FARNHAM Triathlon Club sent six teams to Southwater Country Park in East Sussex for the Southwater Sprint Relay Triathlon, organised by Horsham Amphibians.

The event gives the ideal opportunity to experience individual competition within a club ethos as teams of three complete a 400m lake swim, 18.5km bike and 3.8km run in turn.

A mass start comprising 120 teams from the South-East region, combined with the natural amphitheatre venue and short-course circuit, generated an intense atmosphere as ‘races within a race’ developed amongst the various clubs and age categories, with an emphasis on team spirit and competition in equal measure.

Second overall out of the water after a frantic first out-and-back swim leg was James Porter for ‘Team Farnham Youth’ in 5mins 55secs. Following the undulating, rural cycle and two-lap run sections, Porter went on to clock Farnham’s second fastest overall time of 54mins 48secs, while giving his team a strong lead in the mixed junior category.

Daniel Cooke continued the good team-work with an equally consistent 55-19 overall before handing over to Grace Kinell for the ‘glory’ leg. Another impressive swim, bike and run for 56-28 brought the junior squad home ninth overall and comfortable winners of their category in 2hrs 46mins 35secs.

Next home for FTC in 18th position was ‘Team Farnham’s Finest’. Jacob Cross (56-50) and Janine Roberts (67-19) laid a solid foundation for Joel Knight on the anchor leg and he produced one of the fastest individual times of the day, 51-46, to give them fourth place in the mixed open class in 2hrs 55mins 55secs.

Less than two minutes back was ‘Team Farnham Allsorts’, comprising Haydn Jones (58-27), Katie Stanley (65-26) and Dom Brooks (53-42) whose combined time of 2-57-25 was good enough to win the mixed veteran first prize in 21st place.

There were no prizes for team names but ‘My Club Made Me Do This’ would have been a strong contender. As it was, the male veteran team of Jon Porter (65-25), Rafael Dubois (66-14) and Simon Fletcher (66-32) were proud to fill the next Farnham spot in 66th overall and 14th in one of the more competitive age-groups.

‘Team Farnham Fillies’ – female veterans Lynda Coggins (59-43), Marian Erwood (78-32) and Ali Richardson (71-24) – combined to finish eighth in their section (85th overall), while the family ‘Team Bourne 2 Tri’ members Kate, Alan and Claire Bourne clocked 68-42, 73-02 and 80-04 respectively to sneak inside the top 100 in 3-41-48.

Farnham Tri members continue to perform with credit in international competition, the most recent event being the ITU Duathlon Age-Group World Championships in Penticton, Canada.

John Nicholson competed in the standard-distance race, comprising a 10km run, 40km cycle and 5km run, and exceeded his own expectation by placing 11th (2nd Brit) in the M65-69 category in an aggregate time of 2hrs 28mins 34secs (46-34 run, 1-14-16 bike, 23-21 run).

The sprint championships over half distances saw Mike Rix just miss out on a medal with fourth place in the M45-49 age-group in 1-04-23 (17-48, 34-56, 9-03) and Ruth Jones finish 14th F35-39 in 1-18-39 (20-52, 44-18, 10-07).

Rix followed up by racing the Aquathlon Championships (1000m swim and 5km run) and came seventh in 38-33 (19-17 swim, 18-02 run).