Reports

Imogen Pieters – Orienteering

Posted on 10/10/202515/10/2025 by Lecky

Hello,

Thank you so much for the generous grant towards the World Cup in Switzerland last week. I really appreciate it and the support really goes a long way in helping young athletes like myself to develop and compete at a high level. Below is my short report and photos on the competition. I hope this is okay!

Best wishes,

Imogen Pieters

The 3^rd round of the World Cup Orienteering was held in Uster, Switzerland this year at the end of September. This week consisted of three races, Individual, Mixed Sprint Relay and Knock Out Sprint. I was super excited to race this weekend as it was my second senior competition that I have been selected to race for GB in, and after competing at the European Championships a few weeks earlier, I was happy with the shape I was in and excited to race on some technical Swiss Sprint terrain. We arrived two days before the first race to do some training and familiarisation to the type of terrain we would be racing in for the next couple of days. The individual sprint was about 3.5km in length and was a super quick race through Uster starting on a hill outside of the town and working it’s way into the centre. I had mixed feelings about my performance in this race as after a small navigational mistake at the start I then picked up and had a pretty good race for the second half and really enjoyed the mix of route choices and speed. I came 58^th in this race and 3^rd GB which I was happy with. However, unfortunately meant that I did not qualify for the Knock Out Sprint on Sunday. However, as it is still my last year as a junior I am pretty happy with that result and especially the experience that racing on the international senior scene will give me to help me develop as an athlete in the next few years to become more competitive at a higher level. The next day was the Mixed Sprint Relay which are always super fun as it is always a really intense but exciting atmosphere to be running against some of the best in the world. I was running last leg in a team of 4 and running in a pack of girls from Norway and Sweden for most of the race. I was pretty happy with my race until I realised at the end that I accidentally got one of the wrong controls round a building that was very close to each other which unfortunately meant a DQ for our team. This was quite gutting at the time and I was very disappointed, however, I still gained such great experience for the week and hopefully this mistake is something I can learn from for the future. I will also mention the highlight of the week which was seeing GB’s Grace Molloy come 2^nd on the Knock Out Sprint which was so good to see and such an exciting race and team to be part of. I am so grateful to the John Taylor Foundation for providing support towards this competition, enabling racing at an international level to be possible and to develop as an athlete 🙂

Rachel Brown – Orienteering

Posted on 06/10/202515/10/2025 by Lecky

The World Games Chengdu China

I would like to thank the John Taylor Foundation for supporting my trip to the World Games in Chengdu, China this summer. Their generosity helped to make this experience possible by easing the cost of travel, and I am very grateful to have had the chance to represent Great Britain on such a stage.

The World Games is often described as the Olympics for smaller sports, bringing together everything from tug of war to squash and of course orienteering! The World Games is a key focus for many countries, which makes the standard of racing extremely competitive. It was inspiring to be part of an event of this scale, with an Olympic style opening ceremony where I got to see one of the most incredible fireworks displays of my life and the amazing atmosphere of the athlete village.

The orienteering programme included three races: a middle distance, a sprint, and a sprint relay. The middle was particularly tough, held in intense heat and humidity through orange groves and small farmhouses, very different to anything I’d raced in before! The sprint race was a real highlight, it took place around spectacular ornamental gardens and temples, with twisting paths, detailed courtyards and beautiful views. The intricate terrain made for exciting orienteering with plenty of route choices, and it was an incredible experience to compete in such a memorable setting. The sprint relay wrapped up the programme with fast-paced head-to-head racing, which was both challenging and great fun.

Although I came down ill before the competition and wasn’t able to race quite as well as I had hoped, alongside the challenge of the intense heat (35° and 90% humidity is not something Scotland prepares you for!) the whole experience was still hugely rewarding. As this was my first time racing outside of Europe, it felt especially eye-opening. Competing in such unusual terrains, adapting to new conditions, and sharing the stage with the best athletes in the world has really inspired me to go even further with my orienteering career.

Very sadly, the week was overshadowed by the loss of Italian athlete Mattia Debertolis, who collapsed during the middle-distance race and passed away afterwards. My thoughts are with his family, friends, and teammates.

I am hugely thankful to the John Taylor Foundation for making this trip possible. The chance to take part in the World Games, explore unique competition areas, and represent Great Britain on the world stage is something I will never forget.

