Triathlon Triumph
Worcester Triathlon Club Junior Nixie Turner has qualified to represent Great Britain in the 2015 European Youth Relay Championships in Banyoles, Spain on 26 July by finishing in fifth place at the Blenheim Triathlon which this year acted as the qualifying event.
A strong 400m swim saw Nixie emerge second from the water in just over five minutes and she then led for much of the technical 13.2km cycle leg, dropping all but two other athletes and completing the stage in 23.29 minutes.
Nixie soon settled in to third place on the 3.1km run leg as strong runners Kate Waugh and Olivia Mathias pulled away from her and, despite being passed by fellow West Midlands Triathlon Academy member Caitlin Roper, Nixie seemed destined for fourth place until a fantastic run by Scotland’s Erin Wallace just pushed her back to fifth in a total time of 45 minutes 23 seconds compared to Waugh’s winning time of 44.04.
After the race Nixie, who is now sponsored by Echelon Cycles of Pershore and trains with Worcester St John’s Cycling Club, Worcester Swimming Club and Worcester Athletics Club commented, ‘I always enjoy racing at Blenheim and the bike course in particular suits me as I prefer a technically challenging course with some climbs to a straight, flat course, so when I heard that it was going to act as the qualifying event I knew I was in with a good chance. Now I can’t wait to wear the GBR Triathlon suit for the first time’.
Nixie has represented Great Britain before on an invitational basis, her latest race being at the European Junior Cup event at Quarteira in Portugal on 21 March where she finished a respectable twenty-first out of 57 entrants. However, this will be the first time that she has officially qualified. She will warm up for the race in Spain with another invitational entry to the European Junior Cup race at Holton in the Netherlands on 4 July. Great Britain will be sending two teams of three to the Championships plus two travelling reserves, so the first eight finishers all qualified.
Nixie soon settled in to third place on the 3.1km run leg as strong runners Kate Waugh and Olivia Mathias pulled away from her and, despite being passed by fellow West Midlands Triathlon Academy member Caitlin Roper, Nixie seemed destined for fourth place until a fantastic run by Scotland’s Erin Wallace just pushed her back to fifth in a total time of 45 minutes 23 seconds compared to Waugh’s winning time of 44.04.
After the race Nixie, who is now sponsored by Echelon Cycles of Pershore and trains with Worcester St John’s Cycling Club, Worcester Swimming Club and Worcester Athletics Club commented, ‘I always enjoy racing at Blenheim and the bike course in particular suits me as I prefer a technically challenging course with some climbs to a straight, flat course, so when I heard that it was going to act as the qualifying event I knew I was in with a good chance. Now I can’t wait to wear the GBR Triathlon suit for the first time’.
Nixie has represented Great Britain before on an invitational basis, her latest race being at the European Junior Cup event at Quarteira in Portugal on 21 March where she finished a respectable twenty-first out of 57 entrants. However, this will be the first time that she has officially qualified. She will warm up for the race in Spain with another invitational entry to the European Junior Cup race at Holton in the Netherlands on 4 July. Great Britain will be sending two teams of three to the Championships plus two travelling reserves, so the first eight finishers all qualified.
