Redruth's Mark Lewarne qualifies for World Triathlon Championships
6:09pm Monday 2nd July 2012 in Sport
REDRUTH’S international athlete Mark Lewarne has qualified for the World Triathlon Championships in Auckland, New Zealand in October.
Lewarne gained the qualification with a fast finish time at the British Triathlon Championships in Shropshire last weekend.
Lewarne said: “I am absolutely delighted to gain selection for this year’s World Championships.
“I went two minutes quicker than last year at the British Champshionships, which is a step in the right direction.
“It’s a huge weight off my shoulders knowing that I have now finally qualified. The pressure was definitely on in Shropshire and it would have been a disaster to get a puncture on the bike, crash or fail to finish for some reason, as this was my last chance to qualify.
The World Triathlon Championships doubles up as the ITU World Series Grand Final and also the World Aquathlon Championships and Lewarne is also aiming for a podium finish in the aquathlon.
He said: “During the past two World Championships I have finished 12th (Gold Coast, Australia) and 13th (Budapest, Hungary) and fifth in (Beijing, China) “Last year in Beijing I achieved a personal best finish in 5th in the aquathlon and finished just outside a podium place for my age group. I will be really pushing for a podium finish this year. Things will be tough in Auckland as many of the top athletes are targeting this event.
“I have really been working on my swim training recently and I have had the benefit of some intensive training with top ex-national standard pool swimmer Felix Hinton-Smith. I seem to be getting better with age in my swimming and in the form of my life and also enjoying my training which is vital.”
Lewarne has a couple of races to prepare for New Zealand including the Birmingham City Triathlon, Bedford Triathlon and a World Cup Quadrathlon race.
Mark, added: “Hopefully my involvement within international triathlon will inspire young sports people of the local area to continue to be the best they can be at sport, and give a real boost to Cornish sport in general.”
Lewarne also paid tribute to his continuing sponsor for the 2012 season. He said: "I have the backing of a top sponsor in Follett Stock Solicitors and I just want to go out there and give them performances to be proud of.”
