Trevor, Conor, Fab, Phil Goss, Pete Bell, Em and Colette took the Vachery Triathlon Festival by storm this weekend – achieving between them an amazing one AG winner (Trevor, who would equally have been winner in either of the 2 age groups beneath his ‘vintage’ group) a third place overall sprint female (Colette) and a third AG place (Fab). Conor completed his first ever Olympic tri and all competed an a challenging race over some brutal hills.

Panic was the first reaction of each competitor to the lake swim: for Phil, being told on arrival that wet suits were banned did not go down too well, having not swum OW without one before (apart from at the beach, obviously!), his stomach turned – but worse was to come. Each competitor told their own horror story of reeds and water lillies hooking themselves around arms, legs and goggles.

The bike route was great (according to Phil) who remembers the fast rolling terrain and Colette who loved the closed roads, but others talked of Leith Hill which was a tough slog. Viceroy racing against Viceroy, Colette had a vision as she approached T2: ‘to my left a flash of pink as Trevor caught me at the dismount line. I need to get those legs going faster next time! ‘

Other than speedy Peter, Viceroys found the run route harder than expected. Again, rolling terrain, firstly through a few fields then onto a closed road. Mentally it was tough, being an ‘out-and-back’ route – competitors hoping to see the turn point round every corner. Colette received an encouraging pat on the back from Pete as he sped past her – although she still finished 3rd (Sprint) female overall.