Natasha is known within the club as predominantly a swimmer but she has also represented Cambridge Harriers in XC and on the track. She has had county XC titles and has represented London Schools both in in XC and athletics so she does have a running background to add to her swimming even if it has taken a back seat so to speak.
This month she started at the University of Leeds to study Neuroscience, with the intention of moving over into Triathlon. As a stepping stone towards this, she qualified in the summer to represent British Triathlon’s GB Agegroup squad in the ITU World Aquathlon Championships held in Cozemul, Mexico (a 2.5K run followed by a 1K swim and then another 2.5K run).
Over the summer Natasha therefore increased her running training and despite developing bilateral shin splints, all the hard work paid off and Natasha won her Agegroup to become the 2016 U20 ITU World Champion. She was actually the fastest GB athlete across all the Agegroups and came 4th overall in her particular race, which had 2 other Agegroups ranging from 16-35yrs age.
The competition was tough with strong teams from Mexico, Brazil, USA, Australia, NZ and Canada to name but a few. The weather conditions favoured the home athletes, especially on the runs, with temperatures over 35c and humidity over 90%, this affected her second run (and subsequently, if anyone has seen the elite men’s race, the Brownlee brothers!) but Natasha had done what she needed to do after the first run and swim to come home comfortably in first place.
Her win means she gains automatic qualification to represent GB again at next years World championships which will take place in Rotterdam.
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