Dominic Coy – Triathlon

Posted on 12/08/202515/10/2025 by Lecky

After 3 years of competing for GB at various contential races, at the beginning of July I travelled to Tiszaujvaros in Hungary for what would be my first race at World Cup level.

Tiszy is an iconic race on the world triathlon circuit, the small town coming together to host a festival including two days of fast and competitive sprint distance racing for the elites. The weather provided an extra challenge, with temperatures reaching a crazy 37°C the Thursday before the race and still over well over 30 on race day.

I was super excited to get stuck in and challenge myself against some of the best triathletes in the world, my main aims being to perform to my best and qualify for the final.

In my heat there were some rapid swimmers that strung out the race but I managed to swim well, ending up in a large chase pack of around 15 people all fighting for 4 auto qualifying spots on the 5km run. I managed my effort well but got outkicked in the final few hundred metres and finished 10th, one place outside of the top 9 auto-q places.

Despite this, I managed to qualify for the final in a fastest loser spot, with a quick run where I pushed hard all the way to the line paying dividends. That meant a focus on recovery to go again the following day.

In the final I was well in the mix through the swim but a small mistake putting my helmet on in T1 meant I missed the main pack, having to ride solo on the bike. I pushed as hard as I could to keep as close to the race as possible over the 8 lap, crit style circuit, averaging my highest power to date in a triathlon and finished off running hard as I could in the brutal heat.

Unfortunately at this level the margins are small and that small error cost me hugely- the final result wasn’t what I was hoping for, but it was a great experience nevertheless, especially thanks to the extra cheers and chants from the crowd that helped get me through the race during the tough moments.

Overall the trip was an amazing experience and a great taste of racing at World cup level. Qualifying for the final and coming close to a great final result has inspired me to work even harder towards my goals for the rest of the year to qualify for the World U23 championships in Australia. A huge thanks to the John Taylor foundation for supporting me and facilitating a trip I’ll never forget.

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Jaiten Best – Track and Field

Posted on 23/06/202515/10/2025 by Lecky

To John Taylor Foundation.

I would like to say thank you for supporting me and helping me with my athletics journey. I am so grateful and it means a lot to me and my family. Because of your support I am now able to go to a lot more competitions which has given me more opportunities and growth this season. I’m so exited for the rest of this season.

I really love everything about athletics from training with my team, traveling to competitions and meeting new people, to supporting my friends and watching my self growth.

Thank you so much

Jaiten Best

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Logan McNamara – Triathlon

Posted on 17/03/202515/10/2025 by Lecky

To Helen.

I just wanted to say, thank you so much for the money and support. This has meant that I have been able to book to go on the training camp to Turkey. Due to all the ongoing costs with the Championships, there was no way I would have been able to afford to go on this training camp.

The training camp is just me and my coach and is such a brilliant opportunity for me.

I will be able to get much needed experience in sea swimming. Both the European and the World Championships swims are sea swims. I have never competed swimming in the sea and it’s totally different to usual open water swimming. I will need to learn how to jump over waves to get in and out of the sea and deal with tides and salt water. There is also a 50 meter swim pool nearby and lots of long bike routes. My coach has 2 hour climbs on the bike planned! There will be some really hard training.

All this along with the fact I will have 1 to 1 coaching really gives me a fantastic opportunity to get faster and stronger. I just wanted to say thank you so much for the support.

I’m also saving up for my wetsuit. I’m borrowing my coach’s old suit for the training camp while I can get enough money up to buy one but hopefully will be able to soon. I’m working hard with my homemade dog biscuit business to get some money.

Thank you again for all your help and support. I can’t wait to get racing, and I will let you know how I get on.

Regards

Logan MacNamara

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Helena Coy – Triathlon

Posted on 17/03/202515/10/2025 by Lecky

Hi Helen,

Just emailing to say thank you to you and the John Taylor Foundation for money towards getting new running race trainers.

I used them for the first time properly last night at the York 5km even splits race, where I got a PB time of 17:19.

I’ll also be using them for the start of the triathlon season when I’ll be racing at the European Junior Cup in Quarteria, Portugal, and then subsequently for the rest of the season.

The money was a real big help so thank you for that.

