Date: June 29th, 2025

At the start of the month, I had my final day at Fraserburgh Academy. This marked the end of an era as I move from Fraserburgh to Stirling University due to start in September. This change will be bittersweet as I leave my family behind; however, I will be in good company training with my friends at the National Triathlon Centre.

After I left school, my focus was all on the upcoming super series races in Lochore and Mallory Park. To prepare, I moved down to Stirling into my flat to start getting a feel for how uni life will be. Unfortunately, on my second day down in Stirling, I gave myself food poisoning by eating an undercooked sausage, which put an end to my training for one and a bit weeks.

Once recovered, I slowly built back into my training ahead of Lochore super series aquathlons. The day consisted of three races of various lengths.
Race 1 – 800m swim, 1k run
Race 2 – 500m swim, 2k run
Race 3 – 300m swim, 3k run

As soon as I started, I knew I wasn’t on a good day; my arms felt heavy, and my legs had no life. Not a good day to feel bad with the exhausting format.
After my poor performance at Lochore, my focus shifted to the next weekend for Mallory Park Super Series heats and finals.

Down at Mallory Park, the Saturday afternoon consisted of the heats, with the top nine qualifying for the A final the next day. I had a good swim in the heat, coming out the water with the leaders. On the bike, a small group of four, including me, was chasing the leaders out in front. There was no stress to close the gap, as we had a decent lead on those behind. The run was nice and controlled, taking third place in my heat. Post-race, we headed back to the hotel and got some pizza, then slept.

The final consisted of a 400m swim, 8k bike, and 2k run – short distances with fast speed. I was excited, however, as it was a European championship qualifier race; the nerves crept in.

In the water, I got a good position on the start line, which allowed me to get some clear water for the start until the first buoy, where it bunched up. I ended up coming out of the water with the main front group, with one of my
friends well off the front of the swim.
I sprinted up into transition and jumped onto my bike with people that would eventually form the front bike pack. I tried not to do too much work, however, and tried to force a split at some point. I came off the bike at the front of the big group, allowing me a smooth transition to the run. I exited transition in second place, on the leader’s shoulder, then I just started moving backwards. I was just unable to keep my legs turning over fast. As the run progressed, more and more people passed me, finally finishing in 16th place. Safe to say that was not the result I was hoping for, missing out on Euros qualification.

Now all I need to do is keep my head down and focus my training toward the remainder of the Super Series races.