Andover athlete Natalie Thomas was delighted to have been given Elite starts in the final two races of the British Super series, the London and Liverpool triathlons. The London Triathlon attracts large numbers from around the World and Natalie was unsure as to how she would do on the run after having four weeks with no running at all. Surprisingly it was her strength, the swim where she didn't do that well but after having her best ever bike and run she finished well in 24th place. Just a week later in Liverpool the start list included World number one American Gwen Jorgenson and to be in the same race as her was a fantastic experience. This event was graced by the effects of hurricane Bertha and was certainly a tough one for everyone involved, with a delayed start due to the threat of thunder. Natalie had a much better swim and came out in the group just behind the leading two. The bike was extremely tough and with many tight corners and 180 degree turns the field became very spread out and Natalie dropped down the field. With cold feet she found the run particularly hard but held on for 30th position and she has finished the 2014 Elite Super series 18th overall. Two weeks later Natalie was off to Edmonton, Canada to race in the Age group Aquathlon (swim/run) and Olympic distance Triathlon. The atmosphere over there was amazing with thousands of age group athletes, para-triathletes, youth and U23 elite athletes as well as the huge World Series elite grand final which included the Brownlee brothers. Her first race was the Aquathlon where she swam 750m in a lovely lake which had been cleared, cleaned and even chlorinated and ran just under 5km around the beautiful settings of the park. She found the whole event tough but swam and ran very well with a fast sprint finish to come fourth in her age group (25-29), tenth female across all the age groups, first British and the first European athlete over the line.

Five days later was the triathlon over a 1500m swim, 38.8km bike and 10km run. Natalie was off at 7.53 and had a brilliant swim exiting in the top ten and was quickly out onto the bike course with nice down hills and lots of twists and turns.

Natalie was pleased with how her bike leg went and despite losing some positions really enjoyed it and went on to overtake some of those people again on the run for 17th in her age group and third British athlete home which also means she has pre-qualified for next year’s World Championships in Chicago.

Finally a just over a week after returning from Canada Natalie had the National Aquathlon championships and unfortunately the timing was not brilliant as she was still suffering jet lag, but despite the tiredness and big group of more than 100 she had a fantastic 750m river swim to come out as second female. With the fastest female transition of 33 seconds she was out onto the two lap 5km run and had the first female in hers sights and on the second lap she caught and overtook this athlete to cross as first female overall and winner of the National title in her age category with a time of 29.18.