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Four Caerphilly athletes are set to push their bodies to the limit as they hope to swim, cycle, and run their way to world championship success.
Naomi Davies, Sarah Moody, and Jackie Frary have all qualified for the upcoming women’s triathlon world championships in Nice, whilst Gareth Selway is set to travel to Hawaii for the men’s championships.
The invitation only event requires athletes to qualify via Ironman competitions held across the world, with only the top three finishers invited to the championship.
Naomi, who is a part of Caerphilly Tri-ers alongside the rest of the group, spoke to Caerphilly Observer: “I managed to finish third at Tenby Ironman in September 2023 but initially turned the invitation down.
“Once I found out the other two girls had also qualified for France, I couldn’t turn down a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and decided to go for it.”
Naomi, who is a PE teacher at Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni, only started training for triathlons last year, and admitted she wasn’t even aware there was a world championships.
She continued: “I’ve always been a runner, and I did some swimming for fun, but I never thought I’d be competing at this level.
“I have to thank our coach Scott Walker, who runs Sawmill, and has all of us on specific training plans to prepare for each event. Cycling is my weakness so we’ve really been working on that ahead of the championships in September.”
The 30-year-old went on to explain how technical triathlon prep is, with Scott providing spreadsheets of how each athlete is performing by numbers.
“I just try to keep my thinking to a minimal. I basically show-up and do as I’m told. We all support each other though and there’s a great family ethos to the whole set-up.”
Gareth, who will take part in the men’s championship in Hawaii, also spoke to Caerphilly Observer and said: “I qualified in Tenby in 2022 but wanted to hold-off a year so I could compete in Hawaii.
“Its been all guns blazing in terms of preparation. The trip is self-funded so I’ve been focusing on getting that side of things sorted too.”
More information about Caerphilly Tri-ers can be found on social media.
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