NAVY NEWS, SEPTEMBER 2007 47
Praise for
Ladies shine at
Army triumph
RNRU refs
THE RN’s rugby union Inter-Services
in triathlon
THE Inter-Services Olympic
referees marked another year distance triathlon took place in
of successful offi ciating in the and around Wimbleball Lake on
sport in Portsmouth.
THIS year’s Inter-Service competitions held: the three-
Exmoor.
RFU President Bob Rogers
fencing championships on person and six-person inter
Expectations of breaking the
was guest of honour at the
the Navy’s home turf at HMS units.
Army stranglehold on the team
dinner for the 100 RN referees
Drake were momentous for all These both require fencers at
championships were high as the
and their guests, praising the
concerned, writes Lt Cdr ‘Dicky’ each of the three weapons and
standard of the RN squad just
work of Senior Service officials
Barton, chairman RNAFA. JSU Northwood, with a spread of
keeps on improving and most of
across the board in supporting
The ladies team outshone experienced fencers, dominated
the main ‘players’ were available.
the sport.
the men, starting off with a win never losing a fi ght and taking
The race venue was already
Cdr Roger Baileff was named
in the Inter-Services triangular both titles.
well known as it was the same
RN Referee of the Season
match trophy for the fi rst time in This left the new fencers from
location for this year’s UK 70.3
for his achievements with the
13 years. BRNC Dartmouth in their wake
championships; race winner
Guinness Premiership and
The female team comprised but they were still able to do
Aussie professional Chris
also collected the coveted CS
Lts Andreana Glendinning, well against the other services
McCormack commented that
trophy.
Amanda Hale, and Sacha coming fourth.
it was the hardest ironman in
Roger is a Level 6 RFU
Brook, Lt Cdr Helga Budden, The third day saw the foil
the world owing to the very hilly
official and also a National
LLOGS(Pers) Rebecca French competition: LET(ME) Wollaston
and technical bike course, not to
Panel touch judge, who
and LET(ME) Gemma Wollaston. took the silver and both Lt Cdr
mention the run, but at least the
officiated at every Premiership
It was a very close-run thing Budden and Lt Bowers took
swim was fl at.
ground last season, as well as
with just one hit separating the bronze.
Increasingly heavy rain and
European Cup matches and
RN from the Army after all the The épée on the final day of
wind greeted the 100-plus
World Cup qualifiers.
fi ghts were complete. the contest saw several fencers
triathletes on race day, making the
Lt Cdr Duncan McClement
The men’s team came third arrive just for that weapon –
twisting descents on the bike even
was named newcomer of the
having fought a strong battle; opening up the competition.
more challenging.
season, Cdr Stewart Kilby
they only lost by odd hits. A newcomer to the RN team,
The 1,500m swim was a single,
earned his Colours officiating
The individual events opened S/Lt John Wright, took fi rst
triangular lap, well marshalled by
at the Army-RAF senior clash,
with the sabre. place in the plate competition
canoeists. The wind made quite
and WO Rich Wheelan was
Overall the Navy did well with and Capt Will Hale RMR only fell
a chop on the water but most got
promoted to Level 5.
a silver in the ladies’ competition behind in the last minute of the
through it okay before setting off
The next entry-level course
for Lt Cdr Budden and bronzes fi nal and had to settle for the
on the 300m uphill run to the
for budding referees will be run
for both Lt Keith Bowers in the silver medal.
transition.
by CPO Paul Burton at HMS
men’s and Lt Glendinning in the The ladies had some very
● A lunge from an Army competitor at this year’s Inter-Services The RN squad already knew
Temeraire from September 17
ladies’. close-run matches with LET(ME)
contest at HMS Drake the single-lap 50km (31 mile)
and 19. Details on 0117 913
There were also two team Wollaston coming third. Picture: PO(Phot) Darren MacDonald, FRPU West
bike course – it had already
6553. ridden it during a previous
training day.
Channel dash
The times they
The rain had washed a lot
of grit on to the road and there
were the usual punctures and
mechanical problems to contend
marina Continued from back page
for the Combined Service side
with.
which led 4-2 at half time.
After the cycling a two-lap hilly
In fact the powerful Police
10km run beckoned for the tired-
team, full of some very big
legged triathletes.
men, were just sussing out their
are a tumblin’
Overall the Navy team achieved
some very creditable results,
opponents and in the last two
fi nishing a very close second to
quarters went up a gear or two
the Army in the men’s elite with
and powered their way to a 10-5
six athletes coming in the top 15.
victory.
