Charlie Cooper and Chris Stocks have been crowned the Eastleigh Aquathlon series winners for 2014.

The races, which are organised by Try Tri Events, have been taking part on the last Thursday of every month to give participants a first taste of multi-sport events, or just a chance to practise racing and transitions, writes ADAM LEITCH.

They are based at Eastleigh Lakeside and consist of two distances – the long course is a 750m swim in the lake followed by a 5km run, with the short course a 400m swim and a 2.5km run.

The races are fully timed and points are awarded to each participant depending on their finishing positions, which then convert to an overall league table for those who compete over the course of the summer.

Charlie Cooper’s impressive haul of 172 points gave him a commanding win in the long course series, with Stuart Smith coming in second and Dave Mansley third. Alan Loweth was the fourth person to reach triple figures, while Melissa Panter was the top female.

The short course series saw Chris Stocks run out a convincing winner with 68 points, with Martin Andrews second and Madeline Cooper the first female and third place overall.

Due to the high demand for the aquathlons, Try Tri have already confirmed that the series will be returning for 2015.