UWIC Junior Aquathlon

Report by Les Watson

A fine sunny morning on Sunday 7th May saw 13 Pembrokeshire Tri Juniors travel to Cardiff for the start of the Welsh Tristar series. The event, the Cardiff Junior Tri Club Aquathlon, incorporated the Welsh Aquathlon Championships for the Tristar age groups.

The athletes continued the high standards established in 2005 and finished with placings of 4 first, 2 second and a third and so consolidated Pembs Junior Tri Club's position as one of the strongest emerging forces in the country.

The competition started with the youngest age group for 8yrs (Tristart). Competing in his first ever event, Liam Fitzpatrick-Smith put in a solid 50m swim and 600m run to come in first in the boys race. Unfortunately Liam is not yet BTA registered so could not pick up the Welsh title.

The second event (Tristar 1) for 9/10yrs involved a 150m swim and 1.5km run. The girls race saw Cara Watson emerge first from the swim and set off confidently on the run. A stronger run by the eventual winner saw Cara slip to second place 13 seconds behind. Cara's silver was Pembs first Welsh Champs success of the day. In the boys race Samuel Withers was first out of the pool but his lead was too slender over a bunch of close rivals who proved slightly stronger in the run. Samuel came home in a very creditable 5th place.

Pembrokeshire got their first gold in the next event for 11/12yrs (Tristar 2, 250m swim/2km run). The Pembs quartet of Megan Withers, Claire FitzPatrick-Smith, Kate Matchett and Meghan Good were four of the fastest five in the water with Claire coming out in the lead, Megan third and Meghan and Kate close behind. Megan Withers' superiority on two legs was soon to show and she strode out to take the Welsh title a whole 55 seconds ahead of second place. Claire lost ground on the run but came in a good fourth and Kate and Meghan were stride for stride for much of the way and an impressive sprint finish from both girls saw Meghan just take 5th ahead of Kate 6th. Joe Lloyd and Todd Watson were the Pembs representatives in the boys race and solid swims and runs from both boys had them placed 6th and 7th respectively.

The most successful event for Pembs was in the boys 13/14yrs (Tristar 3, 400m swim/3km run) with a 1, 2, 3 in the Championships. More great swimming saw Luke Cornish and Jake Watson emerge first and together from the pool and set off on the run. Alex Matchett was not far behind and by half-way through the first lap he had taken first place ahead of Jake. Jake hung on doggedly close behind but Alex's superiority showed and his lead extended to 17seconds by the finish. So a well deserved gold for Alex and silver for Jake. Luke Cornish finished 4th in the race but picked up bronze in the Championship to complete the Pembs domination.

The final event was the Youth 15/16yrs (750m swim/5 km run) and this saw Luke Watson come out of the swim over 50m ahead of his nearest rival. The question of whether this lead was enough never came into doubt as a fine run saw Luke stretch his lead further to win by 1 minute 46secs. The performance was worthy of a Welsh medal but unfortunately the Youth age group did not incorporate the Championship at this event.

So a great result for Pembs Junior Tri and it was no small feat given that 7 of the 13 athletes were 'out of age' and will be competing in the same age group next year (Cara, Sam, Todd, Megan Withers, Kate, Luke Cornish, and Alex). Congratulations must go to all the competitors and the Tri and Swim coaches that made it happen. Well done.

To view the full results, please click here.  All Pembs Tristars are in red.