Upminster Aquathlon 21st April 2012

For the second time in seven days Ciara Nicholson and Elliot Swallow claim podium places with Elliot’s older brother Oliver making it three podiums for the Discovery Triathlon Club again for the second time in one week.

The event which was hosted by Tri Sport Epping attracted 87 competitors, with some coming from top London clubs with one who can boast to having some of Great Britain’s top World Class athletes amongst its 400 members.

Ciara once again did a powerhouse of a swim, in the 9/10 age group to come out of the water only 3 seconds down in second spot, unfortunately having given all her energy in the swim saw her fall behind in the run to third but gained sufficient points to claim Silver on the podium.

A special mention must be made of Abigail Kerr who in the Swim came out of the water in 9th spot some 36 seconds down on the leader but did an absolutely amazing run to pull all that deficit back and come over the finish line in 1st spot, 3 seconds ahead to gain an overall final 4th place in this age group.

Elliot Swallow in the 11/12 age group swim he powered through the water to exit in first place some 16 seconds ahead of the second placed competitor. Then again similar to Ciara, having given so much effort in that discipline, lost his legs on the run to loose ground which meant he had to be satisfied with Silver on the podium.

In the 14/15 age group, with Oliver Swallow the swim discipline proved that his recent hard work in the triathlon training camp in Majorca had taken its toll on him. He came out of the water some 17 seconds down and although he pulled back time on the run it was not enough to secure Gold and like his brother had to be satisfied with Silver on the podium.

With so many more members this year achieving top ten positions than in 2011 and with full training recommencing after the school holidays, it will interesting to see how many more will achieve podiums as the season goes on.

Other Members placings:

9/10 years, 7th Lauren Gowers,
11/12 yrs, 4th Charlotte Gowers
13/14 Yrs. Girls: 6th Alexandra Rae, Boys: 5th Liam Nicholson, 14th Cameron Kerr

In an event which attracted 197 competitors from all over the Eastern Region, with an average of 31 competitors in each of the events we entered, no member was lower than 13th and six were in the top 10 finishers in their respective age group. This was an amazing result for the start of the season and just reward for the effort put into the winter training.

Our stars of the day were:
Liam Nicholson – 3rd Tristar 3.
Ciara Nicholson – 2nd Tristar 1
Elliot Swallow – 1st.Tristar 2

Well done to all the other members who performed exceptionally well when you competed.
Obviously I was disappointed with the attendance figures of members in the XC this year; I think the lowest we have ever had. The clubs position at the end of the season in the final league table reflects that poor attendance.

However, I am not too disappointed because when in other years we have had  full attendances at meets, you have shown ‘Discovery are the best’ by winning the Team Title and the Individual League Championship against clubs who specialize in running and have far more members than us. This proves our policy of ‘Quality not Quantity’ is correct and with a ratio of I British Triathlon Qualified Coach to 5 triathletes, I cannot wait to see the results in our first event of the triathlon season.

Remember ‘No pain No gain’.

Best Wishes and Good Luck to All in the forthcoming season.

Wend Staines, Head Coach

Aaron Is Top for Discovery

Aaron Stone was not only the only club member to compete in Sunday’s (12th Feb.) 53-12 XC League but was the only member to be on the podium for the final ranking of the whole Cross Country season.

On Sunday in difficult snowy, icy and wet conditions, Aaron put all those difficulties aside to come across the finish line in 14th place overall and 1st in his age group thus securing 3rd spot on the podium for the whole league season.
In doing so he set an example to others as to that which can be achieved by consistently competing in all six events of the season.

The Discovery Triathlon Club has recently attracted sponsorship from the Essex based Sovereign Guards UK, a security company which operates throughout the United Kingdom.

After presenting both Junior and Elite teams with new ‘Hoody’ training tops, Managing Director Mr. Stone said “it was a pleasure to help sport at grassroots level and in particular such an exciting set of young children who through dedication have achieved success at local, regional and National level in the British IR Championships”.

This is an incredible achievement by the club which was formed in 2006 with just a few members and now because of their success is attracting commercial sponsorship, as well as new members from all over Essex and Suffolk.

