On Monday, Cassandre Beaugrand will be taking on the BUCS Sprint Triathlon Championships.
BUCS stands for British Universities and Colleges Sport and is the primary organiser of university-level competition in the UK. Having enrolled in a degree at Loughborough University at the start of the academic year, Beaugrand will be a part of the Loughborough team tackling this year’s Sprint triathlon championships.
The racing will take place at Westonbirt House in Gloucestershire and athletes will take on a 400m swim (in a 25m pool) followed by a 22km bike. They will then conclude with a 5km run.
A Mixed Team Relay will also be on offer. Over the past few years, and especially since the event’s appearance at the Tokyo Olympics, the relay has permeated all levels of triathlon and BUCS is no different. The team aspect has proven popular with the student athletes.
At Westonbirt House, the relay will comprise a 150m swim, 7.5km bike and a 1.67km run.
Earlier this year, Beaugrand took on a 5km road race alongside her Loughborough team mates. BUCS will offer a further opportunity to compete in tandem with her training partners.
As she will not be racing at WTCS Yokohama, Beaugrand’s next international start is due to come at WTCS Cagliari. With a four week gap between BUCS and Cagliari, the former offers an ideal tune-up for the latter.
Beaugrand, though is not the only athlete of note due to appear at BUCS. Also racing will be Dominic Coy, a silver medallist in the Mixed Team Relay at last year’s Commonwealth Games. He will be racing for Cardiff University.
Racing for Cardiff Met will be Hugo Jinks and Tilly Anema. Jinks is in his first season out of the Junior ranks. Last year he finished 6th at the British Junior Championships before logging a 5th place at the European Junior Cup in Bled. A maiden appearance at the World U23 Championships could be on the cards for him this year and a good race at BUCS would no doubt help to inject some early momentum into his season.
Anema, meanwhile, won a bronze medal at the African Cup in Dakhla towards the end of 2022. She is pencilled in to race at a European Cup in Olsztyn, Poland, at the end of May. Like Beaugrand, then, BUCS will be a useful warm up exercise for a bigger race later in the month.
Leeds University will also be represented by Lizzy Edge and Lily Scott.
Edge was recently the top Senior female performer at the British performance assessments. As with Jinks, Edge aged out of the Junior ranks at the start of the year and will be targeting U23 competition. A 9th place at last year’s European Junior Championships highlighted her potential and, after her win at the British tests, Edge will be a favourite at BUCS.
Scott will likely lead the swim at BUCS after dominating in the water at the British Junior tests last month.
Finally the winner of the men’s Junior test from April, Lawrence Martindale, will also be racing. He will be representing Leeds Beckett University and will be looking to build upon his fine start to his season.
