Caroline will be defending her ITU World Aquathlon title at the PruHealth ITU World Triathlon Grand Final London on 11 September. She came late to the sport, competing in her first sprint triathlon in 2009 aged 47, but has made fast progress since by winning one World and two European Age-Group titles.

 

What is your job?

GP and mother

 

How do you balance work and family life with training?

I work part-time and my family are used to me never being around as I am out training five nights a week and on Saturday and Sunday mornings. All my family play sport so we keep very busy. 

 

Why and when did you get into triathlon? 

I swam for a club and for my school as a child and 20 years ago I took up swimming again, after having a third child, to get fitter and to lose weight. Then when I was 40 I took up running after I'd had a bit too much to drink at a party and agreed to train for and run a 10K race. That first race took 60 minutes, and now my PB is 39min 28sec. I started winning age-group running races when I was about 45, and friends suggested I take up cycling with a view to doing a triathlon. So, I started cycling and did my first sprint triathlon when I was 47 and my first standard distance aged 48. I won the 50-54 ETU Age Group European Championships in 2011 and 2012.

 

What other sports did you participate in before triathlon?

Just swimming.

 

Which other triathletes have inspired you, and why?

Chrissie Wellington came later to triathlon, like I did, and she worked so hard, and did so well. I have met her twice and she was friendly, chatty, and lovely to talk to.

 

What made you compete for GB?

Friends I trained with who were aiming to qualify for the GB Age-Group Team encouraged me to try and I qualified for the European Championships in my second standard distance triathlon, at Blithfield in 2010. Once I had qualified, I thought, "I'm not going there just to compete, I want to win the thing". So at that point, I really upped the training. 

 

How does putting on GB kit make you feel? 

It feels great to be part of the GB team. It is lovely to wear the GB kit, and stay in the team hotel at World and European Championships, meeting other age groupers, elites and paratriathletes.

 

It is a wonderful feeling to win at a large competition but just completing a race even without winning gives you a great endorphin boost. It is lovely to know you can complete a triathlon, and enjoy a day out with all the other triathletes you meet. I have made some great new friends through the sport.

 

As a medal winner, what would a repeat in London mean to you?

It would mean even more to win in London than it did in Auckland. I will have many friends cheering me on and it would feel even more exciting to win a medal in front of them.

 

It was wonderful last year at the ITU World Championships in Auckland to win gold in the aquathlon but in the standard distance triathlon I fell off on the first corner of the bike leg. I had been leading at that point and still managed to win silver but I do feel I have unfinished business, so a gold in the triathlon is what I would really like this year. However Loretta Sollars, a former elite triathlete, has just come into my age-group, so I will need to improve everything to have a chance to do better than last year's silver medal.

 

How would home support help you in London?

Friends and family cheering me on will be great, and also having the support from all the other British people who I don't know. There will be many supporters who will be there cheering on everyone, but especially all us GB athletes.

 

The free-to-view PruHealth World Triathlon Grand Final London welcomes the world’s best back to Hyde Park from 11 to 15 September and includes elite, paratriathlon and age-group ITU World Championship racing. To find out more visit: www.britishtriathlon.org/london2013