It was a busy weekend for the newly formed Tribal triathlon team as they competed at both the BG Triathlon World Cup in Vancouver, Canada and at the Corus Elite British Championships at Bryn Bach Park in Wales.

Andrew Wright from Hong Kong was Tribal’s sole representative in Canada as he battled triathlon’s top international competitors on the other side of the World. Having exited the tough sea swim in the second pack, the Olympic hopeful sat in with fellow countryman, Daniel Lee in a large group on the bike before exiting for the 10km run. Wright went on to finish 34th, a position he was pleased with considering that he had been suffering from a viral infection for much of the spring which limited his training. The race was won by national hero and 2000 Olympic Games champion, Simon Whitfield from Canada.

Following his race, Wright said “It was really tough out there today, but it was a great feeling to have finally started a World Cup in 2007. I’ve had so many set backs at the start of the year, I can now think about the rest of the season and try and qualify for next year’s Olympic Games.”

Also on at the weekend, top British athletes including World Triathlon Champion, Tim Don, congregated at Bryn Bach Park, Wales for the British Championships, which also doubled up as the second leg of the Corus Elite Series. Tribal duo, Dann Brook and Mark Bruce, both had good wetsuit swims and exited in the front pack, taking them into transition close together. The leading group quickly broke up on the tough bike course, but eventually Dann and Mark came together in the closing stages where they worked hard before entering the second transition.

Mark got the jump on Dann early on in the run and held on to take eighth place with Dann just behind in tenth. They were the second and third under 23 athletes to cross the line, and as such, hope to be selected for the Great Britain squad for the Under 23 European Triathlon Championships which are being held in Kuopio, Finland on 21st July.

Mark Bruce commented “The course had a really tough bike lap with lots of hills, I was taking on my Leppin energy gels every 20 minutes just to get through it! I hope Dann and I will get GB selection following our performances, we certainly gave everything out there.”

Following their weekend performances, Dann will next race at the French Grand Prix Triathlon in Dunkerque in two weeks time whilst Mark turns his attention to a European Triathlon Cup in Germany this weekend. Andrew Wright now gears up for the Edmonton BG Triathlon World Cup in Canada in a fortnight, before flying out to Japan for an Asian Triathlon Cup race.