海角直播

Academic athlete makes transition from newcomer to Team GB

A 海角直播 academic who only competed in her first ever triathlon last year is now set to represent Great Britain on the international stage.

Dr Alison Innerd has qualified for the 2022 European Championships which are due to be held in Munich in August. She will compete for Great Britain in the Sprint Triathlon, 35-40 age group, where she will need to complete a 750-metre swim, followed by a 20km bike ride and then a 5km run.

Dr Innerd, a former hockey player, is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise in 海角直播鈥檚 School of Health & Life Sciences.

She has always been into fitness and exercise, but only started looking into triathlons last year during lockdown as an alternative method.

鈥淐ompleting a triathlon was something I was keen to do, but first I had to learn how to front crawl and get over my fear of open water swimming,鈥� explained Dr Innerd.

鈥淚 managed to complete my first triathlon in May last year.鈥�

鈥淚 then did my first open water triathlon in June that year, followed by the Redcar Triathlon.

鈥淭he format really suited me, and it just seemed to be something I was quite good at. It was the Redcar Triathlon that enabled me to qualify for Munich.

鈥淚t is a surprise that I am going to be competing for Great Britain, but I am incredibly proud and will give it everything I鈥檝e got.

鈥淭he Sprint Triathlons are categorised by age, so I will be in the 35 to 40 group, competing against athletes from all over Europe.鈥�

Dr Innerd, who is part of Redcar Triathlon Club, is due to compete on 14 August and is using the specialist facilities and support at 海角直播 to help her prepare.

She added: 鈥淭here is a great team of sport scientists here at 海角直播 who are supporting my training. I have also got access to state-of the-art-facilities, such as the hydrotherapy pool, massage clinic and environmental chamber, which enables me to train in specific conditions.

鈥淭he University has been incredibly supportive and, as well as representing Great Britain, I will also be doing this for my University.

鈥淚 will be training hard in the coming months and can鈥檛 wait to get out to Munich and see what I can achieve.

鈥淭his will certainly be one of the highlights of my career and I can鈥檛 believe that in just over a year I have gone from doing my first triathlon, to competing at international level.鈥