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From Niamh Lewis
BBC Sport
After British triathlete Lucy Charles-Barclay didnt make the Olympic swimming squad she took a job and gave the sport up.
The 26-year-old out of Essex is Britains best hope of becoming the next Ironman world champion.
To take that jump in the pool into Ironmans 140.6 miles of biking, swimming and running might leave some people scratching their heads.
However, as triathletes know, the game has a tradition of putting people in – mediated with the Ironman brands growth through the 1970s to 230 events, all from one second in Hawaii.
On this afternoon – 18 February 1978 – only 15 people took on the jellyfish-infested sea in basic swimwear to swim 2.4 miles, accompanied by a 112-mile bike ride along with a 26.2-mile run in Hawaiis sweltering temperatures. It was intended as a competition between friends to choose which athletes had been the fittest: bikers Trainers or runners.
Now at this weekends Ironman World Championships, over 2,000 competitors will be taking part.
Among them, Charles-Barclay, the prohibits swimmer and one-time zoo team.
After missing choice for the London 2012 games I needed to make a decision on whether I could carry on doing the following four years in the sport to attempt to get to another Olympics, she told BBC Sport.
I gave it a really good go, I received my greatest ever times at the pool along with superior effects in open water, but I lost the love of this sport. So I gave up it together.
working in the advertising section for Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire the triathlon bug started to sting, it was.
I knew I missed the love of rushing so I needed something fresh to do. It spiralled out of control from being a fun hobby to really believingIm fairly good with this.
Its not without its challenges.
If you race long you are always going to get dark things, and points once your mind wanders a little bit, Charles-Barclay clarified.
Usually I get quite hungry near the end of the run. I simply dream about the food Im likely to eat after. It a pizza.
But following the race Ill dictate all of that food then I feel ill so that I cant eat it anyhow. Reece normally ends up eating it.
Reece is Reece Barclay – her husband, coach, coaching partner, and athlete in his own right. The pair have been itching for a new challenge. Collectively they signed up at 2014 to an Ironman.
2 decades after Charles-Barclay employed for her professional licence and won the womens 20-24.
Reece and I had been hooked on the practice and discovered how big a challenge it was for what we had signed up for. It moved out of a struggle to being our pro careers. We did not expect that.
It is not simple to acquire a licence that is professional . In the UK, the requirement is to be within 8% of the winners period – that means making the step from age-group rushing . Charles-Barclays application was rejected on the first attempt.
The races I was having to attempt to get my expert licence were the World Championships, she explained. The expert winner was a high standard a lot of the expert women were not within 8% , so I essentially got the licence to a trial basis
But the trial foundation permitted Charles-Barclay to challenge – and instantly. Switzerlands four-time world champion Daniela Ryf on her Ironman World Championships debut beat her in Hawaii at 2017.
Can she reflect a second British triathletes sudden and arrival on the scene?
Chrissie Wellington has been an unknown force who came from nowhere to win at the World Championship in 2007. Accumulate three additional names and she went on to control the sport.
In Red Bulls squad of top professional athletes – Charles-Barclay joined her rival Ryf Back in 2017 – her inaugural year as a pro. As her profile climbed – she now has over 250,000 Instagram followers – so did the rivalry with Ryf.
At the World Championships that year, Charles-Barclay ended a mere eight minutes behind the favourite – when the race one of professionals takes approximately nine hours, which isnt extended.
Nevertheless, it was the year once the heating system was turned up by the set. They took off from the beginning line and began breaking records.
They broke the program record, the womens swim course record was broken by Charles-Barclay, and the bike trail record was taken by Ryf.
It had been Ryf who had been despite retiring under her arm from the race due to a jellyfish sting to collect the title she became the fastest woman in an Ironman event that is official, by 17 minutes.
Certainly my biggest competition is Daniela Ryf, Charles-Barclay stated. Every year I think Im edging that little closer and individuals are appreciating the competition because they are viewing the gaps get smaller and bigger.
I hope this year that we have an even closer struggle and hopefully I will come out at the top.
This calendar year, Charles-Barclay was unbeaten throughout four races until a five-minute drafting penalty at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships at September saw her slip from first to fifth.
Her highlight was winning Challenge Roth, every summer, the world triathlon event which occurs in Roths Italian town.
Last year I came by nine seconds so it had been such a huge goal of mine to get this win, she said.
She became a one time winner of the Ironman African Championships, winner of Challenge Samorin, along with her first home race at Ironman 70.3 Stafford.
As far as sporting history that is wealthy belongs, triathlon is youthful but not without prestige.
For quite a few, racing on theBig Island in Hawaii is the greatest accomplishment in the sport that is triple-disciplined as rivals must be eligible for a slot within their category for an Ironman-branded event in order , at the birthplace of triathlon.
It is where a Honolulu-based Navy few, John Collins and Judy proposed combining three endurance races.
The challenge turned some heads and the idea caught on all over the world. The occasion grew year on year, and also Hawaii became the sponsor of the gruelling World Championships with its sweltering conditions and unforgivable winds.
The race has always had participants – that the very effective is Paula Newby-Fraser, whos eight world titles, two over simply stripping legends Mark Allen and Dave Scott.
And since the differences between Charles-Barclay and Ryf decrease perform the gaps between mens and womens completing days, which stand at roughly half an hour.
Charles-Barclay stated:Ive been in this sport for around five decades now and in the years the quality of womens racing has just hugely enhanced.
The times women are winning races in now is totally different to that which it was say five to ten decades back, and there is a good deal more women doing this game now then there was before, which is so cool to see.
The sponsorship opportunities stay equal.
Charles-Barclay explained:The prize money is precisely the same for women and men in this sport, which can be great and Id say there is more chances – you dont feel like simply because youre a woman youre likely to be paid or youre likely to have less host opportunities.
Ive definitely never felt any kind of inequality in the sport, which is good. It is even although there was more spots for guys at the World Championships. Its very excellent to see that, and it is this kind of inclusive game
The Ironman World Championships start at 17:25 BST on Saturday, 12 October, in Kona, Hawaii.
BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin, former GB triathlete Annie Emmerson (with the help of some special guests) coach three novices intending to complete their initial triathlons in June 2019.
Check out the BBC Sport Live Guide for details of the live game on the BBC.
Reports and standings for the 2019 World Triathlon Series.
This mix of cycling swimming and jogging is one of the toughest tests in sport – here is the way to get involved and find a club that is neighborhood.
There was somebody out there that did who would do it and do it again
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