This month has seen some big changes, after lots of consideration and time spent thinking about what I want in the future, I have moved further South to become a sports scholar at Eastbourne College. 
The main reason for the move, besides the academics, is the amazing triathlon club down here in Eastbourne. I have been lucky enough to be able to join Bodyworks triathlon club. Bodyworks is a triathlon performance centre and a British Triathlon Satellite Centre, which has world-class athletes and is lead by Glenn Cook – who has been the head coach and coached multiple Olympic Teams. With this wealth of knowledge and elite athletes training alongside me, I hope to further progress in the sport. Getting used to the new school has been tricky, but so far I am loving it, it has awesome facilities and some great people here.
At the start of the month, I had the final race in the Brit Tri-National Super Series, the ‘Big Weekend’ held at Mallory Park. This was going to be a tough race, as not only was I racing against Juniors, I would also be racing against elite Seniors. Again this was another sprint distance and I was feeling in great form, I was hoping to get an overall top 10 and secure the win in the series. We got into the water and the starting horn sounded, and we were off! I got a really good start and found myself with clear water, but due to a lack of concentration, I was heading towards the wrong buoy! I instantly realised, but by this time I had been swamped and the carnage began. It was quite a violent swim, and there was chaos at every buoy, but eventually, I exited the water. I jumped on the bike and started pushing, trying to close up the group just in front. 
I caught up and for the first half of the bike, we worked well together, closing the gap to the lead group to just 13 seconds. 
However, from here the group just stopped working and we failed to bridge the gap. The seconds kept rising and by the time we hit T2 the gap had grown to over 30 seconds. I had a dreadful T2 and came out last from our group. I had lots of work to do and set off running hard. I instantly started overtaking people, and I was feeling really good. By the third and final lap, I was in 10th place, but it was around here that I started to hurt. I tried pushing on but I was overtaken just before the finish and had to settle for 11th overall, and 5th GB junior. This was enough to secure the overall win, which I was super pleased with and a great high to finish off my best ever domestic season.
The next day I had been selected to race for Eastbourne Performance Centre in the Accenture mixed relay cup, which included Australian teams and all the top university tri teams such as Leeds and Loughborough. The race was going to be tough, but I was looking forward to it. I was on the second leg and had a very good race, bringing the team into the top ten. The team did really well and we came 9th overall, even beating Loughborough Uni!
After this race, I had some time to get some solid training in before my next International race, which was Superleague Jersey where we would be doing the ‘Enduro’ format, swim, bike, run times two with no break, however, our second swim had been taken out because it was too cold. I had high expectations for this race, wanting to repeat a result similar to last years. I felt in really good shape and was looking to see if the change I had made helped. However, the actual race was far from the idyllic race I had hoped for. As soon as we got onto the pontoon I knew it was too crowded, there were almost 3 people in each starting position meant for one person. This meant that as soon as we dived in, it was horrendous. People were instantly swimming on each other and even diving on top of people. I was pulled back and dunked so many times on the way to the first buoy. It was the most violent swim I’d been in, and one person even dislocated their shoulder. Finally, I exited the water, many positions behind where I wanted to be and where I should’ve been coming out. I went to unzip my wetsuit but instantly knew something was wrong, as the zip was not coming down. I got to transition and realised my wetsuit had been ripped and that my zip got broken in the swim. At this point, I had a decision to make. The first being to pull out and not finish the race. The second, to finish the race but continue in my wetsuit! Of course, I chose the second, and onto the bike I went with lots of people staring at me! 
I started overtaking people and made my way up the field, at this stage I was feeling quite good. However, after the short first bike, we came back to transition for the run. At this stage, I was starting to heat up, and by the time I started running, I wasn’t feeling good. 
Back into transition and back on the bike we went. This was where it went downhill, I started slipping back and was now starting to really overheat. I lost concentration and went down on a slippy roundabout. But luckily not much pain as I was padded by the wetsuit! Finally, it was time for the last run, by this time I had lost all hopes for a good position and could only think about getting out of my wetsuit. 
I eventually finished coming home in 20th, which isn’t too bad considering! Overall the rest of the weekend was really good, and I managed to get into the athletes after-party and have dinner with all the pros, which was great to find out more information. 
Next month I have my final race of the season which is Superleague Malta, which is another international. Hopefully, here we won’t have to wear a wetsuit and I can finally show what I know I am capable of!
Thanks to everyone for the support so far, Hamish.
Straight onto the bike and I found myself instantly chasing after seeing what was the lead group form just up the road. 
I caught the group just before the first dead turn of the race. The group started riding quite slow, but I didn’t want this to happen as there was a solo rider who had gone on his own. I wanted to catch this guy as he was the Youth Olympic champion and I knew we couldn’t let him get away.
launched an attack, and 4 of us got away. We worked well together and built up a 30-second gap heading into transition. By this time our breakaway was only 3 people, me, a New Zealand, and a Danish athlete. 
I had a swift transition and was straight onto the heels of the Kiwi. We instantly dropped the Danish athlete and settled into a quick pace. By lap 2 of 3, I started dropping off the leader and couldn’t run any faster.
