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.
