Peter Wheddon.

Portishead duathlete Peter Wheddon was awarded a gold medal at the Shropshire triathlon and has been offered a place on the GB squad.

WITH just four weeks of swim training under his belt, Portishead’s international age-group duathlete Peter Wheddon was awarded the gold medal in the 55-59 age group at the Shropshire Triathlon.

The event, based at Ellesmere, consisted of a one lap 1500m swim around the Ellesmere lake followed by a testing 40km bike loop and finished of with a 10km run on an undulating course, all made harder by gusty winds and rain and hail showers.

Also competing in the event for Bristol and District Tri Club was Maria Powell, who won a silver medal in the 45-49 group with creditable performances from Matt Fisher and Nick Escritt.

Inexperience at massed start open water swimming cost Peter time in the early stages of the swim. He said: “For the first half of the swim I could not find any sort of rhythm. I found the close proximity of other swimmers and near-zero visibility in the water disorientating.

“At about half distance I relaxed and managed to find some form. I had trouble getting out of my wetsuit but soon got into my stride on the bike. I had a great second transition (the fastest of the day) and set out on the run in the lead of my age group.”

Wheddon was caught by last year’s champion Barry Jameson a third of the way into the run and at the finish was 53 seconds ahead of Wheddon.

Jameson was initially awarded the gold medal, but later was issued with a two minute penalty for a race infringement and the positions were reversed. The bronze medal was taken by David Bell, Tyne Tri, five minutes behind the leading two.

Wheddon admitted it was not the best way to become a national champion, but had it not been for his problems in the first phase of the swim he was confident he would have held on for the win.

As a result of his performance, he has been offered a place on the GB squad for the Triathlon World Championships to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, at the end of October. However, he has already committed to the Duathlon World Championships a month earlier, so is unlikely to take up the offer.