Senior
Bristol Brings the Action for Super Series Seniors
Fresh from racing last weekend at Mallory Park, the Seniors were back in action this Sunday at a brand new venue on the Super Series calendar. Bristol was the third stop in the series this year, after Llanelli and Mallory Park, and was a sprint distance race organised by Active Training World as a climax to their Bristol Triathlon event. Taking place in and around Bristol Harbour, the race started with a swim in the Cumberland Basin, followed by a traffic-free ride on Portway under the famous Clifton suspension bridge and to round it off, an epic run alongside the River Avon.
With none of the elite world class programme athletes who took part at Mallory Park competing in Bristol, the stage was set for wide open races, to earn those all important points to rise up the Super Series rankings.
Women’s Race
In the Women’s race, it was Katie Rodda and Millie Breese who led out of T1, and by the end of lap one they’d built up a lead of around 16 seconds on the chasing pack. By the end of lap two however, a leading group of nine had come together with a gap of around 40 seconds to the group behind. At the end of the bike, it was Katie Rodda who led the group out of T2 with Ellie White and Jessica Turnbull close behind. The fastest run leg of the day however, helped Millie Breese to take the win, coming home just over 30 seconds ahead of runner up Jasmine Cooper. Ellie White finished a further 20 seconds back to win the bronze medal.
Open race
In the Open race, fresh from his bronze medal at the World Triathlon Aquathlon Championships in Pontevedra, it was Chris Perham who took the win.
A group of five athletes came out of the water first, with just a few seconds between them, before a group of six led at the end of the first lap. By the time the bike leg had finished, there was a big group of eighteen who came in together into T2. Similar to the women’s race, the fastest run leg of the day was enough to secure the win, with Chris Perham completing the 5km leg in 15:20. Chris finished ahead of Deri McCluskey who took second place, with Charlie Harding finishing just over ten seconds behind in third.
COMING UP
Super Series events are still coming thick and fast, with the next race taking place on Saturday 12 July where the ParaTri athletes will take centre stage at Eton Dorney. After that, there’s a bit of a gap before we return once again to Eton Dorney on 24 August for the Eton Eliminator, where Youth, Junior and Senior athletes will battle it out in the final round before the Grand Finals.