The National Water Sports Centre welcomed many of Europe’s finest triathletes to the iconic venue; and it was the Europeans who won both the men and women’s races with Great Britain celebrating second and third place spots on the podium in each race.

 

In the women’s ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup, it was an exciting race that saw a group of five breakaway on the bike including Brits Kate Curran and Megan McDonald. The five worked well together and pushed hard to maintain a sufficient lead over the chase group before the final 5k run in the sprint distance race.

 

Italian, Luisa Logna-Prat, who finished fourth in the recent Geneva ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup used her running strength to pull her away from the British chasers, taking the title in a time of 00:59.23 seconds. 

 

Commenting after the race Luisa said: “I found the swim went off at a fast pace and I had to work hard on the bike to get a few seconds ahead of the chasing group. I wanted to push hard on the run to the finish and now I am very happy despite the mixed weather we had today, although the sun is now shining!”

 

Kate Curran who finished fifth in Geneva was next across the line a further 30-seconds behind the Italian, finishing in a time of 00:59.53 seconds. Kate commented: "It was a good race and I was very pleased to finish with the silver, as this is my first ever medal in a European Cup race. Megan [McDonald] and I worked well on the bike together and pushed hard to try and close the gap, which was important, as there were some strong runners in the field."

 

Megan McDonald was not far behind ensuring two GB flags were needed at the presentations finishing in third place with a time of 01:00.00 exactly. 

 

The men’s race was the climax to a thrilling day of triathlon action at the British Triathlon U20’s Festival with Jannik Schaufler from Germany taking the win in 00:59.02. 

 

Jannik, who was competing in his first ETU Triathlon Junior European Cup in what was only his second international race, reflected positively on his performance: “The swim was ok and I felt very relaxed during the bike. The run was tough as I was trying hard to pull away from the British athlete behind me [James Teagle] and I couldn’t, which made for a tough sprint right to the finish.”

 

The whole race was closely contested with the swim breaking into two large groups, before the bike leg saw James Teagle drive the pace for much of the 20km on the front a large lead pack. As the race entered its latter stages, it became a battle between Jannik and British triathlete, James Teagle who ultimately lost out in the sprint finish.

 

In the runner-up position, James finished in 00:52.12. James commented: “I am over the moon with this performance to come in second, as my previous best was 11th. The swim was quite bunched with people jostling for position and the bike was very tactical which left for a hard run at the end to the finish. It was a good simple course and great to have the atmosphere of the supporters close by.”

 

In third place was Chris Perham with a time of 00:52.24. Chris was happy with his performance commenting: "I managed to get to the front during the swim and the bike was an even pace although it did group together on the second lap. This meant I felt really good going into the run which went well and came down to that final sprint." 

 

Both James and Chris had double delight in Nottingham with their performances securing their place in the Great Britain Team that will compete in the ITU Triathlon World Championships next weekend.

 

The event also hosted the British Triathlon Inter Regional Championships, as Tri Star athletes from across the Home Nations battled it out for the coveted individual and team titles. East Midlands won the team title, with last year’s winner, North West in second and South West in third.

 

The elite youth races also took place with Kate Waugh making it a clean sweep of wins in the women’s British Triathlon Youth Super Series with a winning time of 00:30.36. In second place was Georgia Hannam with 00:30.56 and Sophie Alden finished third in 00:31.06.

 

In the men’s youth race, Finn Barnes took the win finishing in 00:28.46. Finn was just two seconds ahead of Jack Kerr in second with a time of 00:28.48. In third was Barclay Izzard, who crossed the line in 00:28.55. 

 

Both youth and junior races today, represented the finale to the 2014 British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series. James Teagle celebrated the overall junior men’s title, whilst Sophie Coldwell who will also race at the ITU Triathlon World Championships won the junior women’s title. 

 

Kate Waugh won the British Triathlon Youth Super Series and Alex Chantler Mayne won the men’s Youth Super Series. 

 

The British Triathlon U20’s Festival was the curtain raiser as the National Water Sports Centre gears up for a triathlon take-over with the iconic Triathlon England – National Club Relay Championships taking place on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August.