After a long weekend of racing, the British teams for the European Championships in Balikesir, Turkey, have been determined.
Several of the country’s most promising triathletes gathered in Mallory Park to take on the two-day event. A non-drafting heat on Saturday set the field for the final on Sunday. The final itself then consisted of a 400m swim, 10km bike (this time draft-legal) and a 2.5km run.
In the women’s field, Tilly Anema was the first over the line in the final. In doing so, she sealed the first available U23 slot on the team. From the start, Anema was in control of the race. Her 5:16 swim split was the best in the field and gave her a 5 seconds cushion over the next athlete, Sophia Green.
Ellie White and Jessica Fullagar emerged 6 and 11 seconds down on Anema, respectively, but both were able to made up the time on the bike.
Behind the lead trio, Bethany Cook and Isabella Hayes had enjoyed strong swims and were in the mix at the front. Over the course of the bike, though, they were not quite able to hang on to Anema, Fullagar and White. Instead, they were eventually caught by a large chase pack led by Lizzy Edge.
Several Junior rivals to Cook and Hayes were also in the chase pack, such as Isla Hedley, Millie Breese, Antonia Jubb and Eve Whitaker. With no Junior athletes in the front group, though, a lot of the chasing came down to Annabel Morton and Edge as they sought to secure places on the Senior and U23 teams.
By the time the field arrived in T2, the leaders had a gap of nearly 30 seconds.
Having logged the best swim of the day, Anema followed it up with the quickest run to take the win by 7 seconds. Fullagar came home in 2nd place which should be enough to secure automatic nomination for the Senior team in Balikesir. Green then took 3rd and could also be added to the Senior team.
Morton had the second fastest run of the day. Her 8:34 was only 2 seconds behind Anema. However she ran out of space to catch Green and so settled for 4th.
After a strong 8:58 split, Bethany Cook was the second U23 woman home (and 6th overall). More importantly, she was the first Junior over the line and so will have earned a spot on the Junior team. Rather than Cook, the second U23 slot will realistically go to Edge who finished in 7th.
With no World or European U23 medallists from 2022, the selection policy enables the British selectors to add the 3rd and 4th U23 finishers from Mallory Park. The next two eligible finishers would be Eva Edwards (10th) and Ellie Hobbs (12th).
On the Junior front, Cook won so she is definitely in. The second Junior to finish was Isla Hedley in 8th place. The selection policy demands that she also needs a sub-4:40 400m freestyle to her name to be sure of selection. Considering that she is also on the World Junior Championships team, it is likely Hedley will be taken to Turkey.
Not far behind Hedley was Antonia Jubb (9th overall). Again, if she can evidence a sub-4:40 400m freestyle, she should be added to the team.
One name not so start in the final despite qualifying was Olivia Logan. She is on World Junior Championships team so maybe could be included on the European team on a discretionary basis depending on the reason for her withdrawal.
While Cook, Hedley will likely be able to celebrate their places on the team. There was disappointment elsewhere. Eve Whitaker narrowly missed out in 11th place overall. Likewise, Isabella Hayes and Millie Breese slipped to 15th and 17th overall, respectively.
Meanwhile, Christopher Perham won the men’s race. As the first Senior finisher, he has almost certainly booked his slot on the team in Balikesir.
The best swimmer of the day, though, was Marcus Dey. Clocking a 4:36 split, Dey carried a 6 second lead over his chasers in T1. On the bike, he was then caught by a group of four men which included Tom Hattee, Perham, James Chantler-Mayne and Cameron Main. As a front pack of five, the men stretched their lead to over 30 seconds. Dey was the sole U23 athlete in the pack while Hattee was the only Junior. Both could therefore be confident of making the European team as they arrived in T2.
Perham struck clear to take the win on the back of a 7:28 run split. Dey impressed to hold off Main for 2nd overall with a split of 7:37. Although he was denied silver, Main should have a good chance of making the team as a second Senior athlete.
Joining Dey on the U23 team will likely be Jack Stanton-Stock as he was the second highest U23 finisher in 5th place. As per the selection policy, Connor Bentley and Hamish Reilly will likely have the next priority as reigning World U23 medallists.
If places remain, Matthew Howard (6th place) could go as the third U23 man, although his chances would be boosted if Bentley or Reilly passed up their slot.
After his brilliant swim and bike, Hattee began to struggle on the run and suddenly the door opened for his Junior rivals. As Hattee’s chances faded, it was Struan Bennet that took full advantage. With a 7:44 run split, Bennet finished 9th and was the first Junior man home.
Not long after, Oliver Conway out-sprinted Michael Gar to take 13th place (and the second Junior slot) by 2 seconds. If both Conway and Gar can produce sub-4:20 400m freestyle times they will both probably go to Balikesir.
After his disappointment of a 4th place finish at the World Junior trial, it was more bad news for Hattee as he slipped to 20th place.
Moreover, none of the World Junior Championships team qualified on the men’s side. Solomon Okrafo-Smart managed 29th, while Brandon Pye took 19th place. The best of the three qualifiers for Hamburg was actually Oliver Mills in 17th place.
With an entirely new lineup for the European Junior Championships, then, Britain should at least be able to spread opportunity among its rising men.
