Ten of our swim coaches participated in the Coaches Professional Developement Day (aimed at keeping coaches up to date with current practices) organised by British Triathlon at the Devon Police HQ down in Exeter, and here they are ready for lift off:

The day was a "Front Crawl for Triathlon" Workshop led by Archie Brew (previously swim coach at Kelly College as well as GB Olympic Team & Scotland Commonwealth Games Team coach) and widely regarded as the UK expert on front crawl technique. The day included both theory and practical session in the HQ's magnificent 6 lane 25m pool.

More will be revealed in the coming months at the Monday and Saturday swim sessions!!

Pictured from left are: Brian, Karen, Sue, Ellie, Jane, Guy, Lucinda, Simon and Jez, photo by Ollie

We had nine members turn out on Sunday for this year's Stroud Half achieving times of:

David Symes:   1:31:01 Dale Midwinter: 1:31:05 Alan Champion: 1:36:38
Sally Freeman: 1:41:31 Adam Teakle:   1:41:41 Guy Douglass: 1:53:24
Cameron Pay:  1:57:20 Abi Hawman:    1:58:10 Elaine Edgeworth: 2:15:35

Guy's comments after the event were: "It was an interesting day from a weather point of view. Set off thinking there was the potential to get too hot in my CTC cycling top, but after 4.5 miles the heavens opened and suddenly being too hot was no longer an issue! The heavens opened again in the industrial estate (really heavy this time) and I was grateful for the cheering of Colin Watkins et al at the exit back on to the main road".

Having had a mediocre second season of Triathlon, I sat down in July to focus on some improvement. A feature event and a Holiday, combined with a training programe from our lovely Sue Bathgate, gave me 10 weeks to get my act together for the 4th. October!

I have always had an interest in Malta and its history and I recieved a very warm welcome from The local Tri Club. How about a sea swim with a temperature of 25c.? Lovely, but on the day, the wind got up which made it easy to stray off course. I could'nt see the Bouys or even other swimmers a lot of the time. A good flat course helped me to a P.B. though and if you like the heat, then Malta is worth a visit.

About 50% of the entrants were Brits. It was a small (60 odd) but good quality field and as they say, "A Grand Day Out"

For those of you who know me, the sign I spotted on the way to the start (see photo in my Gallery) could have been made just for me!

Malta is a small crowded Island with rubbish roads and still bearing scars from WW2 but the old Capital of Mdina and the main City of Valetta, and the Grand Harbour are something special.

All in all, a positive end to my season! Job Done.

Over the summer, a number of club members rushed back from work on a Wednesday so they could compete in the Cotswold Aquathlon Series. The series entails 6 mid-week races during May, June, July and August at the Cotswold Waterpark.

Each race includes a 750m open water swim and a 4.5k run on the trails around lake 32. The atmosphere is superb, even on the wettest of summer days! Possibly the best aspect of the series is the post-race cup of tea and fig roll (or 3!)

Lucinda Neeves and Sally Freeman (pictured) competed in 4 of the 6 races in order to qualify for the series. Lucinda finished 2nd lady overall and at the prize giving received a Big Adventure Store voucher and a bottle of wine. Close behind her in 3rd place was Sally, who was awarded with a pair of Aquasphere goggles and a bottle of wine. With entry being a mere £10 per race, we just about reaped back our entry fee in prizes!

Elizabeth Haigh, Andy Monaghan, Simon Clarke and Josh Hand also competed in at least one race. Had they competed in 4 races, no doubt they would also have been in the running for some prizes!