Wildern represented at the British leg of the 2023 World Triathlon Championship!

Over the weekend of 29-30 July 2023 the British leg of the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series took place in Sunderland. The event welcomed elite and amateur triathletes from around the world and Wildern had a representative taking part!

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William Yonge, competed in the Mens 60-64 years age group and said “I changed from a swim in the calm of Wildern pool and the balmy Solent, and ventured up to the North Sea, for the Roker Beach triathlon, in Sunderland. The organisers had laid on a taster session on the Saturday just before the elite sprint tri on their 750m course in Roker Bay. It was a balmy 14.5°.

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On race day, I lined up with the other triathletes in our pink hats with a 7:15am briefing for our 1500m swim. The marshall pointed out the course, along with a seal, around 9 buoys in a large R shape. It was warmer at 14.9°. No time for acclimatisation with starts every 5 minutes, so we lined up knee deep and dived straight in at 7.30am.

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32 minutes later, I was running for transition and onto my bike for 36km around closed roads (4 laps), followed by the 10K run around the marina (4 laps), and finally across the finish line."

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William finished 243 out of 514 of all ages, and 11th out of 38 in his age category.

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"It was a great experience, and good to meet and race against folk from around the country, and to see how the Elites raced on the Saturday. For reference, the Elite men swam the 750m course between 8.52 and 9.17 minutes and the elite women between 9.16 and 10 minutes – I can but dream!”

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Well done William, a great performance!