Combo
White Rock Cardiff
Triathlon Club
Running Club
mike bessel
Chairman 
Michael Bessell
sarah
Chair / Session Leader
Sarah Scire


39887088_10216669351668969_42680923971387392_o
Secretary / Welsh Tri Activator
Henry Wright 
.
eddie
Welfare Officer / Welsh Triathlon Activator
Edward Brown 

Michael 

Bessell

Club Chairman


What I love about White Rock?
I love open water swimming and the variety of triathlon training.

Favourite distance? 

Middle distance / 70.3 - a great balance and lots of events to choose from. 

 

Pre-race breakfast?

Classic - porridge and a spoonful of jam.


Favourite race? 

Short Course Weekend - our annual in-house event - great to have some friendly club rivalries

 


Memorable race mishap? 

Abusing a bottle of Glenfiddich after the Snowdonia marathon.....with predictable consequences. Still banned from a few pubs in Llanberis.

 

Best training advice you've ever been given?  Focus on your own training, and don't be distracted by others / Strava



Biggest achievement / proudest sporting moment to date?   

Ironman Wales 2023 

 

Current 2024 goal/target event?

 Long distance swim events
 

If I wasn't running / doing triathlon 

I would be running a cattery in Pontypridd







 

Sarah 

Scire

Chair / Session Leader

What I love about White Rock? We're friendly, sociable and definitely don't take ourselves too seriously, but we also like to train and race hard when the time comes! We're small enough that everyone knows everyone, and are so supportive of each other's achievements, whether it's someone's first ever triathlon or their annual Ironman - we love seeing people smash their personal goals, whatever they are.

Favourite distance?  I love the short tris as they are fast and furious (and you can recover quickly after!), but I also love the longer, endurance races for the sense of achievement after.

Pre-race breakfast? Always porridge, peanut butter and banana! I've experimented with very mixed success over the years, this one is a definite winner.

Favourite race? I've just completed Ironman 70.3 Swansea and absolutely loved it!

Memorable race mis-hap? Many transition blunders! All learning experiences. General clumsiness when the adrenaline is pumping, running straight passed my bike, running the wrong way out of transition, dropping water bottles/gels/sunglasses etc.

Best training advice you've ever been given?  Less is more, do those easy sessions so you can hit the hard sessions hard without overtraining and getting injured. Also, remember we do this for fun, so enjoy it! Having a positive mindset going into any race or training session makes such a difference.

Biggest achievement / proudest sporting moment to date?   Ironman Swansea 70.3 - mainly because I've had a bumpy road with my cycling having crashed at a few events going downhill (and some DNF's) but I had the biggest smile going round that bike course, the fear of crashing had gone and so many people on the course were saying how well I was climbing the hills, I couldn't believe it ? 

Current 2022 goal/target event?  Next up, London Marathon!

If I wasn't running / doing triathlon: I'd be at a gig or a festival probably - live music is the best.

Henry 

Wright

Secretary / Welsh Tri activator

What I love about White Rock? Our own club champs events


Favourite distance? Middle distance triathlon


Pre-race breakfast? Cereal and a gel


Favourite race? 113 Cotswold Middle Distance Tri


Memorable race mis-hap? Getting lost during my home town triathlon


Best training advice you've ever been given? Get on your bike!


Biggest achievement / proudest sporting moment to date? Your first iron-distance is always special - Challenge Henley on Thames


Current 2023 goal/target event? Ironman Wales debut


If I wasn't running: I'd be......thinking of excuses not to be in a pool























Edward

Brown

Welfare Officer and Welsh Triathlon Activator 

What I love about White Rock?

We are genuinely one of those small friendly clubs with a great mix of abilities and ages. It's relatively easy to get to know most members. We take it seriously, support and encourage one another but never forget that while we all run for different reasons, we all want to have fun and enjoy it.

Favourite distance? 

Got to love a sprint triathlon. Short, sharp, relatively easy to train for and recover from. 

Pre-race breakfast?
Not going to lie, my nutrition is dreadful. It's likely to be a bag of Haribo and a black coffee


Favourite race? 

That's a tough one, there's so much variety in Triathlon, Distance, terrain, pool, lake, or sea swims. I think I'll say Brecon Sprint Triathlon 2016. My first triathlon and a brilliant little event organised by a tri club very much focussed on beginners and clearly aims to share and foster a love for multisport. 


Memorable race mishap? 
That would probably be falling over my feet/pedals/the floor at T2 of the vale duathlon, cutting my knees to ribbons (still finished though!). I remember going for coffee in cafe velo afterwards and was asked if I could stop bleeding on the floor. 

 

Best training advice you've ever been given?  Rest Matters

Biggest achievement / proudest sporting moment to date?   
I'm proud of my self every time I cross a finish line. I was in my early 40's when I started multisport. I hadn't ridden a bike since I was a teenager and only really swam when on holiday. I look back at some of my early training on Strava and cannot believe how far I have come. 

 

Current 2022 goal/target event?
Once I get the 2023 London Marathon out the way it's full steam ahead for the Cotswold 113 in July. 

 

If I wasn't running / doing triathlon 

I'd be at a gig or in a record shop.