still raced as usual with the PA’s as the first race of the Super Series, at the end of April.
The PA’s is a two day race, with a 400m pool TT on Saturday, followed by a bike/run the Sunday, starting a certain time from the quickest swimmer based on swim times the day before.
With a reasonable swim but not a great one, I was about 20-30s behind of the main group of people.
After not making the front bike group, but following with a solid run I moved my way up to 9th Youth A across the finish.
May
With a high enough result at PA’s I was racing in the first tier at Round 2 of the series in Llanelli.
Open water for the swim, this time like the rest of the series, I had a much better swim and came out a lot further up. I made the front bike group quite early and came off the bike well.
Unfortunately, I had some bike trouble in T2 which left me with a penalty as my bike fell off the rack, costing me time in T2 along with a penalty on top, which wasn’t given to me until 20+minutes after the race.
After having to put in a big effort to catch up my lost time I was with the front of my category and then surged at the end to cross 1st, but was downgraded later to 3rd with my penalty.
Summer (June-August)
June
In June I raced at the European Youth qualifier’s Heats and Finals.
After a strong heat I made the A final, but after a decent swim I was just 2 seconds off the front bike group and couldn’t get on with no gears left.
In the end I came through some people on the run for a decent 6th place but a little disappointed with being so close.
July
In July I raced at the Aquathlon as part of the series, racing 3x as swim distance shortened and run distance lengthened.
With a poor first race coming outside top 20, I improved in race 2 for 10th and finished 4th in the final race, giving me a final position of 8th.
I didn’t have my best performance but now had some determination and time until the next race to show that I could do better.
August
At the end of August I raced at the School Games over 3 days; Aquathlon heats and finals on Thursday, bike skills test and TT based on time on Friday, followed by a mixed relay on Saturday after all the individual racing was completed.
Making the A final after some stomach issues in heats I had a bit of a higher finish, coming 11th but knowing I could make some of that up on the bike and was 10s off top 5, going into the Friday.
Onto the bike I had the 3rd quickest skills test in the morning and made up strong time. The 10km TT had a transition at the start and end, I made up time quickly and was in a group for 3rd. There were groups close and catching so I upped the pace and dropped all but 2 guys for a 3man group.
This continued to the end and I mistimed undoing my shoes into T2 when I got overtaken and with a 50m run to finish missed out on the podium by 2 seconds for 4th.
A little gutting but more so was a much better improvement.
The mixed relay was strong for me and I brought our team in for the same time as 2nd, going on the first leg.
September
September was the month of the big races.
British Road Triathlon Champs
I started with the British Champs/Series Grand Final on the 14th.
I had a really good swim and made the front bike group early and initiated the pace with some others to stay out front.
I came off the bike as 3rd British and 5th overall, since a few of the top French athletes had been invited to race.
On the run I was quickly up to 2nd overall before surging up to close the gap to the French leader, where we stayed for the majority of the 3km run.
The pace slowed and upped as it started to get a bit tactical, but with the pace increasing I kicked with 150m to go taking the lead and just being caught in the last 5/10m, coming 2nd overall but British Champion.
This performance brought all 3 disciplines together and gave the result I knew I was capable of.
This result moved me up the series rankings, going from 9th up to 2nd Overall in the British Series, bringing a good end to a strong series overall.
I had been given a wildcard entry to the World Champs, since I’d set up a GoFundMe to race at the European Champs to qualify as I couldn’t afford to race and so my GoFundMe changed to the World Champs. (Thank you to people who donated as it wouldn’t have been possible without the support).
On race day I was doing a 750m swim, 16k bike up and down a mountain and 5k trail run.
I had a great swim and came out 5th (including Juniors who were racing alongside).
I lost some time on the bike but also gained some positions, however was ready for the run.
Coming off the bike 5th Youth B (my category) I was just over 2 minutes behind the leader.
I set out on the run determined and caught the top 2 with a km or so to go and went by and held the gap to become the first ever Youth B World Champion beating all the older 18-19 yrs Juniors too.
Watch the XTERRA World Champs Live Replay here
This has been an incredible year and the opportunities have been amazing.
Special thanks to Race off Road and Home and Castle Estate Agents for their support to go to the World Champs and I’m excited for the future!
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