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WSIS - Triathlete McWilliam qualifies for World Championships
East Dunbartonshire triathlete, Kirsty McWilliam's bronze medal winning
performance in this month's European Junior Triathlon Championships has
earned her a place in September's Junior World Championships in Hamburg.
This will be the first World Championships for McWilliam, who only moved from Youth to Junior category this year, and is a justified reward for the 17 year old's efforts in Copenhagen over the 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run course.
The run was where I won the medal; it was the best run I've ever done in a triathlon, said Kirsty, who fought hard to un-box herself from the start of the swim and, during the cycling section, was forceful in bridging the gap made by the leader, England's Hollie Avil.
On the bike there was a huge pack of 30 of us and for a lot of the time I found myself in front with a string of girls behind me, she said. That was a new experience for me because I've never cycled in a pack that big in a race. It was quite claustrophobic but at the same time I really enjoyed it.
We came out of the bike-run transition together and in the run I picked off everyone one by one. By half way I was in third place and because I was so motivated to get a medal I really began to push for it.
McWilliam finished 48 seconds behind the winner, England's Hollie Avil and 27 seconds adrift of second placed Rebecca Robisch of Germany.
Originally a swimmer, 17 year old Kirsty, began triathlon four years ago 'for a bit of fun' and is now equally adept at all three disciplines. She already has a gold medal from the 2005 European Team Relay Championships, though she found winning her first medal from her solo effort in Denmark on Sunday was infinitely more satisfying.
In a further attempt to fine tune her running, McWilliam was back at the Palace of Art this week, her running style filmed, dissected and analysed by the West of Scotland Institute of Sport biomechanics staff.
There are always little things you can do and that's what we are looking at, just little things that can make a big difference, she said. The West of Scotland Institute has been a great help and I also use the physio a lot.
As a graduate this year from the Youth to Junior ranks, and the longer Sprint distance, her progression has necessitated a sizeable increase in her programme of more than 20 hours a week of training, lots of long bike rides and long runs and it's made a big difference. Next year she hopes to start at Stirling University, base of Scotland's best triathletes.
In the short term, she will race in London's Hyde Park this weekend before preparing for her first World Championships in Germany on 1st September. All are stepping stones towards her ultimate goal of excelling at the Olympic distance events in a major Games.
I really want to be a professional triathlete and long term the Olympics and Commonwealth Games are my main goal, said Kirsty. I'll be too young for the next Olympics but 2014 Commonwealths would be better timing for me and if it's in Glasgow that would be even better.