WaldenTRI | 4 June - Blenhiem Tri

4 June - Blenhiem Tri

Club member Sophie Jones (racing for Cambridge Tri) took part in the Youth Supersprint race at Blenhiem Palace. This was her first open water swim race, her first drafting races not to mention her first race cycling on tarmac!

The race was the first of two qualification races to represent the Eastern Region Youth team at the Inter Regional Championships on 4 Sept with three places up for grabs. The entry was restricted to only expereinced athletes and a small but very high quality field had been assembled in including a national team from Wales.

Sophie has not done a lot of swimming recently and up against National swimmers was quickly trailing, however she swam well and although exiting the water in last place she was still not far behind. An excellent transition meant she was able to catch and quickly pass one of the three Eastern Region competitors ahead of her and it didn't take long before she caught the send place girl. The two worked together on the second lap of the bike and came into second transition side by side.

Unfortunately Sophie's excellent bike ride took its toll on the run and she lost just over 10secs to her rival but still got her place in the top 3 in the region and an overall postion of 17th.

The second qualifiaction race is another open water drating race taking place on 26th June at Eton Rowing Lake.