The Optima Junior Boys and Girls Triathlon Teams left the competition in their wake literally as they both took home the British Triathlon Club Relay title in Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham on Sunday 22nd August.
One of the most exhilarating and fun events on the UK multisport calendar, the Club Relays revolve around teams of four using a tagging format where everyone swims, everyone bikes and everyone runs with the combined times being taken into account. With a 400m swim, a 15km bike and a 5km run any four triathletes can get together and make up a team.
The Optima Boys team, consisting of Pedro Vila de Mucha, Matt Myers, Tom Osborne and Bradley Hales won the Under 20s Junior Boys event by nearly 5 minutes in a time of 3 hours and 18 minutes. They performed so well that they gave some of the senior teams a scare, finishing less than 2 minutes down on the Milton Keynes Triathlon Team which featured Elite Triathlete and former National 3000m steeple chase champion Adam Bowden.
The Optima Girls team, made up of Olivia Bryant, Victoria Strutt, Charlotte Williams and Pedro’s sister, Maria Vila de Mucha raced later in the day and were not to be out done. They blew away the competition with a winning margin of over 25 minutes!
Now in its 18th year the Club Relays really are the focal point as well as the vocal point of the season for many teams who look to a real club event to bring them together and where camaraderie and teamwork really pay off. Since starting the event in 1991 with just 120 competitors, in 2009 over 1800 athletes took part.
James Beckinsale, Head Coach of Optima Racing Team said: “There is a fantastic team spirit within our club which helped the teams achieve this win. It is great to bring some national success to South West London. They have really done themselves proud. Hopefully we can get more juniors from the area involved in triathlon and repeat the achievement next year.”