The first open water triathlon in the South West specifically for women, organised by Tri Ferris Promotions, took place at Keynes Country Park, near Cirencester this weekend with many first time novice triathletes competing alongside some World age group medallists. The weekend started with a training day on Saturday organised by Triathlon England's South West Region which was well attended and included several very nervous women, worried about open water swimming, who were far more relaxed by race morning.

First off on Sunday was the sprint distance and Veteran Ironman specialist Shirley Yarde. She was using the event for a speed work training session and she dominated for most of the race to take first place, followed by Bath Amphibian’s Tracy Weimar and Lindsey Sherring of BRAT. World age group medallist Sue Bathgate had a great race to finish 6th overall and second veteran.

In the super sprint, Tewksbury’s Patricia Nash, having led the field throughout the swim and bike, had to settle for second prize after just being overtaken in the closing stages by Susan Schutte of Exeter. The novice event was won by Anja Heijnen of Bournmouth.

There was a great atmosphere throughout the weekend and it was very noticeable how the women helped and encouraged each other whilst being cheered on by the many local supporters and volunteers. There were many comments on how much everyone enjoyed the race and wanted to do more. The aim of the weekend for organiser Lorraine Ferris and Triathlon England South West was to bring more women into the sport, so with such positive feedback hopefully this will be an annual event to entice more women to tri.