Nottingham’s National Water Sports Centre hosted over 2000 triathletes in the fast and furious national Triathlon England Club Relay Triathlon Championships on 24-25 August – the penultimate event that makes up the new look 2013 Triathlon England – National Championships.
Local Nottingham team Huub TFN was the fastest to get around the course, but only just, in a very tight competition. Cambridge Triathlon Club had the fastest team of four women, all international athletes, and Loughborough won the mixed team event.
However, most teams were at the Club Relays to enjoy the festival atmosphere, with many camping on site. Teams of four took on the 500m swim in the regatta lake followed by a 15K bike and 5K run, with each team member completing each discipline before passing their wrist band to the next team member.
The Vekta Huub team, which is based in Derby, crossed the line first but a two minute drafting penalty handed the win to Nottingham’s Huub TFN, who completed the course in just over three hours. (So, a Huub sponsored team scooped up the win regardless!)
The golden swimsuits of the Cambridge Triathlon women’s team helped power them to gold ahead of Loughborough. The team of four international triathletes, including Lucy Gossage and recent ITU junior duathlon world champion, George Schwiening, won by a margin of seven minutes. However, Loughborough won the mixed category.
At the other end of the scale, some of the slower teams took nearly five hours – many of these in fancy dress and one competitor received huge cheers riding a fold-up bike. As well as the senior athletes, there were juniors and novices doing their first triathlons.
Iain Hamilton, of race organiser One Step Beyond, said “The Club Relays has a special place in the race calendar. The event has a unique festival atmosphere and it’s brilliant to see so many athletes from across the country competing in their club colours. Of course there are those at the top end competing very seriously for national titles, but the emphasis is on fun.
“The National Water Sports Centre is an ideal venue with a large campsite, plenty of parking, a traffic-free course and free grandstand seating for all of the noisy spectators!”
The format of the relays has essentially been the same for over 20 years with teams returning year on year to enjoy the friendly competitive atmosphere. With the added incentive of Triathlon England national titles many teams came to Nottingham specifically targeting the podium.
Next year’s event may see a few small changes, but clubs are encouraged to mark their calendars for August bank holiday 2014 and be part of the fun!
www.triathlonengland.org
www.onestepbeyond.org.uk
