This season four Farlington girls have enjoyed great success in triathlons. Isabella Hayes, Maddy Giller, Amelia Wright and Gemma Cumber all finished in the top ten of their respective age groups in the Triathlon England South East Region.
Isabella Hayes and Maddy Giller from Prep 6 compete in TS1 (age 9-10): Swim 100m (4 lengths), Cycle 1800m (3 laps), Run 1000 (2 laps).
Year 7’s Amelia Wright is TS2 level (age 11-12): Swim 200m (8 lengths), Cycle 3600m (6 laps), Run 1500m (3 laps).
At the TS3 level (age 13-14), Gemma Cumber in Year 9 has to complete – Swim 300m (12 lengths), Cycle 5400m (9 laps), Run 2000m (4 laps).
In order to rank competitors Triathlon England South East Region chooses 8 event dates over the season, even though the girls take part in many more, and use completed times to allocate points. The events are made up of triathlons, aquathlons (swimming and running) and dualthlons (running and cycling).
Issy Hayes won the Billingshurst triathlon and came 4th at the Hever Triathlon. She won her age group at the Steyning triathlon, beating all the boys again! She came 2nd in the South East Regional duathlon at the Kent cyclopark and 2nd at the Ringmer triathlon. Issy finishes the season 2nd in the TS1 category.
Maddy Giller came 6th in the Billingshurst triathlon whilst competing in a higher age group and has been selected to be part of the South East team in the forthcoming Triathlon England London Region versus South East Region duathlon. She is placed 5th in the TS1 category.
Amelia Wright came 3rd at the Hever Triathlon and lies 7th in the TS2 category even though she only entered 2 of the qualifying events.
Gemma Cumber won a silver medal at the Billingshurst triathlon and is ranked 7th in the TS3 category having entered 3 of the 8 qualifying events.
Issy, Amelia and Gemma all swim competitively for Atlantis swimming club and sometimes these dates clash with the qualifying events, so to be placed in the top 10 is a fantastic achievement.
Gemma Cumber comments, “I really enjoy taking part in the triathlons. They are a great experience and very rewarding, although they are exhausting and sometimes I have to cycle and run in the pouring rain! At the finish line I always feel I have achieved something great and I am glad the pain is over!”