Aylesbury Vale vet achieves personal best at World Triathlon Championships

Katie Robinson of Hampden Equine Vets in Whitchurch competed at the international event in Montreal.

She ran, swam and cycled her way to 49th place in the 45-49 Female AG Sprint category, posting a personal best in the swimming phase.

Katie, juggles training for elite competition around her day job as a business development manager for VetPartners.

She said: “Competing at the World Championships was amazing, and I had a brilliant time. I’m so proud of what I achieved. I’m not the quickest runner or cyclist, so it was never going to be about winning, but I just wanted to go out there and make it across the finish line.

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“Getting a personal best in the swimming was the icing on the cake. The swimming element took place in the St Lawrence River and there was a possibility it might be cancelled because of problems caused by heavy flooding and the event turned into a duathlon. Luckily it went ahead because it is my strongest event.”

Katie aced the 750m swim in 12 minutes 57 seconds and achieved times of 37 minutes 57 seconds for the 19km cycle and 27 minutes 51 seconds for the 5km run to finish the event on a total time 1:27:24, including transition times between phases.

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Her qualification for the World Championships was achieved in 2019, but the event has been postponed for the past two years due to Covid-related restrictions.

Katie added: “I kept up with my training all through the pandemic, and having the championships gave me the inspiration to keep going.”

The Bucks-based vet only started training for triathlons back in 2015.

She said: “I love swimming and wanted to be better at it, so I signed up for lessons. It keeps me sane and is time out from everything else because in the pool I can’t answer the phone and I’m not beholden to anyone.

“From there I progressed to triathlons and one of the things I enjoy most about the sport is that it’s a challenge against yourself, and each time you’re trying to improve on the previous event."

Now, Katie is setting her sights on an Iron Man challenge in Italy.