Andy Tarry and Jenny Latham romped home in the sprint distance races at the Tri England National Champs finals in Blithfield last weekend (August 4th), while Ashley Hurdman and Charlotte Taylor took the Olympic-distance crowns.
Tarry, 43, won the men's sprint distance title with a time of 1:02:02, just 20secs ahead of second-placed Alex Lawton. Latham, 25, overcame timing chip issues in the swim to secure the women's sprint title with a 3:30min margin, posting a time of 1:09:02.
"I'm really pleased with my performance, especially my cycle and run," enthused Latham. "It was great to come back and race this course again, and I'll be back in the future to defend my title."
Hurdman, racing in the men's 25-29 age-group, took the overall win with an excellent 2:00:49 in the Olympic-distance race, while Charlotte Taylor crushed the competition in 2:19:09, with an 8min lead over Kelly Weall (2:27:04).
Organisers said that the 1,000 available places went in record time this year, reflecting a nationwide surge in popularity for triathlons. Triathlon England (www.triathlonengland.org) also reported that there were over 700 triathlon, duathlons and aquathlons in 2012, involving more than 125,000 people, with a particular increase in the number of women racing.