This would almost certainly
In the swimming, Lt Rick
have been seven – making
Andrews (HMS Vanguard)
the result even closer – had it
sprinted the length of the 400m
not been for an unfortunate
freestyle to win in 4m 2s, then
THE RN and RM Cycling Association
2h 4m 15s for 102nd. Richards (ex CPO – associate member) became
mechanical problem for LD Billy
S/Lt Joel Roberts (BRNC
has reached an all-time high with
The National Team Time Trial event was the fi rst RN rider to tackle the National 24-
Holman.
Dartmouth) smashed the one-
more than 300 riders – many of
held near Port Talbot, South Wales on a very Hour Championships in many years.
The veteran team were also
minute barrier to win the 100m wet day. The race is run continuously and at night
whom compete throughout the year
beaten into second place behind
butterfl y. The RNRMCA already made an impression competitors have to fi x lights to their bikes so
the Army but by the narrowest
No one could compete with
taking on some of the best cyclists
by fi elding more teams than any other club in they can see where they are going.
of margins (2 points), with four
Commonwealth Games hopeful
and teams on offer, writes CPO(PT)
the country, three men’s and one ladies. Come the next day and having crossed the
athletes placed in the top seven
Mne Joe Tellett (RM Stonehouse)
Sean Childs.
Each team consists of three riders who line safely, Richards – a novice at this distance
fi nishers.
as he took just 23 seconds to take worked together to create the fastest time over – covered just over an amazing 383 miles for
This is clearly put to the test at National
Invidually Cpl Gary Gerrard
the 50m freestyle sprint and then 25 miles. 30th position.
dominated the men’s competition,
he went on to win the blue riband
Championships, where riders usually have to
Our ‘A’ team of Childs, Stanton and Lt That same weekend saw 16 of our riders
yet again winning both the open
100m freestyle with ease in 57
gain a respectable qualifying benchmark time
Steve Kelly (HMS Drake) were hoping for a enter the RN 50-Mile Championships near
and over 40 category for the fi fth
seconds – and by a margin of
before they are even allowed to take on some
top-six fi nish, but still came a creditable equal Buckfastleigh, which was incorporated into the
time in eight years.
nearly 10 metres.
of the fastest riders, including former Olympic
10th in 54m 20s. The ‘B’ team of PO(D) Keith Mid-Devon CC 50-Mile open event.
In the ladies’ open category
Mne Dan McSweeney (42
and Commonwealth Games competitors.
Satchwell (HMS Drake), CPO(MEA) Andy Suffering a puncture at the start, Stanton
LMA Mhairi Muir continued
Cdo) staked his claim for
The fi rst of these was the National Ten-
Phipps (HMS Sultan MASU) and Edwards was immediately ruled out as having no spare
her impressive season with a
elite athlete status with two
Mile Championships, which took place on a
came 24th in 57m 35s whilst the ‘C’ trio of Lt wheel, so the pressure was off Childs as he
creditable fourth behind three
tremendous winning swims: 1m
rolling course near Peterborough featuring fi ve
Cdr Lee Sanderson (MoD Abbeywood), RS came away with a four-minute win over his
very strong Army triathletes.
7s for the 100m breaststroke, then
Roundabouts.
Stuart Cox (PJHQ Northwood) and Gorman rivals in 1h 52m 4s, setting a new course record
Although in the end the results
2m 33s for the 200m stroke.
CPO(PT) Childs (HMS Drake) had posted
were 26th in 59m 41s. in the process.
were a little disappointing,
Lt Cdr Witt got close to the
one of the top ten fastest times in the country
A special mention must go to the ladies Kelly was fi fth overall and took the RN
this was nevertheless the most
two-minute mark in winning the
last season (19min 21 sec) and was therefore
team; many were riding their fi rst proper time runner-up spot with a stunning time of 1h 56m
successful Inter-Services Olympic
200m freestyle, and then clocked
seeded fourth on the start sheet.
trial and although they experienced some 50s in his fi rst ever ride over the distance.
distance event for several years.
up another win in the strength-
Although he put in a decent performance he
diffi culties along the route, they still gave it Another novice, Sanderson took the third
With an ever-increasing
sapping 200m individual medley.
missed out on a top-ten place with 13th in 21m
everything right up to the fi nish. RN position when he fi nished in 2h 3m 33s.
membership, coaching for all
Next Roberts weighed in with
14s.
The team of LNN Lucy Norman (HMS The highlight of the year so far was the
standards, training weekends,
a 61s 100m backstroke and a win
CPO(MEA) Aran Stanton (HMS Nelson)
Nelson), LMA Mhairi Muir (DSTMC) and National 12-Hour Championships near York.
organised novice races and
was on the cards for the men’s
also found good form and his 21m 52s gave
Rachel Clay (associate member) fi nished in This was one of the key races for the club this
subsidised training camps it
event even before the start of the
him 44th on the day with Mark Gorman (Ex
45th (eighth ladies team) in 1h 11m 42s. year and probably its best chance of acquiring a
is no wonder the results keep
relays.
