Eliza Cottington, of Teddington Swimming Club, has taken her first taste of international triathlon competition – and she is eager for more. The 17-year-old donned a red, white and blue vest for the first time having qualified to represent GB at the ITU European Cup Race in Athlone, Ireland, last weekend. Eliza covered the circuit – consisting of a 750m swim in the River Shannon, followed by a 20km bike and a 5km run – in one hour, eight minutes, 21 seconds to finish fourth. She said: “It was a great experience and gave me a real taste of what an international race is like, competing against some of the best in the world at triathlon in the juniors.” Eliza finished as the top GB female junior, just under two minutes behind a bronze medal position.

She said: “I want to thank my coaches, Ed Sinclair and Tom Bennett, and all my team-mates at the club for supporting me.”

Source: Your Local Guardian.co.uk; 2:00pm Saturday 13th July 2013