THREE trophies were brought back by Andover Modern Triathlon Club from this year's British Triathlon Championships at Wolverhampton on 17 and 18 May.

The effort all 10 competitors put into their run was quite extraordinary, and no-one could have run any harder. Highest placed was master competitor Margaret Smith who got off to a brilliant start with a superb personal best in her 100m swim for ninth place. Her time of 1:33.66 sliced 1.26 seconds off her previous best. The nerves got to her for the shoot, and with her arm shaking badly, she was lucky to score a good 86, taking best shoot by a point. It was Margaret's fourth best shoot in a row at the nationals, of six altogether, to put her in first place.

Margaret knew she would drop down to second place after the run, but still gave it her all. She could cross the line six seconds behind the one in second place and still win overall, and halfway round the 1000m course the gap was six seconds, but her rival then took off, and Margaret could not stick with her. She finished the run in fifth with a time of 4.08 for her excellent second overall. Her very high points total of 3,442 was the third highest out of the 16 classes.

Charlotte Towerton is in her first year in the Youth B class (age 15-16) and she held her nerve for the shoot to score a tremendous 89, only two points off the highest score of all the classes. This won her the best shoot medal, and was Charlotte's second best shoot in a row at the nationals. She was not too happy with her swim time of 2:36.23 for 13th, and after two events Charlotte was fourth overall. Up against tremendous runners Charlotte thought she might move down into fifth after her 2000m run. The course was not easy with a strength-sapping long hill, but with her superb eighth-place time of 8.20, Charlotte held onto fourth overall.

The surprise of the championships was Youth C competitor (age 13-14) Robbie Kite, who had a tremendous weekend with three PBs, earning him a well-deserved fourth place. In the same class was James McEwen, and both boys rose to the occasion and swam exceptionally well, James knocking 1.47 seconds off his PB to take seventh place with his new best of 1:08.95, and Robbie slicing 1.35 seconds off his best with his 10th place time of 1.09.65. James is in his first year of one-handed shooting, and although he shot a one-handed PB of 64 for 17th, he was a bit disappointed. Robbie was delighted with his second-place PB score of 76, missing best shoot by a point, and shot up into third place. James was in 12th place after two events.

The pair went into the run with tremendous determination. Robbie ran the race of his life, and knocked a massive 10 seconds off his 1000m PB for a superb 14th place time of 3:30. James tore round the course, equalling his PB of 3:16 for a tremendous fifth place. When the final results were posted, Robbie had achieved his aim with his excellent fourth place, and James finished a superb 10th, having missed the top six by just 31 points.

Andover's three masters men started their competition with the swim. Darrell Smith was highest with his excellent 12th-place time of 1:19.59. Don McEwen clocked a 1:21.46 for 14th place, and Mark Clews's time of 1:31.67 put him into 19th.

Darrell's nerves got to him for the shoot, only his second shooting competition, and he would rather forget his score. Don scored a good 81 for third place, but having won best shoot last year with 91 was somewhat disappointed. Mark, on the other hand, was more than happy with his second-place PB score of 82.

After two events Mark was in 13th place, with Don in 14th place a point behind, and Darrell in 23rd. As mentioned earlier, all the Andover competitors put tremendous effort into their run, but perhaps the most pain was shown in the faces of the three men on the final long hill to the finish of their 2000m. Darrell went off at a tremendous pace, determined to make amends for his shoot, and was rewarded with ninth place in a time of 7.54. Don led Mark all the way round, the pair battling hard, and they too were rewarded with very good times, Don taking seventh in 7.39 and Mark eighth in 7.47. Like his son James, Don was so near to a top sixth place - 21 points would have done it. He finished in ninth with Mark in 10th and Darrell in 22nd. The men did not go away empty-handed, for they won the third place team trophies.

Mark's daughter Hannah in the Youth A class (age 17-18) was another who was disappointed with her shoot. Her eighth-place score of 73 was low for her, but with a reasonable 10th-place time of 2:45.12 for her 200m swim, she went into the run in ninth place. Hannah was out to make amends for her shoot, and put every ounce of strength she could muster into her run, clocking a tremendous time of 8:15, and held onto ninth place overall.

It was Gareth and Michelle Roberts' first time at the nationals, and both performed very well, and held their nerves for the shoot. Gareth in the Youth B boys class (age 15-16) notched up an 11th-place PB of 75 for his shoot - an incredible 23 up on his previous best. His 200m swim time of 2:21.55 for 15th place was a mere .08 of a second off his PB. With another excellent performance, Gareth clocked a superb 7:12 for 15th place on the run, to finish a very good 11th place on the points table.

Michelle was in fine form and notched up a PB in each of her events. Her 18th place time of 1.24.30 was a PB by over a second. She scored 65 for 15th in the shoot, and followed this up with a tremendous run, knocking two seconds off her best for a 37th place time of 4.39, giving her 24th overall.