Conditions on the ground were ideal for a fast run, with 67 competitors taking part and from the start it was Discovery Tri. who set the pace with brothers Oliver and Elliot Swallow leading the way on the grass part of the course with Alexandra Rae being the first girl of the club in 9th place. By the time they entered the woods the field had spread out to single file compared to the10 abreast just after the start.

Spectators from all 13 clubs anxiously awaited the runners to reappear from the woods on the their homeward bound course and when the cries went up of “here they come”, Oliver Swallow was still in the lead by some considerable distance with his brother having fallen back to third and Sonny Son maintaining his fifth position with Samantha Ragus leading the girls home in tenth spot.

Overall Individual Results (Top Age Group Positions shown in brackets):

1st Oliver Swallow (1st,U17Boys), 3rd Elliot Swallow (2nd.U13B), 5th.Sonny Son (2nd. U17B), 10th.Samantha Ragus(1st.U17 Girls), 13th.Liam Nicholson,  15thAaron Stone (2nd U11B),  20th.Alex Rendall (4th U13G),  21st.Clover Murray (3rd U17G), 26th Jonathan Choi (5th.U17B), 29th.Alexandra Rae (4th U17G), 34th Abigail Kerr(3rd U11G). 36th Alexa Cox (5th U17G). 48th Ciara Nicholson. 53rd Charlotte Gowers, 54th Lucy Pike, 64th Lauren Gowers.

In speaking to her upon her return she briefly described the three disciplines of the race:
Swim – “Brutal, Rough and Busy and came out of the water in 3rd spot in my age group” (although I noticed by her time she was only a few metres behind the eventual overall winner of the Elite Professionals, GB’s own Chrissie Wellington).
Bike – “Tough in high temperatures and winds, really cooking from 80 miles onwards”.
Run – “Hot, Hot, Hot,- nausea, as I could not cool down”. At the end she completed the course in 11hours and 18 min. to come over the finish line in 15th place in her age group out of the 52 competitors selected from across the world. The physical reward was Heat Stroke which resulted in 3hours of medical treatment/IV Infusion.

Her final comments (junior members please take note and learn from her experience/preparation) – was that she would love the opportunity to go again and give herself the chance of being a bit more competitive by better preparation in ‘heat acclimatisation’. Explaining that this years training also included, from April to Sept ‘cold water swimming’ in preparation for the September Cross Channel Relay, which was not the ideal preparation for the heat and humidity of Kona.

Despite her own self criticism of “Need to do better”, the club congratulates her qualifying for the World Championships in the first place and then finally achieving a ranking of 15th in the world.

I am sure, for those junior members who are lucky enough to be trained by Melissa; she will give you a more in depth description of her experience and provide advice on your own preparations for 2012 triathlons.

This is fourth consecutive year that Discovery Tri has had at least one member successfully gaining qualification.
2008. Rozlyn Smith and Oliver Swallow competed at Aldershot, which was the very first time they had raced on roads and yet gained very creditable rankings of 12th and 15th.
2009. Saw them both qualify again when the event was held at the very difficult course at Parc Bryn Bach in Wales, where Oliver was a Silver Medallist but unfortunately Rozlyn crashed.
2010. Once again Oliver qualified for the event and gained a ranking of 13th.The event was again held in Wales on the same day and course as the British Sprint Championship Finals in which the Brownlee brothers, Tim Don and Stuart Hayes were competing - it was autograph hunting and photo shots for all the youngsters and the world stars were so happy to be allowed to be photographed with so much talent!
2011. Both Elliot’s are keeping that fantastic record going for the club, with Harrison Staines and Oliver Swallow close behind in gaining selection as reserves. This is truly outstanding for such a small club.

It not only demonstrates the tremendous talent which exists within the club but also the quality of coaching which the members receive to enable them to achieve such high standards.

Well Done – to my coaching staff and not only you talented youngsters mentioned above but to all of you for your excellent performances so far this season, you all make me feel very proud.

Wendy Staines – Head Coach and Founder Member