World Triathlon Championship Finals – Torremolinos
The world championships were held at the resort of Torremolinos in the province of Malaga Spain, covering Sprint and Standard Triathlon, Standard Aquabike and mixed relay. Alongside Paratriathlon, plus Elite, under 23 and Junior competitions it was a packed programme.
Tuff Fitty are proud of the fact that we had four athletes in the resort. We had James Togneri race the standard distance Aquabike & James Mapley raced the Standard distance triathlon. In the Sprint championship we had Mark Walford and Stephen O’Donnell, each one doing well in their respective age groups. Mark was also part of an age group sprint relay team. It is pleasing that they have all provided reports on their Spanish adventure:-
JAMES TOGNERI
‘Wow what a beautiful place! I decided to take the my wife Harrie and kids for a 8 day holiday as well as race and I’m glad I did. The race was set on a incredible beach front with loads of bars and restaurants so plenty of crowds to cheer you on . I saw Mark Walford and James Mapley race on the Friday which was epic; the vibe is just like no other at world champs and the whole town gets involved’.
‘Both raced very strong and it was a pleasure to support. My race, the aquabike, we started with a 1500m sea swim. My race was 18 to 39 so one of the biggest waves. In my age group I had Filip Zabarowski the ex polish Olympic swimmer with a 1500m time of……. 14.36 . He was the favourite to win as he also has a strong bike. And he did. His swim was just under 19 mins which showed he’s aged 🙂 and there was a current we had to fight which slowed us’.
‘My swim; well let me start by saying for the last year or so I’ve swam solo because of time constraints. Family etc. I have never managed to regain my speed but … I decided to get back to Tuff fitty Thursday swims and I want to say a big thankyou to all the coaches. I swam 8 Thursdays with them before my event and wow! The technique sessions and tips got me back baby. I’m swimming faster in the pool and I felt amazing on race day I cruised from the back of the pack to overtaking 3 groups. I got out the water 1 minute quicker than the guy who beat me by 2 minutes last year . And I managed to conserve energy for a fast transition run only 20 secs slower than the Olympians transition. Tuff swims will be mandatory in my training from now on’.
‘The bike transition was set on a lovely palm tree’d location and it was straight out for 3 laps of a lumpy but speedy course on a dual carriageway with plenty of room . Some very fast downhills and a few climbs but definitely a TT bike course. I haven’t got out on the bike much only turbo sessions but I was surprised I knocked 5 minutes off my total time from World’s last year so I was very happy.
‘My goal was top 3 GB athletes to automatically qualify again so I was really pleased when I saw I was 8th overall and 3rd Brit. 2025 Australia I’m set on going but its a long flight for the kids and I wouldn’t want them to miss a holiday so it’s processing. I’ll just add not only is the whole experience of age groups amazing but you get to see the elite women and men which is incredible and makes the whole thing even more worthwhile. There is still big ability differences just like your local triathlons so you can still be competitive and not the fastest person.
‘Its worth doing for the experience so if your thinking about it give it a go’
James
JAMES MAPLEY
‘On 30th July 2023, I stood on the shores of Roker beach in Sunderland about to start my Standard Distance Worlds qualifier. Some 15 months later, there I was standing on the shores of Playa de los Alamos in Torremolinos, about to start at the World Age Group championships. 60 athletes in my 25-29 Age Group lined up on the blue carpet’.
Swim
‘From the gun, the swim was fast with the front group setting a ferocious pace. I stayed on the wing as we rounded the first buoy, keen to avoid being battered by other swimmers and to keep to my own pace. A light tail current made the cross-shore leg pass at a pace before we turned 180 degrees back into the current and then back to the shore. My time was 25m34 for the swim (1:14/yards pace) and the course measured around 200m long. I was around 21st place out of the water and was pleased with my pace’.
‘Into transition, we had to run from the beach, over a man made bridge and down into our racking area. Supporters lined the barriers all the way and made for an electric atmosphere over the 3 minute transition’.
Bike
‘After a short run to the mount line, I set off on the bike leg – a three lap, closed road loop exiting the seafront towards the ‘magnificent’ N-340 dual carriageway. Whilst it was not picturesque, it was a good surface, safe and plenty wide enough for passing safely. The course was undulating with a near-dead stop turn at the half way point. I had a couple of riders overtake me, however, I stuck to my power band where possible of 290-320w and recovered on the descents. I finished the 25mile bike leg in 1h 3m’.
‘Into the second transition, I had a prompt change and headed out onto the run – two laps of the seafront road’.
Run
‘You had to smile on the run. The supporters and volunteers generated so much noise and cheered you on so loudly each lap that you felt you had the ‘extra team mate’ pushing you along. The guitar and booming bass of ACDC ‘Thunderstruck’ was ringing around the home straight. Unusually for me, i focussed on pacing the run from the off. This paid dividends as the heat increased and cooling became my priority. I was pleased to finish the 10km run in 38m 12s and clock an overall finish time of 2h12m33s, 14th overall in my Age Group’.
Experience
‘The conditions, course and atmosphere were incredible. It was brilliant to cheer on Mark Walford and be cheered on during my race. It was also special to have my parents there to watch and soak up the atmosphere’.
