ROUNDHAY Park in Leeds hosted the latest round of the ITU World Triathlon Series, with the sport’s elite competitors doing battle over the standard distances of 1500m swim, 36.2km cycle and 10km run.

Britain’s Vicky Holland delighted the vast crowds with victory in the women’s race, while local favourite Jonny Brownlee succumbed to an upset stomach and finished behind men’s winner Richard Murray of South Africa.

Hours earlier, the British Triathlon Standard Distance Age-Group Championships were held over the same course and distance. Three Farnham triathletes travelled to Yorkshire with hopes of gaining national medals.

Anna Bellamy exited the one-lap lake swim second in the women’s 40-44yrs wave with a time of 23mins 53secs and continued to feature prominently in the two-lap hilly and technical cycle, coming fourth in 1-08-43. Bellamy’s fast 44-13 for the 10km run was not quite enough for a podium spot as finished a creditable fourth place in an overall 2hrs 24mins 15secs.

Samantha Taylor’s race in the 25-29 category was a similar story of consistency as she duelled for second in a group behind the runaway winner for much of the race, but finished just a minute outside the medals in fifth, clocking 2-30-43 (27-39 swim, 1-10-40 bike, 45-23 run).

Gillian Barrett competed in the women’s 55-59 category, placing ninth in 2hrs 29mins 32secs with splits of 34-02, 1-22-27 and 53-19.

The Triathlon England National Age-Group Sprint Championships comprising a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run was held at Thorpe Park and this relatively local event attracted seven Farnham Tri members.

Anna Bellamy again excelled with third place and a bronze medal in the female 40-44 age-group in an overall time of 1hr 11mins 01sec.

This event was an early qualifier for the 2019 ETU European Sprint Championships and with final qualification slots still to be decided, top-ten spots for James Long (6th), Dominic Brooks (6th), Ian Howard (9th) and Sue Graves (3rd) look to have booked their places.

Results:

James Long, Cat Pos 6 M 45-49, Swim 10-56, 31-12, 18-36, 1-03-00; Dominic Brooks, 6 M 50-54, 12-07, 31-38, 19-36, 1-06-20; Anna Bellamy, 3 F 40-44, 11-50, 35-56, 20-56, 1-11-01; Ian Howard, 9 M 60-64, 13-09, 35-41, 24-16, 1-16-14; Ozzy Djemal, 43 M 40-44, 17-45, 41-56, 21-30, 1-25-14; Victoria Sharpin, 22 F 45-49, 19-12, 41-38, 25-03, 1-30-55; Sue Graves, 3 F 65-69, 19-01, 48-03, 27-39, 1-39-27.

Another international qualifying race, this time for the 2018 ITU World Sprint Championships in Australia, took place in and around the Olympic rowing lake at Eton Dorney. Of Farnham’s squad of eight, four guaranteed their trip to the Gold Coast finale as Anna Bellamy (3rd F40), Samantha Taylor (10th F25), Ian Howard (7th M60) and Lynda Coggins (6th F50) all achieved top-ten positions.

Quickest for FTC on this occasion was junior James Porter who clocked an impressive 1-07-27 to further enhance his growing reputation in the sport.

Results:

James Porter, 12 M Junior, 10-28, 34-43, 20-41, 1-07-27; Jaime Pearce, 26 M 40-44, 14-49, 32-50, 20-57, 1-10-39; Anna Bellamy, 3 F 40-44, 12-03, 36-26, 22-20, 1-13-01; Samantha Taylor, 10 F 25-29, 14-11, 37-11, 22-40, 1-15-39; Ian Howard, 7 M 60-64, 13-18, 35-24, 25-42, 1-16-50; Lynda Coggins, 6 F 50-54, 12-16, 37-08, 25-54, 1-17-40; David Barrett, 20 M 60-64, 19-24, 39-48, 30-47, 1-32-45; Sue Graves, 7 F 65-69, 18-44, 42-51, 28-50, 1-34-04.

The Crondall Triathlon has been bringing the village to a standstill on the first Sunday of June since 2004, with the Plume of Feathers opening its doors for their annual fund-raising event. Low-key in scale but big on fun, the super sprint triathlon attracts locals, families and seasoned triathletes alike for the 400m swim in Lord Wandsworth’s pool, 20km cycle around Long Sutton, Bentley, Well and back to Crondall for a three-lap 5km run around the village.

The finish line and prize-giving outside the pub offers the ideal opportunity for post-race review and refreshment.

The racing is no less competitive as individuals and relay teams return year upon year to chase previous times over the point-to-point course.

Twenty Farnham Tri members took part and the club’s outstanding performers were Helene Rossiter who has made the race her own for the last four years, this time in a course record 1hr 3mins 41secs; James Porter, who clocked 1-02-56 to finish third in the men’s event behind perennial race winner Chris Birch; and Cathy Berry who was the veteran ladies’ victor.