Female triathlete, Erin Jeffery, from Farrington Gurney, competed in Bournemouth International Standard distance triathlon last Sunday.
This was only Erin’s third ever triathlon and only her second ever at the standard (Olympic) distance. Erin started her sea swim in the second wave ten minutes behind the first wave starters. She amazingly managed to be first out of the water out of all male and female competitors after a sea swim of 1,500 metres in extremely tough, choppy conditions. The beach lifeguards on rhibs and surf paddleboards did a great job ensuring everyone’s safety.
Next, Erin ran up the sandy Bournemouth Beach next to the Pier into transition one, to start the bike leg of the race, she was closely followed by several male participants. Erin completed the 40km bike leg out to Ringwood and back in a personal best time and was still the first female after transition two from bike to run.
Running a flat 10km along the promenade towards Boscombe and back proved challenging into a strong headwind, and Erin was pipped in the last few kilometres to finish in second place. Erin was first place woman in her age group (20-29), second woman overall out of 38 women and tenth overall out of 153 competitors.
As the season comes to a close, Erin next competes in this Sunday’s Midsomer Norton sprint distance triathlon starting at Midsomer Norton Leisure Centre, starting from approximately 8.30 a.m. All spectators and supporters are welcome to come and cheer all the competitors on.
Erin trains hard six days a week, before and after work. She does a lot of her indoor gym work at Farrington Park especially as the mornings and evenings get darker into the Winter. She is now coached by Richard Smith of Protocol Multisport and hopes to work with him over the winter as she aims to qualify for Great Britain Age-Group events next year.
Jon Doel