ITU World Triathlon Standard Distance AG Championships - Rotterdam

In the lead up to Worlds Angus and I entered Market Harborough Sprint distance triathlon as a bit of a warm up having not raced since the 1^st July. The race was on Sunday 3^rd September and was a very late start of 3.34pm for both Angus and I. It was weird waiting around all morning to race, definitely prefer racing in the morning so you have the rest of the day to do other things.

We arrived at 2pm to give us plenty of time to register and set up transition with some spare time afterwards to relax in the leisure centre out of the rain and wind.

3.34pm soon came around, it was the final wave of the sprint distance event. Angus and I were put in lanes next to each other so it was nice and easy to race each other, just like we do in most swim sets (I usually win 😂💪). I had 3 swimmers in the lane before I started and they were all swimming slow, so I knew it was going to be a frustrating 400m.

As soon as I started two swimmers had just pushed off the wall in front of me, one attempting to overtake the other and the other swimmer was coming up the other side of the lane so I had to hold back behind. I could see Angus was having some trouble overtaking in his lane so we both were off to a slow start. By the end of the first 50m I had overtaken the other two swimmers and then had about 15m of clear water before being held up by another swimmer who was now swimming down the middle of the lane so overtaking was very difficult.

After having a very frustrating swim and having a max of 25m of clear water before having someone to overtake I never got into a rhythm for the 400m but I did manage to beat Angus out the pool.

I jogged out the leisure centre and to transition, I wanted to try and make it out of transition and on to the bike before Angus but I knew it would be close as Angus wasn’t far behind me and I had to put shoes on as I can’t do any of the shoe tricks yet like Angus.

Angus and I ran out of transition in line, I shouted to Angus that I was mounting on the right so he didn’t get stuck behind me doing a slow mount. I looked up after getting clipped in and Angus was gone and that was the last I saw of him until the finish.

I struggled on the bike after falling off my bike the day before. It was very windy and the rain was on and off but luckily it wasn’t heavy. It was a two lap, 23km bike with a hilly section at the start of each lap. I was happy when the bike was out the way and I could give everything I had left on the run.

I felt good on the run, my breathing was under control and I wanted to make up some time that I lost on the bike. I gave everything I had on the run and ran my fastest 5km of the year (21.03) so overall was happy with my performance.

Angus won overall and I was second female overall.

ITU World Triathlon Standard Distance AG Championships - Rotterdam

Day 1 – Tuesday 12^th September

Our journey to World Champs started very early, 3am! It took us a while to pack up the car for the trip as Angus and I definitely didn’t pack light knowing we didn’t have a weight limit like flying and my family had given us their stuff as well. It took us until 4am to get packed and ready. Angus drove and I tried to sleep but stayed awake for the 3-hour drive to Harwich port. We arrived with time to spare so decided to try find somewhere to get breakfast. We found a Morrison’s where we both had a bacon sandwich and shared a hot chocolate. After filling our stomachs, we waited in the queue of cars to load onto the ferry.

7 and a half hours later we arrived in Holland! From the port we had a 40-minute drive to the apartment we were staying at in the centre of Rotterdam. After unloading the car and taking it to the car park, where it would stay for the week as the apartment didn’t have parking, we had a mug shot and watched a film before having an early night.

Day 2 –Wednesday 13^th September

Angus and I were up early on Wednesday after being kept up most of the night due to the noisy wind and the thin windows of the apartment which didn’t block much of the noise. We went for a walk to get some milk for breakfast but ended up exploring the transition 2 area, finish area and the registration area which was still being set up. We had brunch back at the apartment as it started to rain.

The rain stopped so Angus and I went for a run to explore transition one and the area in the docks where the swim was going to be. During the run, it rained heavily and after finding shelter we waited about 20 minutes but it continued to rain heavy so we got soaked on the run back to the apartment.

Day 3 – Thursday 14^th September

We had a busy day planned for Thursday, first up was registration. After raining most of the night the sun was out but it was still very windy with a lot of flights being cancelled. 

After registration, Angus and I went for our swim recce in the docks. On our walk from registration it started to rain heavily and we got socked. It didn’t look like it was stopping so we both attempted to put our wetsuits on as fast as we could. We found a café table to put our kit under while we went for the swim so our clothes couldn’t get any wetter than they already were. I was regretting leaving my Swimzi in the car.

We sat down and slid into the water, the temperature felt warm as we got so cold getting changed. The water was nice and clear and didn’t taste salty which was good. Angus and I swam to the first buoy and during that time the wind had started to pick up and it was really wavy. We continued to swim to the second buoy which was much further out, I struggled to get my arms at the water in the waves and as we started to swim for the third buoy I stopped swimming and started trending water. I kept getting hit by waves over and over and started to panic. Swimming being my strongest discipline I’ve never had any problems before in open water. Angus swam back to me and helped me try to calm down and get my breath back but I still continued to panic. A lifeguard on a paddleboard came over to me and I got my breath back and calmed down holding onto the board but decided to call it a day. Another swimmer with the same issue was helped on to the board and we waited for the boat to come and pick us up but it was busy and didn’t spot us as we were at the furthest point away from the start on the standard distance loop. We spotted some steps at the side of the dock so climbed out there but unfortunately had a long walk barefoot to get our clothes at the start.

