Double youth gold for Stratford triathletes

TRIATHLON

STRATFORD AC’s James Mucklow and Charly Marshall both won gold medals in their respective categories at the first event of the 2020 West Midlands Series.

Burntwood was the setting for the opening round and Stratford AC’s junior triathletes were out in force to gain crucial early points in the competition.

Freya Preece started off the Stratford representation in the youngest Tri-star One (TS1) division.

Preece (13:50) had an excellent swim followed by a solid 1.5km run and was narrowly nudged into eighth place.

Next up was TS1 debutant Ben Harrison (13:42) who put in a fine performance to finish ninth.

The TS2 category (250m swim and 2km run) was highly competitive, with Hannah Wilkinson (24:20) coming home 22nd on her debut while Josh Harrison (16:27) took 14th place. Millie Preece and Theo Skirvin took on the tough 400m swim and 4km run in TS3.

Preece (23:54) finished in eighth and Skirvin (20:27) impressed on his way to second place on the podium.

Next up were the open races and Mucklow and Marshall were representing Stratford in the full distance events. Both of them took gold in their respective categories to earn maximum points. Mucklow (24:35) also came home as second man while Marshall (28:22) was also first woman home.

Meanwhile, Vicky Sharpe finished as seventh woman overall and fifth in the FV Open category at the Tewkesbury Aquathlon.