‘Rarely, it was a race where everything clicked, I emptied the tank and could genuinely say that it was my best effort. I could not ask for more than that’.
A big thank you to all the Tuff support.
James
MARK WALFORD
‘Torremolinos world triathlon age group sprint championship. I feltt like it was the final chapter in a trilogy. It’s been quite a journey since getting a bike serviced in lockdown to triathlon world championships. This has been a great year but a long year and this race felt like it’s a month or two too late. I’m physically not at my best so I went out with the aim of enjoying it and giving it my all. After last year’s mishaps I went with the intention of turning up, race go home. Which isn’t far short of what happened, but that’s not a good read. So if you want a few more details read on:-
‘Beach start in the heat was interesting, 10m sprint and dive in, having practiced I felt comfortable in this. My plan was go hard from the gun and leave nothing in the tank. There were over 100 in my wave which made it a fight for the first buoy. It felt tough, current and chop. After the turn point I found some clear water and a little group of us came out together’.
‘Getting out the water, knowing it was a long transition I attacked hard and, managed to make up a few places. Quick jump onto the bike and I was away, seeing people in front I pushed hard, not putting my foot in until 2 mins into the bike leg. After the first few km we hit a hill and 4 of us was close, I decided to take the initiative and tell them we all need to work together. I shouted for us all to take turns and we found ourselves flying. We worked together for over a lap of a two lap course, only losing negligible time to a strong front group. But on the second leg a group of 3 split our group up and despite being strong on the hills all day my legs went and my working group disappeared up the road. Now I was losing time until a pair came past and we worked together until t2. I was now over a minute down on that group who I was with and very tired’.
‘Quick transition and onto the run. My Garmin was telling me I was running slowly, but I knew it wasn’t that slow, having mapped the course the day before I was ticking down the kms but no idea of speed. I overtook more than overtook me so was happy. Then with 2kms to go I got sight of the GB athlete who dropped me on the bike, he was once a friend but now a race enemy. I put everything to catching him and with 100m left I overtook him on the blue carpet and crossed the line -tank drained’.
‘After getting my breath back I was sat on the floor, contemplating everything I have done over the last few years, the tough session in rain that got me here, the joy the sport has given me, how once I was worried about results now I’m doing it for the love of the challenge. Suddenly I get a tap on my shoulder and a fellow GB athlete asked if I was OK. I said yeah just tired. She then replied, to be honest you look fucked! I strangely took that as a compliment’.
‘Saturday was all about cheering on others, first James Mapley, then James Togneri. Then onto the pro’s. Someone I met in Montreal and helped out in Eastbourne last year had a spare VIP pass so I went to watch women’s pros in the VIP area. My dreams of meeting Georgia Taylor-brown and running off into the sunset wasn’t to be, but front row finish line grandstand seat was an amazing experience.
‘I was also in the Mixed Team Relay which was fun but brutal, There was not much to report apart from emptying the tank again. Watching AlexYee win World triathlon championship series was amazing. Torremolinos delivered a great event, I have made some great friends over the last 3 years. Next year no GB races for me. New challenges but maybe in 2026′
Mark
STEPHEN O’DONNELL
‘A really good venue for the event all focused around the beach swim. There were huge teams from over 80 countries. Huge English team of over 200 just for the sprint race’.
‘The race started from the beach in age categories every 5 mins. All participants needed to line up in pens 20 mins before their start time. 5 mins before you got called down to walk under a platform and through a tunnel onto a wide blue carpet. The weather was hot on the day and with a few delays we were baked in our wetsuits for 40 min. The blue carpet start line was 50m wide and when the gun went everyone ran down the beach and dived into the sea’.
‘Windy weather and a current meant those starting on the left of the start line had a tidal advantage. Rolling waves made sighting on the buoys very difficult. It was an out around 4 buoys and back to the beach. An off shore wind had moved the buoys overnight so the 750m swim was closer to 1000m. With a 30m cutoff there were a lot of unhappy athletes who got DQ’d by this cutoff. My swim of 16:30 was ok for me’.
‘Out of the water; run up the beach over a ramped bridge over the road and run a course around the outside of transition and up your row to collect your bike. An approximate 500m transition’.
‘The bike route was a technical 2 lap course with a few hills and 28 sleeping policeman to navigate. Being a drafting race it was difficult to anticipate these speed bumps until the last minute. At the end of the first lap I missed the turn and accidentally started heading to transition!! I had to turn around and go back onto the bike course for lap 2 wasting 30 secs. Some interesting downhill sections on to a motorway were fun and some tight roundabouts with a reverse camber were challenging as were 2 180 degree turns at each end of the course’.
‘Back into transition for a flat 5km run out and back on the sea front. On a very sad note one of the guys on the UK team collapsed on the run ahead of me. Medics and army on site went to help him. On the way back past him a couple of minutes later they were administering CPR. I later found out he passed away which changed the mood of the whole team. Run finished in 4:15 pace which was poor but given the temperature was competitive Result 20 in AG out of about 115 starters A really well planned event with lots happening all the time most enjoyable event.’
Stephen
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