Thank you again,

Helena

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Freddie Carcas – Orienteering

Posted on 16/10/202415/10/2025 by Lecky

Thank you very much to the John Taylor Foundation for supporting my expenses at the World University Orienteering Championships in Bulgaria. Alongside the costs of the competition, the grant also helped towards a preparation camp in the local area in the days before the competition. This was to get familiar with the local competition terrain in Bulgaria – it was important to understand the challenges the mapping and terrain may provide. The format for the competition week included an individual sprint and mixed sprint relay, around the streets of the local towns, and a middle-distance and a relay in the local steep and rocky forests.

I finished 18th place in the individual sprint, a small 15s mistake costing me a chance at a top 10 finish. A solid effort, but I was outperformed by 2 teammates meaning I was in the GBR second team for the mixed sprint relay the following day. I ran the 11th quickest time of the day, another solid if not spectacular run, however, I was outshone by the GBR first team who managed to win the competition, despite being big underdogs, which was great to watch!

In the forest races, I was slightly further down the results finishing 36th in the middle distance and coming back 16th on the 1st leg of the forest relay.

These races were a great opportunity to test myself against some of the best orienteers in the world, and I hope to build on this experience to finish higher in the World Cup races next year! Thank you very much for the support that allowed me to prepare well and compete at a high level in these competitions.

Freddie at the start of the Forest Relay

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Archie Bordewich – Triathlon

Posted on 04/09/202415/10/2025 by Lecky

I heard about the John Taylor foundation through some other members of the Yorkshire Triathlon Academy. A successful application helped me fund some new specialist running shoes. I used my shoes to compete in the British Triathlon Super Series in 2023. I qualified for the top level national Junior Super Series following a rigorous performance assessment weekend at the University of Nottingham. I went on to compete against the best under 20 triathletes in the country and raced as part of the Yorkshire Triathlon Academy, which involved around 15 hours of training every week.

Throughout the year, I took part in triathlons, duathlons and aquathlons across Wales, England and Scotland. I finished the season 29th in the national Junior Open category, with my best result coming eighth in the Northern Aquathlon, a swim-run event in open water, held at Lochore Meadows in Scotland. I have also represented Yorkshire in the national finals for cross country running several times in recent years. I took the 2024 season out to focus on my studies and I’m now heading to the University of Exeter where I hope to pick up my sports again.

Many Thanks

Archie Bordewich

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Eve Pannone – Fell and Mountain Running

Posted on 02/09/202415/10/2025 by Lecky

In May of this year I competed in the European Mountain Running Championships, representing Great Britain for the first time as a senior athlete. The John Taylor Foundation helped support me in this as it helped me to be able to cover the cost of flights to Annecy where the event took place.

Representing Great Britain at a senior level has been a dream of mine for a long time and so to be able to actually carry out this goal was incredible. The race was in a beautiful location and was a really technical course. I finished 11th individual and our team won gold which was amazing to be a part of. Overall it was an incredible experience and has provided a boost of motivation for further training so that I can have more opportunities like this in the future.

I am hugely grateful for the John Taylor Foundation for helping me to cover the costs of travel to the event. Mountain running is a beautiful sport and takes place in some amazing locations around the world, however funding the travel to these events can be difficult, especially as a student at university. I’d like to thank the John Taylor foundation for helping me to have this opportunity.

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Jack Sanderson – Fell and Mountain Running

Posted on 02/09/202415/10/2025 by Lecky

Thank you so much for the generous contribution, that was used to help pay for my flights to France, to compete in the European Off-Road Running Championships, where I represented Great Britain for the first time.

I was very lucky to secure my GB vests at the trials, to race in the U20s Uphill Only and Up and Down races in Annecy, at the end of May 2024. With my main discipline being Fell/Mountain Running, I wanted to achieve results I would be proud of. My results were 11^th in the ‘Uphill Only’ and 25^th in the ‘Up and Down’, so achievements I was happy with, running as a 15-year-old in the U20s. To top the whole experience off, our U20 men’s team achieved a team bronze medal in the ‘Uphill Only’, helping me to leave Annecy with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

This experience and these results wouldn’t haven’t possible without the granted money, allowing me to pay for the flights to the event, so I would like to say a massive ‘thank you’ once again to the John Taylor Foundation for their help.

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