August had only one race: the British Super Series Grand Final, with a training camp leading into it.
The camp was held at the University of Stirling, and lasted for 6 days leading into the race.
The camp was a great experience, and also an opportunity to explore the University and see what it had to offer in terms of facilities and training.
The race was held on the 20th August in Sunderland, and we were racing with the Juniors, who are an age group above us. This meant that the race was sprint distance, which is the first time that I have raced a full sprint.
I managed to have a good start on the swim, getting to the first buoy in a decent position. However, I got pulled back a few times going around the buoy and exited the water further down than I would have hoped to, in 33rd.
Going onto the bike, I was chasing down a pack for half a lap, and finally managed to catch them at the bottom of the only hill on the course. Unfortunately, I was boxed in on a technical part of the course and went into a cone, flying over the handlebars and onto the road. I managed to put my chain back on and get onto the bike, but the group was long gone.
I managed to finish the run, but with some issues with a stitch in the latter half of the 5km.
Overall, it was a good experience to race a sea swim and racing the longer distances, although I wish I could have finished the race under normal circumstances as I felt I could have achieved a good result.
