Congratulations to Kettering Town Harrier Claudia Kelsall who won the age group (20-24) ETU European Sprint Distance Championship Qualifier at Chatsworth House, and with the top 3 selected for GB European Championships in Dusseldorf in 2017 Claudia qualified for her first International Triathlon as a member of the GB team.
The University of bath student who has been training with the a number of Bath based GB Triathlon squad members was delighted with her win and the opportunity to represent her country, and puts some of her success down to the squad tough training sessions with the Harriers which include sessions at Merthyr Mawr sand dunes and cross county sessions at Irchester country park.
Claudia Kelsall finishing her 5k run to win the 20-24 AG triathlon & GB selection.
Claudia arrived at Chatsworth house, one of the country’s finest stately homes and acknowledged as one of the toughest Triathlon events in the county, in the early hours of the morning for the 07:00 start. She was dreading the opening discipline, a 750m open water swim in the river Derwent which was a chilly 12 degrees, but the swim went well despite the brutality of the open water swim which resulted in her being dunked on a number of occasions, she emerged in a credible 11th place for her Age category (49th overall women) ready for the transition into cycling section, completing the swim in a credible 15:05.
Heading into the cycling discipline, a single 21km loop around the beautiful peak district countryside, Claudia knew she had a lot of work to do to make up the deficit and the hilly terrain suited Claudia much more allowing her to set the fastest time in her age category with 39:33, clawing her way back into contention making up 38 places in the overall women’s category.
In the final discipline the 5km run, Claudia’s best event, she again set the fastest time in the age category by over a minute and the second fastest time for the women's race overall on a very hilly course described as a fell run, finishing in 23:14 and making up another 7 places to finish 4th overall women and take the 20-24 AG win.
Claudia was delighted with her win, particularly as she has spent 15 hours travelling from France, including a breakdown, as preparation for the event. She is still a relative novice at the event and is learning the more technical aspects of the sport, especially the transitions where she has plenty of opportunity to reduce her overall time. Claudia is eagerly awaiting the event in 2017 and will be working hard over the coming months to improve her performance in all the disciplines.
Well Done Claudia!