The University of Chester will be well represented at the world triathlon championships this September in Chicago.
Dr Ceri Nicholas, from the Department of Clinical Sciences and Nutrition, and Richard Bott, from the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, have both qualified to compete in the grand final of the 2015 World Triathlon Series, as part of Team GB.
As well as the elite races, where the world’s top Olympic-distance triathletes compete for a world championship title less than a year before the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, the event also includes top-flight sprint and Olympic-distance races for age-group athletes.
More than 8,000 of the world’s best triathletes will compete over four days.
Senior lecturer in Exercise Physiology and a member of the Welsh Triathlon Association, Dr Nicholas, from Mold, will be competing in the 45 to 49-year-old category under her married name, Ceri Cook.
Laboratory technician for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Richard, from Stanney Oaks, near Ellesmere Port, also an elite level cyclist, is competing in the 35 to 39-year-old category.
The championship race will see them swimming 1.5km, cycling 40km and running 10km.
Dr Nicholas came to triathlon relatively late in her sporting career, at the age of 40, and trains up to two hours a day, before the school and work run.
She recently took part in the European Triathlon championships in Geneva, where she came eighth out of more than 30 competitors in her age group category.
She had been training hard all year for the event and her achievement was particularly remarkable because she broke her collar bone competing in the same competition last year.
She said: “Because of my accident last year, it was particularly good to ‘get back in the saddle’ and I was delighted just to have completed the course. Finishing in eighth place was a fantastic bonus, especially as the competition was very tough and included a gold medal winner from the Sydney Olympics.
“But there’s no time to rest, I will continue training hard for the next challenge in Chicago, which is only a few weeks away.”
Richard has been cycling at an elite standard for the past 15 years, and began competing in triathlons last year.
He qualified for Chicago at the Chester triathlon on June 14, and won his first triathlon event the following week, at Denbigh. Chicago is his first international event, and his first as part of Team GB.
He said: “I first took part in triathlons as a child, so it’s great to be coming back to the sport. I’m aiming to continue competing as part of Team GB but I have also just begun competing in half Iron Man distances too. I’ve raced in the UK and Australia as an amateur cyclist, but Chicago is my first international event, and my first as part of Team GB, so I am really looking forward to the occasion!”
More details about the world triathlon championships can be found at http://chicago.triathlon.org/
