Harris, Stimpson win in Wales
Jodie Stimpson put in superb performance at the Parc Bryn Bach Elite Triathlon finishing in first place and winning the British Triathlon Super Series.
Jodie Stimpson put in superb performance at the Parc Bryn Bach Elite Triathlon finishing in first place and winning the British Triathlon Super Series.The event in South Wales doubled up as the British Sprint Championships which involved a 750m swim, followed by a 20km bike ride and rounded off with a 5km run.
Overcast and blustery conditions prevailed as the race got underway, with Abbie Thorrington making the most of the swim leg to exit twenty seconds ahead of the main group alongside Stimpson.Thorrington headed off in the saddle in first place, and maintained that position until the second lap when she was caught by Stimpson.
Stimpson was understandably delighted with another first place finish:
“It feels really good to win the Series today – three wins in the Series is a great achievement I am really enjoying the sport this year.”
Describing her race, it’s clear she is in peak fitness at the moment:
“The water temperature was cold and Abbie Thorrington got a huge lead from the start of the swim and I couldn’t catch up. But on the bike I have great confidence and I worked really hard to close the gap and managed to catch her quite easily. We worked hard together on the bike – on the main climb I was stronger and on the last part of the bike she was, so we built up a massive lead from the others. Then on the run I seemed to pull away and didn’t look back.”
The Welsh hills of Tredegar clearly bought out the best in Stimpson:
“I loved it today, it was nice to mix it up with some hills on the course, it was much more fun than these flat races we normally race.”
Stimpson sustains her triathlete career with a part time job at Aldbury High School in Birmingham two days a week but is already looking forward to the Mazda London Triathlon in two weeks time:
“My coach Michelle Dillon won in London two years ago so I am desperate to put on another good show and end this Series on a high.”
The men’s race was won by Aaron Harris from Basingstoke. Harris was understandably delighted with his first place finish after a slow start according to the twenty-one year old:
“It wasn’t a great swim for me I wasn’t happy with it at all, I felt tired for some reason, but once I got on the bike I found some strength and pushed on from there.”
A shorter distance than the usual Olympic size, Harris’ tactics were to attack early:
“I am used to going at it hard at this distance but the big hill on the bike course hit me pretty hard. But from the second lap when I broke away I felt much more confident and I just started to feel strong again. I wanted someone to come with me as I don’t normally go out on my own but I had a 20 second gap and just took off from there.”
And life of a modern triathlete means there’s no time for celebrating, next up in the British Super Series diary is the Mazda London Triathlon and a chance for Harris to pick up more points in the final event of the Series:
“Next up is London in two weeks time which I am very much looking forward to, I feel really confident after this win..”
The silver medal went to Birmingham’s Philip Wolf with Bridgend favourite Marc Jenkins coming in third.
In the women’s race Birmingham’s Jodie Stimpson won the gold medal, with Holland’s Rachel Klamer and Eastbourne’s Sophie Coleman coming second and third respectively.
Race favourite Helen Jenkins from Bridgend, South Wales withdrew from the race but the World Champion still came along to support her husband Marc, who came third in his race, and to hand out medals and thoroughly enjoyed the day:
“I have a busy schedule between now and the World Series event in Hyde Park and having competed last weekend in Austria I took the decision to not compete today. It was a great event and I thought the standard was excellent, there were some strong performances particularly from Jodie and Aaron which shows the future of the sport is in good hands.”
The twenty-six year old has her sights on the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series in Hyde Park next month.
For further information contact log on to www.britishtriathlon.org.