NIALL CALEY
Dawlish Aquathlon, 5 February 2017
At the tender age of 15, Niall Caley has already set himself some big multisport targets. In the meantime, and in between finishing his homework, he’s picking up race wins…
I’m studying for my GCSEs at Millfield School, and did my first tri in primary school aged nine (thanks for the recommendation, Mr McGregor!). I did my first competitive event in 2014, and since then I’ve won a few races, which led to me being selected to represent the South West in the Inter Regional Champs, where I finished ninth.
I struggled with injuries in 2016. After a stress fracture and a bad bike crash, which required surgery, I felt like I’d been put through the wringer! After these mishaps it was great to be racing again at the first event in the 2017 Dawlish Aquathlon Series. I travelled down with my school teammates, and it was nice to be able to race against them and test myself against older athletes.
The plan was to make sure my injury problems were kept at bay over this relatively short race, and luckily for me it all went well. The pool swim was 600m, which I managed in 7:37mins before heading out for a chilly 5km run. The course was tricky and slippy underfoot, plus there were a few dog walkers to avoid and the organisers thought it’d be fun to put the finish on top of a big hill!
I’m really happy that 2017 has started so promisingly. I want to compete in the British Triathlon Youth Super Series from April to August. The long-term goal is to represent the Isle of Man at the 2022 Commonwealth Games tri, and I’m determined to get there!