The Dorney lake of the North people say? ‘Not too sure about that,’ states coach Yeoman as he, Colette, Mark Edmunds, Mike Armer, Colin Hinsley headed to Nottingham for the 1st Worlds and 2015 European Sprint Qualifier. Two hard races in 6 days is not ideal, but being selected last week took away any pressure for Yeoman at least. 
Mark Edmunds was literally up first, with a 2.45am wake up as he had to drive up to Nottingham in day of race so was already tired before his 7.30am wave start time: ‘With 240 people in the wave ranging from 15-19 AG 24-29 AG and 40-44 AG the swim was always going to be bonkers so I started out wide with the aim of banking inwards and targeting a solid swim as in my last race at Dorney 2 weeks previous this didn’t happen, so I exited the swim in a solid 11.33 which I was disappointed with but at least it was an improvement. Yeoman complained that the water quality was poor, weedy and smelly! ‘I went hard and was soon pushed towards the dock so had to slow down and reposition, losing the toes of the front two, but I exited the water in 5th and smashed T1, exiting in 3rd.’ T1 was smooth but slow for Mark Edmunds – he started with plenty of people to chase down! Meanwhile Mike Armer had a frantic swim start in 35-39 category with over 200 hopefuls aiming for the first turn buoy: ‘I got caught up in too much traffic in the middle of the field and expended too much energy trying to catch my next breath and avoid stray elbows and feet. I finally got some clear water with 200m to go and climbed up the ramp in a disappointing 12.04 for 750m.’
4 laps of the rowing lake followed for our Viceroys and the frustration of the swim led Mark Edmunds to pull out a strong ride of 30.12, picking up a few places in the process, but qualification was gone! After momentarily losing his racking location in T2, an uneventful 5km of 20.10 followed and I came over the line in 1hr 04min 40s : ‘a decent result after a poor swim, which just reminds me triathlon is 4 disciplines, not just 2!’ proclaimed Mike.
Mark Edmunds tells us about his race: ‘Bike was four laps of the lake totalling 20k and I managed to stay away from any drafters fitting on my wheel and worked my way to a 29.44 minute bike. I was out of T2 in no time chasing down whoever I could find on the one lap of the run. A couple of nasty climbs but generally a flat course which I ran a solid 19.31 minutes to finish with 62.52 minutes for the race. I missed out on top 100 overall but 105th out of nearly 900 people was a good result.’
As Yeoman eased in to the bike ride, he rode within himself as he was looking to have a solid run. Mark continues: ‘At the end of lap 2 a small pack eased by. “Are you f$€king kidding me!!”Spotted by the draft buster but unsure if they paid for their crimes. Coming into T2 I was 7th; looked to be light on my toes. The run course was fairly flat and for once I was catching people, only to then be run down my speed machines. Confident I was still 1st in my AG with 500m to go this guy who was running like his arse was on fire flowed by and pipped me to AG honours. I later found out he a) set the fastest run split of 16:10 and b)two weeks before set a GB age record for the mile. Good day as it secured me 2015 European qualification and another Worlds slot.’
So whilst all this racing was boy Viceroy racing was going on, where were Colin and Colette?
Colette remembers: ‘I had the privilege of racing in the toughest pack of women I have met to date. As much as I had tried to prepare myself you never know how you will do until.. The swim was like nothing I have ever experienced, all fists and feet for the full loop, but I loved the bike, and dare I say it the run too. I achieved a PB of 1:11:33 so pleased with my performance, but also inspired by those that were ahead of me. Good enough to go to Canada, we will see…. but I’m smiling whatever the out come’
And Colin? Remember Coach Yeoman’s rants about drafters? Opps, enough said… they were caught and penalised!
