Senior
Champions Crowned at Senior Super Series Grand Final
On Sunday September 7, the Super Series Grand Final for senior athletes took place in Bala, in North Wales. As well as deciding the Super Series winners for 2025, there were Under 23 world qualification places up for grabs and the winners would be crowned British Elite Champions for 2025. Excitingly, for the first time in over ten years, some of the key action was livestreamed for people to watch at home.
Female Senior Race
In the female race, Sophie Alden was first out of the water with a time of 16:15, closely followed by Issy Hayes and Isla Hedley. Coming back into T2 after the 32km bike leg, a group of four had broken clear with Beth Cook, Isla Hedley, Sophie Alden and Issy Hayes around 20 seconds ahead of the chasing pack. On the out and back 8km run, Sophie Alden managed to make a decisive break, finishing 30 seconds ahead of Beth Cook in second place with Millie Breese having a strong run to move up into third place.
Speaking after her win, British Elite Champion Sophie Alden said:
“It was really fun out there, the water wasn’t as cold as I was expecting, so that was a bonus! We had a really nice group of four of us out on the bike and then coming out of T2 I wanted to kick early, so I started to wind it up hoping to build up a bit of gap.”
Millie Breese’s third place finish in the Grand Final was enough to see her crowned Super Series champion for the first time in her career. Millie finished on 2396.25 points, just 180 points ahead of Jasmine Cooper, who finished fourth at Bala. Rounding off the podium was Lizzie Edge who finished on 1801.25 points
Speaking after receiving the Super Series trophy for 2025, Millie said:
“It feels really good, it’s a nice title to have. It’s a long season, starting back in March and going on until October, so it’s good to have gotten it done.”
Open Senior Race
In a close fought open race, Tom Hattee was first out of the water in a time of 14:55, just ahead of Thomas Dixon and Michael Gar. A pretty big group formed on the bike leg with a group of 13 coming back into T2 together, with just under an hour on the clock. A fast transition enabled Michael Gar to lead the way out of T2 and he wasn’t to be denied on the run, completing the undulating 8km run in 26.20 to take the win.
Michael crossed the line just ten seconds ahead of Jack Stanton-Stock, with Benjamin Cumberland finishing in third place just a few seconds behind. In a sign of how tight the racing was, just 16 seconds covered the top four athletes in the field.
Michael’s win meant as well as becoming British Elite Champion, he also took the overall Super Series crown as well, marking a great double for the Cardiff based athlete.
Speaking after the run Michael said:
“It was good fun… but it was a long race, it was just a case of sticking in and trying to hang onto the strong boys at the front.”
On winning the Super Series he added, “I’m really chuffed, I couldn’t do many of the Super Series races this year, but the ones I did all went to plan, so I’m really happy.”
Michael finished the Super Series on 2540 points, just 30 points clear of Jack Stanton-Stock in second place with Deri McCluskey finishing third on 1801.25 points.
Open Series Series Final Rankings
If you missed any of the action, you can catch up on the livestream and medal ceremony below.
While this is the final race for the Senior athletes, the Super Series action continues on September 13 and 14 with the Grand Final for the Junior and Youth A and B athletes at Mallory Park. Paratriathletes will also be competing in their final triathlon race of the season, ahead of a final duathlon in October.