We walked back to the apartment feeling a bit down and cold. I still had my wetsuit on and got some funny looks walking through the centre of Rotterdam.

A warm shower and some lunch cheered us up a bit but the rain hadn’t stopped. We had planned a bike course recce but it was still raining heavy so cuddled up and watched some Netflix.

After an hour, we decided to brave cycling in the rain as with a technical course, Angus and I really wanted to practise and see if it was as bad as people were making out. Luckily, I had packed all our winter gear and waterproof jackets so we both could get wrapped up and try to stay as warm as we could on the ride.

It had been raining heavy all day so a lot of the cycle paths were flooded so we were only riding slow. If I wasn’t so annoyed about the swim recce I would definitely have just turned back straight away as I hate cycling when its wet and windy but I was determined to do at least one full recce. My determination was definitely tested after we went over the first bridge, my carbon brakes don’t like heavy rain and weren’t working very well and it was a strong wind. Not long after that bridge there was another a small lifting bridge that was up so we stopped and waited in the heavy rain. We were getting soaked and my waterproof jacket had given up so we both were just stood getting cold. After all that we called it a day on the bike recce after only 2.5 miles and rode back to the apartment. We went home and showered after a disappointing day.

In the evening, it was the opening ceremony followed by the pasta party. This definitely got Angus and I excited to race again! The pasta was nice and we got fairly big portions compared to some other pasta party’s we’ve been to. We didn’t stay long as my parents, brother and sister were arriving at the airport so Angus and I walked there after our pasta to meet them.

Annoyingly my family had got the fast train and arrived earlier than intended so we missed them and waited at the train station for almost an hour for no reason while they had gone out for dinner. We eventually found them and went back to the apartment.

Day 4 – Friday 15^th September

On Friday Angus and I had a relaxed morning and breakfast with my family before heading to the outdoor pool to make up for the lack of swimming we did in the recce and to help calm the nerves. It was a sunny morning so was a much nicer walk that to the swim recce the day before.

Before swimming Angus and I took some pictures,

We did 400m easy then some 50s with a max 10m at the start and then some 100s as 50m max, 50m easy and then a few drills with some sighting. There were lots of athletes in the morning from a variety of countries and some had coaches at the side of the pool giving them instructions so my brother Rob and sister Tory decided to pretend to be our coaches until they got bored and took videos on the go pro so that it died and we couldn’t take any swimming videos 😢

It started to rain when Angus and I were getting changed outside, I remembered my Swimzi this time so it was nice and cosy after the swim for the walk back to the apartment.

After having lunch at the apartment Angus and I went to do a bike recce as the sun had come out again. My family stayed at the apartment as Tory and Rob had to do schoolwork as they were missing school to be able to watch me race.

The bike recce didn’t start off very well, it was busy on the cycle paths and there were a lot of pedestrians around. I was following Angus when a guy stepped out on the cycle path in front of me and I held my breath and shut my eyes and I have no idea how I missed him, it was a blur, then on the other side of the cycle path a guy on his phone stepped out in front of a moped who swerved onto my side and that was a close miss too.

After a couple of miles, we were out of the busy bit so cold relax a bit more and enjoy cycling in the sun. We got to the lifting bridge and it was stuck open, great. Angus and I were given directions to go back the way we came and go over a different bridge.

Eventually we made it back on to the other side of the bridge and could continue from where we got to the day before. The route seemed better in person than on the online video which was good.

Then we were halfway through and we came to a big bridge which was much higher and longer than the others. My biggest fear is heights, I’m petrified. My family are well aware of my fear unlike Angus so it was a new experience for him. Angus was really supportive and calming so I was glad it was him I was with. It took me a while to make it across the bridge as the cycle path the right next to the railings so I couldn’t help but see how far up we were. Lots of crying, hyperventilating and shaking and I think Angus was as relieved as I was that we had made it.

The rest of the cycle route back was nice and luckily the rain stayed away long enough for us to make it back to the apartment.

That evening we all went to watch the elite U23 mens race.

Day 5 – Saturday 16^th September

After having breakfast Angus and Rob went for a morning run at 8 to watch the elite junior mens race. I stayed and watched Netflix with my sister with bad period pains, great timing body! When Angus got back we started to get some of our kit ready for race day before going to our race briefing at the Team GB hotel. Afterwards we went to watch the elite U23 women’s race before going back to the apartment to finish getting our kit ready for race day and our bikes ready for racking.

In the afternoon Angus and I had to have our bikes checked and then rack them in transition 1. We then watched the elite female’s swim before walking to Decathlon to look for a base layer. I had a bad experience at Castle Cholmondeley where I got too cold and I didn’t want a repeat of that at World Champs. Unfortunately, most athletes had had the same idea as they were sold out of all the women’s XS, S, M and L base layers with only XL left. All the small mens were sold out too so we searched the shop for an alternative which many other athletes were doing too. Luckily, I found a surfing top that fitted and would work instead, it was the last XS with only big sizes left afterwards so we quickly bought it and walked back to the apartment to relax and eat lots of pasta.

