When Viceroys take on a triathlon, they do it in style and Windsor was no exception – just a few statistical highlights: Mark Yeoman 1^st place Sprint Distance; Scott Forsyth 3^rd place AG (Olympic) and PBs in all disciplines; Carl Fisher 13 minutes off last year’s time; Carla Gilbey 11 minutes off previous Olympic tri and swim PB; Lloyd Cosgrove PB by 10 minutes; Rachel Hall PB by 5 minutes; Lara 5^th AG on bike; Andrea 3^rd AG on bike; James Turner first sub 2:20 Olympic; Peter Bell 2:22 Olympic; Karen Clarke-Hoffman and Andrea Whelband first Olympic Triathlon.

Whilst Mark was crossing the finish line 2 minutes ahead of his nearest competition, the rest of the Viceroys were looking at the Thames current with trepidation – people were going backwards in the strong current! Rachel explains: ‘The swim is usually my favourite bit, I say usually! This was a very different swim for me. There was a sense of panic and urgency in the air as the flow was pretty strong. It was chaos people shouting, panicking and generally grabbing on to anyone to help them.’ Lara adds, ‘I felt comfortable on the swim and started to overtake some stragglers from the wave before. I was keeping close to the bank to avoid the grade 3 rapids in the centre of the river and was really enjoying it. That was until the turning buoy. All of a sudden I found myself in a swarm of different coloured hats, arms and legs everywhere, and canoeists with people hanging off every available space – there were people all around me with grabbing flailing arm.’ Even Carl’s tactic of adoping the same swim strategy as Mark did not help him avoid a ‘tough’ swim.

Lloyd seemed to be the only Viceroy who enjoyed the swim: ‘I managed to get into the front group of my wave in the swim and held my position to the turn around point, two of us broke away on the downstream section and I managed to be first out of the water(a first for me!!!).’

Prize for the most dramatic swim goes to Peter Bell though: ‘I had a little chat with the coach as I headed down to the swim start (he’d just come across the finish line in 1^st place of course) – he gave me some excellent advice for the swim start. The swim was tough – strong current and everyone heading for the far bank where the shallow waters caused many to stand up and walk…however, I pushed hard and managed to stay near the front of our wave – plenty of “argy bargy” going on fighting for the line close to the bank…luckily our Shepperton coached session had prepared me for that sort of eventuality! Catching up with the waves in front near the swim exit made things very hectic and in the melee, I dislocated my toe trying to get out of the water.’

The bike was much calmer, with Carla particularly loving the experience as she was privileged to use Charlotte Hanson’s (Pro) TT bike which took her to 8^th in her AG. Kate and Lara were enjoying their bike ride, but both equally surprised to find that the course was 30k as opposed to the expected 20k! Rachel was happy to maintain her target pace all the way round and Andrea was placed 3/56 in her AG for a strong ride.  ‘Conditions for the bike were perfect,’ explained Carl, ‘and soon found myself chasing down the stream if riders in front. It was really hard not to appear to be drafting particularly with the guy on the Cube bike who traded blows with me throughout the course. Fair play to him, he came up to me post race and thanked me for the great racing. I had a creaking ride followed by a perfect dismount then a T2 from hell. Completely lost my place, thank god for the Marshall’s.’

Pam and Kate had been chasing each other on the bike, which was just as well for Kate who got lost in T2 and had to be guided back to her kit by Pam; second transition was all good for Rachel, but wants tri laces next time to speed it up!