Triathletes and swimmers sparkle at the 2016 Diamond Tri and the Nuffield Health Tri Relays

15th August 2016

With the world’s focus on a certain sporting event in Brazil and national pride at an all-time high, the Diamond Triathlon couldn’t have fallen on a better weekend! Originally launched to celebrate London’s sporting legacy and with a never-ending choice of disciplines, distances and formats, anyone and everyone could get involved no matter their ability level or experience.

The morning of Sunday 14th August saw perfect triathlon weather conditions, with the lack of any wind leaving the lake calm and pancake flat, plus a slightly overcast sky meaning our triathletes wouldn’t get scorched on the bike and run. The village quickly filled up with nervous and excited participants, and for any with last minute panics (let’s be honest, we’ve all forgotten our goggles on at least one occasion!) Zone3 were there to help out with their range of wetsuits, trisuits and swim accessories, plus British Bike Hire were there to rescue any mechanical mishaps.

Kicking off the day at 08:00 were the Diamond Swims (from 1km to 5km), and with the lake at a balmy 21 degrees, our swimmers couldn’t wait to set off. Dorney Lake is an unbeatable swim venue with its clear water and handy buoy ropes – any experienced Dorney swimmer will tell you it’s just like following the line on the bottom of a pool! Swimmers could also get an extra boost from True Start Coffee, who were there providing a shot of much-needed caffeine to our early starters. Well done to our victors across the 5 distances and to everyone who took part.

1km: Emily Coe (14:49) and Rick Bristow (24:10)
2km: Felicity Hamilton-Cox (29:31) and Sam Dart (32:51)
3km: Mark Hyde (53:10) and Bryony Thomson (53:24)
4km: Paul Hare (57:09) Sarah Moore (1:00:03)
5km: Jenny Chaplin (1:12:47) and Mark Strakosch (1:14:15)

The first multisport event of the day was the Scootathlon, showing off the talent of the future and of course, providing some extremely cute entertainment for the triathletes preparing for their races. Children aged between 4 and 8 scooted 250m, cycled for 390m then ran another 250m before crossing the line to collect their medal, with varied levels of commitment and competitiveness! We do ask parents not to get too overexcited and competitive, but it always proves inevitable!

Next up was the Go Tri duathlon, designed to encourage complete beginners to get involved in multisport, without the barrier of the swim. Well done to Wayne, Ian and Carla for conquering the 2.5km run, 5.3km bike and 2.5km run! You may already have got the triathlon bug, but we’re challenging you to inspire your friends and family to create their own triathlon by using our exciting #YourGOTRI online platform to select a swim, cycle and run. Share gotri.org/yourgotri with your friends and family and help us to inspire the nation this summer.

Diamond Triathlon offers every triathlon distance you could possibly think of, with the Taster (200m swim, 5.3km bike and 2.5km run) introducing newbies to the world of multisport, the Novice providing a step up for those more confident (400m swim, 10.6km bike, 2.5km run), then the Sprint (750m swim, 21.2km bike, 5km run) and the Olympic (1500m swim, 42.4km bike, 10km run) testing the hardened triathletes.

The first wave of the day was the Olympic Women, followed closely by the Olympic Men 40+ and then the U40s. Joanna Klaptocz blew away her competition by producing a storming time of 2:33:45, and Jesus Gonzalez Tejeria won the men’s race in a blistering 2:09:54.

Next was the Sprint Women, again followed by the Men’s 40+ and U40 waves. Naomi Reynolds exited the water a good 3mins ahead of her nearest rivals, and hung on to her lead, finishing in a time of 1:13:41. The men’s race was hotly contested with only a matter of seconds separating the two leaders on the swim and the bike legs, before Jack Shayler produced an incredible 17:54 run to win in a time of 1:01:47.

The Mates Wave for the Sprint distance provided the opportunity for family, friends and colleagues to race side by side regardless of gender and age category, which is how triathlon waves are traditionally split. These waves are always extremely popular, which shows just how sociable triathlon really can be!

The Taster and Novice waves were a great mixture of newbies taking on a multisport event for the first time and bright stars of the future showing their already impressive triathlon prowess. Well done to everyone, with a particular nod to those who were conquering fear of open water, which is a big barrier to overcome for any aspiring triathlete.

All participants were greeted at the finish line with a diamond (sadly not a real one!) medal and a cold pint of the refreshing isotonic recovery drink ERDINGER Alkoholfrei. Nuffield Health were also on hand to soothe aching muscles with a complimentary sports massage.

Taking place in the afternoon was the Nuffield Health Tri Relays, incorporating the Corporate Challenge Cup. 3 different relay formats were on offer for teams of 2 or 3, and it was great to see such a range of abilities. Whether you were a triathlon club smashing the team time trial, drafting the bike leg and storming the run or a team of friends taking on a new challenge, we salute you! Congratulations also to Team Waitrose P&D, the winners of the Corporate Challenge Cup!

Well done to everyone who took part, and we hope to see you at another triathlon soon! We’re next at Dorney for the HSBC Triathlon on 18 September, however if you fancy a change of venue, why not check out tri for life presents the Woburn Abbey Triathlon at the stunning Woburn Abbey? Taking place on 10 and 11 September, there are plenty of distances on offer and activities for the kids. Check out humanrace.co.uk/triathlon for more details.