The selection race for the British team ahead of this year’s World Junior Championships in Hamburg took place on Sunday.
With three slots to play for in both the men’s and women’s races, a collection of some of the best Junior talents in the country descended upon Mallory Park. Some athletes such as the winner of the Junior performance assessment, Lawrence Martindale, were unable to race due to injury. Millie Breese also did not race.
Nevertheless, there was an impressive array of future prospects on display.
In the women’s race, Bethany Cook led in the swim with a 9:24 split over the 750m. The field behind her remained mostly bunched with the likes of Helena Coy, Isabella Hayes, Olivia Logan and Lily Scott all in contention. Antonia Jubb and Eve Whitaker were also close to the front while Isla Hedley clocked a 9:31.
On the bike, Hedley moved up to the front of the main pack. She recorded a split of 31:30 compared to Cook’s 31:33. Both Jubb and Whitaker, though, were dropped from the lead group after promising starts.
The front pack thereafter mostly stayed together on the technical circuit. The first of the four laps on the run, though, quickly narrowed the race to two contenders.
Hedley and Cook took charge in the opening half of the 5km and distanced themselves from their rivals. Hedley already had a 4th place from the European Junior Cup in Quarteira to her name. Cook, too, had a top-10 from the Americas Cup in Sarasota on her ledger. As the kilometres ticked by, both were well-placed to strike home for the win.
In the end, it was Hedley that made the decisive move. She produced a 17:46 split to Cook’s 18:03 to win with a fairly comfortable margin.
Olivia Logan came home in 3rd place, 34 seconds behind Cook.
Hedley should therefore have secured her place in Hamburg. As per the selection policy, the winner of the trial will be picked to race for Britain. Cook should also be in a position to race in Hamburg. As the runner-up in Mallory Park, she will need to prove a swim time of under 4:40.0 to seal her spot.
With a third place open, Logan could be selected. That place will likely be a discretionary selection, though, meaning there is no guarantee Logan gets the nod.
Meanwhile the men’s race came down to an incredibly tight finish.
Tom Hattee and Michael Gar led the way in the water with splits of 8:23. Harry Courtney lurked behind, a mere 2 seconds back, while Struan Bennet occupied no man’s land in 8:40.
Shortly after, a group headed by Liam Edwards, Thomas Atkinson and Solomon Okrafo-Smart made their way into T1 over 30 seconds down on Hattee and Gar.
With a solid gap to play with on the bike, Hattee went for the “full send” approach. He rode away from Gar and Courtney and powered along the course on his own. He rode at a furious tempo and went on to crush the fastest split of the field in 28:48.
Courtney, Gar and Bennet were swept up by the chase to form a fifteen man group. Yet they could not bring back Hattee. The leader just kept going. Only one man (Josh Cumberland) rode within 40 seconds of Hattee’s split (Cumberland hit a time of 29:27).
As a result, when Hattee arrived in T2, he held a commanding lead of almost a minute and a half.
With four laps of 1.25km to navigate, he had to gather his strength to hold off the inevitable charge of the chase. The second pack eventually arrived in transition and then the hunt was on.
Brandon Pye and Oliver Mills moved well in the early stages of the run, as did Okrafo-Smart. The rest of the pack steadily lost touch with them as they set after Hattee.
The first lap passed, as did the second. And still the chase drew closer.
It was a brave performance by the leader but Hattee was eventually caught and passed by the flying trio of Okrafo-Smart, Pye and Mills.
The youngest of the trio, Pye won the Youth tests at the British performance assessments in April. He showed no signs of being daunted as the finish drew closer. Indeed it was Mills that began to lose contact as Pye and Okrafo-Smart duked it out. The older of the two had recently logged a 14:29 5km personal best but the younger athlete, Pye, had speed to burn himself.
With the finish line in sight, both unleashed their final drives for home. Okrafo-Smart managed to sprint clear to win by 3 seconds. In doing so he punched his ticket for Hamburg. Having been one of the men to earn a slot in Caorle, there was an element of justice in him making the team and his 15:04 5km split bodes well.
Pye had to settle for silver in what was a huge performance; his 15:01 run split was the fastest of the field. If he can show British Triathlon that he can swim under 4:20.0 for the 400m freestyle, he will also go to Hamburg.
Mills came away with the bronze medal, 12 seconds behind Pye, while Hattee held on for 4th, only 7 seconds behind Mills. Either could still earn selection for Hamburg on discretionary grounds. The final decision, though, will rest with British Triathlon.
You can view the full results here.