CPO – associate member) crossing the line in
Steve Mercer (ex marine – associate member) national individual or team medal.
getting better and better for Navy
The ladies were on course for
24m 29s for 136th. The RNRMCA fi nished
was our only competitor in the National 100- Childs was lying third after the fi rst 100 miles,
11th overall.
triathlon. See www.rnrmtri.co.uk
victory in their match with Lt
Mile Championships in Lancashire. but his early efforts coupled with strong winds
The ‘Blue Ribbon’ event of the calendar
for more info.
Smart and LMA Mhairi Muir
The rolling course proved to be a began to take their toll and he eventually
is the National 25-Mile Championships at
(DMSTC) earning six and three
real challenge and he fi nished a slipped back to fi nish sixth, having
Skelmersdale, Merseyside.
points respectively in the 200m
creditable 44th in 4h covered just over 276 miles – seven
Childs put in a gutsy effort to again
freestyle.
48m 44s in his miles longer than the previous RN
PFI lifeline?
fi nish 13th on 53m 44s, whilst Stanton was
The powerful Smart then
fi rst 100 race. record he set in 2005.
continuing to improve with a 36th in 55m 52s.
went out and led from the front,
A week The distance also meant that he
THE RN Sailing Association is
This race alone saw an Olympic champion, a
cruising to a notable victory in
later and
also shares the Combined Services
looking at a possible private
Commonwealth athlete and British champion,
the 200m medley.
Bob
not to mention the Olympic Academy riders
Record.
fi nance initiative to support its
Usually the police and Civil
taking part.
In his fi rst 12hr event, Stanton had
activities in the future.
Service swimmers are always
Four of our riders made their way to
a fairly steady but uncomfortable ride
The 72-year-old association
‘in with a shout’ in this annual
Tempsford, Bedfordshire for the National 50-
to go a shade under 260 miles for 13th and
is one of the founders of global
fi xture, but this year the Forces’
Mile Championships.
Edwards, out of action for just over
yacht races, responsible for 11
men’s and women’s teams took
The RNRMCA cyclists were hoping for
15 minutes due to a puncture at
boats around RN bases.
them apart – thanks in no small
good things after their encouraging start to the
the mid-way point, completed
It no longer receives funding
measure to the Royal Navy
ten and 25-mile events.
242 miles for 26th.
from the newly-combined RN
swimmers.
Childs set an RN competition and club
Unfortunately Team Swift
charities, which have supported
Going into the relays with
record when he recorded a 1h 48m 57s to
Allsports proved too strong in
it for decades, and so now it is
a small lead, the all-RN men’s
cover the distance, but was disappointed
the team category and the RN had
looking into shared ownership
to provide the same level of
team for the 50m freestyle relay
to fi nish 23rd.
to make do with the runner-up
– or improved – sailing facilities
of Tellett, Dawson, Witt and
It was close-run thing between
position.
across the RN, reducing the
McSweeney swam a phenomenal
him and his old training partner
September will again
costs to a level which can be
time of 1m 41.28s
Stanton (pictured) who set a
see the annual rivalry
borne by establishments alone.
Lt Smart then turned out in
personal best just two seconds
between the Services as
With base funds also under
the fi nal leg to win the medley slower than Childs to take 25th
the RN defend both their
pressure, however, there is a
relay for the ladies, before most place.
individual and team ten
fear that the findings of the PFI
of the Senior Service swimmers The biggest improvement of
and 25-mile championship
study will be rejected.
took part in the 16x1 lengths of the day came from C/Sgt Stuart
titles against the Army and
And without the support
25m freestyle team relay. Edwards who beat the two-hour
RAF over a weekend of
of the central charity,
Fittingly it was Joe Tellett who barrier for the fi rst time to take
intense racing near Poole.
establishments may also decide
caught – and beat – his hapless 80th place. This also gave the RN
More details on the
to withdraw their financial
mere mortal police opponent, fi fth in the team category, thus
sport from CPO Childs
support – leaving the yachts
having given him a couple of setting them a new team record.
at childss@a.dii.mod.uk or
without any funding, eventually
yards start on the fi nal leg. Gorman also set a personal best with
www.navycycling.org.uk
leading to their demise.
0047_NN_Sept.indd 147_NN_Sept.indd 1 220/8/07 18:09:260/8/07 18:09:26
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