Bryant takes on top triathletes
Georgina Bryant is just 16, but is no stranger to the world triathlon championships.
The year 12 Nga Tawa Diocesan School student from Whanganui has already been to one world championship and looks like heading to another one this year.
Bryant went to the world championships on the Gold Coast, Australia, last year and has qualified to go again this year in Switzerland with the New Zealand under-19 team, but she was yet to decide whether she will go or not due to the cost.
She didn’t perform as well as she hoped on the Gold Cost, but said it was a good experience to compete at that level. She was 15 then and at the younger end of the 16-19 age group, so was up against older competitors.
She said the national secondary school championships in New Plymouth at the end of the month were her big focus and she would like to go to more world championships.
Bryant used to swim and run, but didn’t start triathlon until she went to Nga Tawa.
Since then she has excelled in the sport and now it takes up a lot of her time. She does four swimming training sessions a week, as well as three cycling and three running sessions. She also does a club triathlon or one by herself once a week.
She said she was consistent across all three disciplines.
She is coached by Gareth Wright and is a member of both the Whanganui and Manawatu¯ triathlon clubs.
Bryant, who also plays netball, won her age group at the Tinman triathlon in Tauranga in December, and finished second in her age group at the triathlon festival in Christchurch in November, which qualified her for the world championships. In January, Bryant went to a triathlon camp in New Plymouth, where she trained with the Australian elite team. She won the Whanganui Multisport and Triathlon Club’s Bridge to Bridge swim at the weekend and she will compete at the sprint triathlon at Mt Maunganui this weekend.
Bryant’s achievements aren’t just limited to sport though. When she finishes school she wants to do something in both sport and science.
R