A RECORD 32 athletes from Leweston School were selected to represent Great Britain at the European Triathle in Portugal after a successful staging of the first South West Triathle Championships.

Held at Leweston, the meeting doubled as a qualifying event for the European Championships in Setubal, with the top six in each event being picked for Great Britain.

Leweston Pentathlon Academy had 47 participants in the South West Triathle, taking home an impressive five gold, four silver and four bronze medals.

Staged in a modern pentathlon format, the triathle is a continuous shoot, swim and run event with set distances for each discipline. The circuit is then repeated four times.

Libby Tolley won the girls’ under-19 category, with further wins for George Case in the boys’ under-17s, Sam Cobb in the boys’ under-15s, Jack Amor in the boys’ under-13s and Darcy Dryden in the girls’ under-13s.

Leweston’s silver medallists were Sarah Wilson in the girls’ under-17s, Liam Openshaw in the boys’ under-15s, Annabel Denton in the girls’ under-15s and Jamie Robinson in the boys’ under-13s.

The quartet of bronze medallists included Amy Northam in the girls’ under-17s, Ryan Openshaw in the boys’ under-13s, Alice Anderson in the girls’ under-13s and Millie Wicks in the girls’ under-11s.

Team coach Mick Flaherty was delighted with the students’ application in the build-up to the competition.

He said: “Once again the athletes from Leweston Pentathlon Academy and the local area have done a great job in their efforts in the triathle.

“The time and effort of hours of training put in by the athletes each week over the last few months at the running, shooting, and swimming has paid off.

“Leweston Pentathlon Academy will have a total of 40 athletes in the triathle and biathle representing Great Britain at the European Championships which is nearly 40 per cent of the British team.”

Next on the triathle calendar is the National Championships at Leweston on Sunday, July 9 where a team for the World Championships in Spain on 20-24 September will be selected.

Leweston also aim to have athletes selected for the biathle when they travel to Salford Quays, Manchester on Sunday, July 30 for the biathle nationals.

n Leweston runs regular training at Weymouth for running and biking, shooting at Dorchester and training days, swimming, running, fencing and shooting at Leweston School in Sherborne.

For more information contact Mick Flaherty via flaherty121@aol.com