University of Stirling triathletes mix it with global field at inaugural relay event

Six current and former University of Stirling scholar athletes recently competed against top international opposition in an exciting format of triathlon which will make its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Two Triathlon Scotland teams, supported by the University of Stirling, travelled to Nottingham to take part in the inaugural Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup. Each team of four athletes comprised two females and two males.

The event required each athlete to complete a 300m swim in the River Trent, 7.5km cycle, and 1.5km run before tagging a team mate to do the same. The team whose four members crossed the line in the quickest cumulative time would be the winner.

The Stirling teams featured a mix of Triathlon Scotland’s promising juniors and established international athletes, including Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games competitors and University of Stirling graduates Marc Austin and Natalie Milne. Austin and Milne were joined by current students, Julie Nimmo, Fergus Roberts, Guy Evans-Haggerty and Cameron Main along with fellow Triathlon Scotland athletes, Iona Miller and Sophia Green.

With the race field including Olympians and strong teams from Australia, Canada, England, Germany and Japan, the event was a great learning experience for Stirling’s younger athletes.  The event in Nottingham city centre attracted crowds of 20,000 spectators and was broadcast live by the BBC.

Cathy Gallagher, Director of Sport at the University of Stirling, was in attendance to watch Stirling’s triathletes compete. She said: “It was a pleasure to be part of such an exciting event and witness young athletes supported by the University of Stirling compete among a field featuring world-class athletes.

“Mixed relay triathlon will feature at the Olympics for the first time in 2020 and competing in Nottingham gives these athletes valuable experience of an increasingly popular format of triathlon.”

The line-ups for each team were:

Stirling I

Iona Miller, Marc Austin, Julie Nimmo, Fergus Roberts

Stirling II

Natalie Milne, Guy Evans-Haggerty, Sophia Green, Cameron Main

Full results