Day 6 – Sunday 17^th September

RACE DAY!!!!!!

3am, another early start! Angus was up first to make porridge while I lazily stayed in bed for another 10 minutes. I was very nervous and struggled to eat my porridge but forced myself to eat as much as I could as I’d thank myself later.

We got the rest of our kit together, put our tattoos on and left at 4.20am to get to transition 2 to put our trainers there. It was important to catch the first boat to from transition 2 to 1 as they were only every hour so we left in plenty of time. We were the first people there so sat on the path and waited to be let in.  

Just after 5 we were let in and Angus and I just had to put talc and Vaseline in our shoes, our visors on top and a gel down just in case before going to catch the boat.

We sat on the boat and started drinking our High5 energy drink. The boat trip took about 15 minutes and then we had plenty of time to get our transition 1 ready and kit organised. My personal mechanic, Angus, came and checked my bike over and pumped up my wheels while I put my cycling shoes down with some gloves, inhaler, sunglasses, helmet and my blue swim bag. I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to be like so I wanted to be prepared.

Angus and I got our Zone3 Vanquish wetsuits on near the start where we met up with my family and tried to keep warm. Annoyingly the races were delayed by 20 minutes so we both had our Isogel X’treme’s very early and I couldn’t feel my feet as it was a chilly morning.

It was just after 8am as my wave lined up on the pontoon. I stood by the number 20 as there was a big gap so I had plenty of room. With 1 minute to go we got into the water and held on to the pontoon. The temperature was nice as I was cold from waiting around, it felt even nicer after I’d had a wee in my wetsuit. Soon the horn went and I started swimming, my goggles had fogged up and with the sun just coming up that’s all I could see every time I looked up. I had no idea where I was supposed to be swimming so I tried to swim near someone else and hope that their eyesight and goggles were better than mine. I was swimming hard but felt I could swim harder but couldn’t see anything and didn’t want to lose the swimmer I was with so made the decision to stay with her and speed up once we were going back in the direction away from the sun. With about 500m to go I lost the girl I was swimming with as I swum away and picked up my pace. I could just about make out where I was going which was good enough. I exited the water in 8^th place on my own having not been with the front group and leaving the group that had formed behind me.

It was a long run to transition and my feet were so cold I couldn’t feel them which was probably a good thing running barefoot on a thin carpet. I had an okay transition, decided not to wear sunglasses or gloves so put them in my blue swim bag with my wetsuit and hat and goggles.

Out on the bike I was sat up and stiff. Recently I’ve had a big knock of confidence on the bike and I took everything on the bike with caution. Ever since the bike recce I knew that my biggest hurdle of the race was going to be making it over the scary bridge on my own. Even starting the bike, I had that bridge on my mind so I was really tense and uncomfy on the bike.

I soon arrived at the bridge I’d been dreading and as expected I was shaky and crying which was also wasting energy. I looked forward and cycled as straight as I could, thankfully we were on the other side of the cycle path so I was further away from the edge which helped massively. I also had encouragement from passing cyclists which also helped so thank you.

After making it over the bridge I was proud of myself and had calmed down a bit and picked up the pace trying to make up for lost time from the first 8 miles.

As the bike went on I felt a bit more confident and it had stayed dry which helped too. Soon I was on the scary bridge again but this time there was a crash just ahead of me and a drafting motorbike stopped behind causing a bit of a pile up and cyclists started going around on the path close to the railings so I waited for the other to clear costing me a minute but it meant I made it over the bridge for the last time. I was so happy when the bridge was over and worked hard on the rest of the bike to T2.

I racked my bike and put my shoes and visor on before starting the 10km run. It was a twisty run with a few little digs but mainly flat. I felt quite sluggish on the run but gave everything I had. On the second lap, I clumsily fell over a tree stump and then further along my inhaler fell out of my pocket so I ran back for it where I got some funny looks going to wrong way but only cost me a few seconds. I made up a few places on the run and only lost one so was pleased.

I was happy to run towards to finish but after just being overtaken by a Canadian woman who I had overtaken about 1km ago, I had to do my first ever sprint finish which was very difficult when you’re tired and as bad at sprinting as me. You’ll be glad to know I won it but it hurt as you can tell by my gritted teeth 😁😂

I finished 29^th 20-24 out of 49 and being the youngest in the age group is a good result. It wasn’t a race that suited my strengths but I was pleased with my performance on the day. The competition was much tougher in the standard distance with it being the main event as it’s the same distance that the elites race.

Well done to Angus who came 14^th in the 20-24 age group on a course that didn’t suit him either. So proud of you!

Day 7 and Day 8 –Monday 18^th September and Tuesday 19^th September

On our last 1 and a half days in Rotterdam Angus and I did some sightseeing.

Thanks for reading about my experience at the World Triathlon Championships Rotterdam! A review of my 2017 season will be posted soon along with my plans for 2018 and winter training/races, fingers crossed this will be the first year I’ll be doing winter training! Yay!

Thank you so much to all my sponsors this year for all your support!

Emily