I tried holding my own pace and settled back into a good rhythm, but behind me, some fast runners were coming through. With around half a kilometre to go, I was overtaken by a very fast running Swedish athlete. 
This meant I dropped back into 3rd place. I kept pushing all the way to the line and managed to take a bronze medal at my first ever European Cup! 
This is definitely one of my best ever results, considering I still have 2 years left in this age group and I beat a lot of people who have got some very good results.
I had a great time in Seville, learning lots of new things I could take into my own training. We did some solid sessions and I’m looking forward to going back again sometime soon.
This was slightly annoying however it didn’t phase me too much, and after a tough race I finished in 9th place against the elite seniors, 3rd Junior. I was very pleased with this result and even more happy to help the team get the stage win, and help them progress in the league! 
August is going to be another great month, with a european cup in Riga, a training camp in Spain and perhaps another French Grand Prix. As always thanks to everyone who supports me.
The course was hilly but fast and the racing would be run over a heats and final format. The first day of competition was on the Thursday. I was in the final heat of the day and I’d watched 5 of my team mates all qualify for the A final – the pressure was on. Due to never doing a European ranked competition before I had a pretty bad place on the pontoon.
Nonetheless I got a really good dive and surfaced quickly. However it was soon apparent that this was going to be a violent swim, one of the worst I’ve ever been in. After experiencing my first UFC fight I managed to exit the water in the top 20. I had a dreadful transition due to the thunder storm tangling my helmet with my bars. Once I eventually got on the bike I started hammering it. 
I caught my team mate up the famous Kitzbuhel course hill, where we managed to drop the chasing group and it was just us two closing a 30 second gap on the leaders. We managed to catch the two up, formed a lead group of 4 with 6km left. 
We worked really well together in the pouring gap and built up a gap of over 30 seconds to the chasers. I had a better T2 and we ran easily out of transition. 3 of us ran together and we navigated our way round the course making sure we didn’t run too hard. 
I crossed the line in 3rd place, more than enough to secure qualification to the finals.
Saturday came and it was now time for the main event. I was ranked in 8th spot and got a Much better place on the pontoon this time. I had a great start and was quickly onto a good swimmers feet.
However this soon ended once the violence started again at the first buoy. I lost the feet and dropped back. I came out the water in around 20th and had a much better transition this time. I smashed the start of the bike again and we quickly caught the leaders. 
The group swelled in size and almost everyone in the race made it to the group. It was clear this was going to come down to a run race if nothing was done. I tried an attack and got a 10 second advantage, however the guy I was with refused to work and we were soon caught.
This was slightly annoying but I still maintained hope of a medal. Heading into transition I launched myself to the front and led the large group in.
I came out of transition in a lead group of 4 where I stayed for the first lap. I felt really comfortable but going round the dead turn at halfway through the run I got caught out by the surge out of the corner and lost contact of the group. I dropped back to the others, but by halfway through the final lap my legs really started to hurt and I dropped to 6th. After what seemed like ages I finally could see the blue carpet, but another athlete came flying past me. I ran down the straight and crossed the line in 7th place and 10 seconds off a podium finish.
I was gutted to be so close to making the podium, but after reflecting on the race I realised there was no more I could do, and a top ten finish at my first championship was something I could be very pleased with.
I had a great swim and managed to reduce the gap to around 2 seconds, however this was still too much and I just missed them heading out onto the bike. These two worked really well together and caught the leaders, leaving me in no mans land on my own. I had to ride the remainder of the bike as a time trial, which was really painful. I came off the bike with quite a big gap behind the leaders now. I knew it was now going to be a really tough run. I set off running really hard and started making really big progress, but by halfway my legs were screaming. I kept running hard and eventually crossed the line, being only 10 seconds behind the Russians in 5th.
I think that was the hardest I have ever ran and I was so confused as to where I was at the end of it! I couldn’t stand up, but it was great to see the team there for me at the end of the race.
The next super series was a week after Euros and I was feeling quite tired. It was my first competitive sprint distance race and my first race with juniors. I had a great swim coming out just behind the leaders. Unfortunately it all came together on the bike, but I had a really good run and was in 5th place and first youth b, right up to 10m to go. 
Then disaster happened and I tripped on a cone! Losing 5th place and finishing in 6th and 2nd youth b! Very annoying but I know to run next to cones now! Lastly I had the Kent Schools 3km track race, I managed to come 2nd but had a pretty disappointing race, however my previous time meant I have qualified to represent Kent at my first English Schools track next week! I can’t wait!
I had another great transition and continued to lead out transition. I ran quite hard out of transition and opened up a small gap. By the halfway point I had made up quite a considerable gap. I turned round the cone and saw everyone heading up towards me. I knew I had made the podium, but I wanted the win. I continued to run hard and build up my gap even more. I got to the finish line relieved to get the job done and over the moon to get my first win of the season. I can’t wait to represent GB at my first elite championship in a few weeks time!
