It’s been a quiet year on the whole for Quadrathlon Racing as sadly our National Trophy Series was down to just 3 races, Shrewsbury has finally folded completely, which is very sad news, and Bude was also cancelled due to lack of support. Thankfully we still had 3 excellent races in our calendar, The Brigg Bomber (World Cup Event also), Dearne Valley Sprint, and The Brigg Sprint. The numbers racing across the board were reasonable but down on last year, but thanks to ‘Team Manvers’ and ‘Lincsquad’ who are continually doing a sterling job introducing new athletes to our sport. So hopefully we can build on this and get more athletes taking part.
On behalf of the BQA I’d like to say a Huge THANK YOU to all our Race organizers and volunteers, they work so hard each year to put on these events for us, it is a big commitment and we really do appreciate your time! Thanks also to all the Sponsors who support them, and to you the BQA Members for you annual fees, which are vital so we can run the BQA Governing Body and more important provide the ever important Insurance fees to be able to support the Race Organizers…. Big Thanks!
If you’d like to read our Annual Report 2023 and Onwards & Upwards 2024 please see the link below. As always we are welcome to ideas, and suggestions for future events, so if you have any thoughts or contacts please get in touch.
Sadly our National Trophy Series was down to just 3 races this year, Shrewsbury has finally folded completely, which is very sad news, and Bude was also cancelled due to lack of support. Thankfully we still had 3 excellent races in our calendar, The Brigg Bomber (World Cup Event also) Dearne Valley Sprint, and The Brigg Sprint. On behalf of the BQA I’d like to say a Huge THANK YOU to all our Race organizers and volunteers, who work so hard each year to put on these events for us, it is a big commitment and we really do appreciate your time! Thanks also to all the Sponsors who support them, and to you the BQA Members for you annual fees, which are vital so we can run the BQA Governing Body and more important provide the ever important Insurance fees to be able to support the Race Organizers…. Big Thanks! I would also like to say an enormous thanks to John Kavanagh who produces the BQA and WQF Tables after each race, this is a huge commitment and we are all very grateful … Thanks John
This year we had we had 27 male athletes and 19 female athletes racing in the series, with 6 athletes doing all 4 races ….. a huge well done to Jules Taylor, Oliver Fairbairn, Phillippe Jumeau, Jeff Chappill, Helen Recchia, and Caroline Jones. Lets hope 2025 will bring a fresh start, plenty of motivation and lots more of Quadrathletes back in ACTION!!
Well done and a big thank-you to all Quadrathletes that raced in the series, there have been some excellent performances and big improvements for may athletes this season, its been great to see some old faces back into our sport and as always so good to be welcoming newcomers, we hope to see you all again next year!
BQA NATIONAL TROPHY CHAMPIONS 2024
Jules Taylor 2024Helen Recchia 2024
Male Overall 1st Jules Taylor 340 points (Vet 60), 2nd Oliver Fairbairn 335 points (Senior), 3rd Phillippe Jumeau 298 points(Vet 60)
Female Overall 1st Helen Recchia 310 points (Vet 60), 2nd Caroline Jones 301 points(Vet 50)
Age Male Group WinnersSenior Oliver Fairbairn, Vet 50 Jeff Chappill, Vet 60 (roledown) Phillippe Jumeau
Age Female Group Winner Vet 50 Caroline Jones
Congratulations also to our BQA Members who have all produced some fabulous results this season! We have great depth in strength and experience in our age groupers, they are all great ambassadors of our sport and we are very proud to have them in our BQA Quadrathlon Family! Well Done to you all!
The Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy ‘For Endeavor’ 2024 Congratulations ‘Jean Ashley’ The BQA Chairman ‘Mark Pryor’ insisted that Jean should receive this Trophy, although she is having a break from racing Quads, whilst she races around the mountains doing ‘Ultras’, she has continually kept the BQA going behind the scenes for many years. She organizes the Famous Deva Divas Quadrathlon, and continues to inspire many women across the sport. This Year she has been involved with the BQA for 25 years and has always showed enthusiasm & commitment and is consistently sharing her Passion for our Sport!
Have a Safe Winter and Come Back Stronger #2025 …. Jean Ashley
WORLD CUP TROPHY & WQF NATIONAL TROPHY …and grreat news GB were 3rd in the WQF National Trophy!
WQF Team Trophy
Also across the World the WQF have a Series of Events which make up the World Cup Results, these are the Best 5 Results to Count. Congratulations to The winner of men’s overall World Cup is Ferenc Csima (HUN) The second place is going to Arnold Halasz (HUN), the third place is going to Laurent Martinou (FRA). The winner of woman’s overall Word Cup in 2024 is Susanne Walter (GER). The second place is going to Ellen Mielke (GER), the third place is going to Heike Steininger (GER). Results: World cup 2024 9 of 9
World National Trophy – The Country that has scored the most World Cup Points. 1st place is Poland (11280), 2nd Spain (10200) and CONGRATULATIONS in 3rd Great Britain (7722) Results: WQF National Trophy Final
Our next British Quadrathlon Trophy Race is ‘The Awesome Foursome’ on Saturday 7th September. Every September since 2002 Simon Hammond and his Team have run the ‘Awesome Foursome Quadrathlon’, an extreme multi-sport race for individuals, pairs and relay teams to enter. This is an established event in the British and European Quadrathlon calendar regularly being a World Cup ranking event or the European Short Course Championships. This Year it is part of the World Cup Series!
The race makes the very most of Bude’s geography and features. The open water swim takes place within the shelter of Bude’s breakwater. The cycle ride includes some amazing coastal hills (including the 1 in 3 climb at Millook). The kayak leg takes place on the tranquil Bude canal. And the final run follows the canal towpath onto the coastal path and back to Bude. The fastest athletes will take around 3 hours to complete the course with most finished within 4 hours.
BUT THE EXCITING NEWS for 2024 is the New Shorter Course:
‘The Wallaby’
“A little smaller but just as Awesome”
Organizer ‘Simon Hammond’ has had a demand for a smaller quadrathlon to be run within the existing Awesome Foursome Quadrathlon. So ‘The Wallaby’ race will be run at the same time as the main event and we have just an Open Men’s and Open Women’s class. Prizes for 1st 2nd 3rd Mens and Ladies only, both events will be priced at the same £52. Details are:-
This shorter-course quadrathlon will be run at the same time as the full Awesome Foursome but will be roughly half the distance. It will start with the main event and be based at the Canal Wharf but will follow similar routes for the swim, cycle, and run as the Shoreline Triathlon, therefore eliminating the severe cycling hills around Millook. The kayak leg will still be the canal but half the distance of the full quadrathlon.
The swim will be one lap of the Bay, the cycle ride will only go as far as the Widemouth Manor before returning to Bude on the A39, the Kayaking will be one lap of the canal and the Run will only go as far as Rodds Bridge before returning to Bude via Lynstone Road.
Huge Thanks to Organizer ‘Simon Hammond’ for instigating this shorter event for our Quadrathlon Community, we really do appreciate your extra work! Entries for either event must be received in advance and you can register using this link .The-awesome-foursome-quadrathlon
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. For the WORLD CUP SERIES you will only get allocated World Cup Points for the Full Distance Event. (No points for ‘The Wallaby’).
For the BRITISH QUADRATHLON TROPHY SERIES for the Full Distance Event you will be rewarded with FULL points – and we will also be giving ‘The Wallaby’ National Trophy Points. These will be reduced by 20 points for the shorter distance, we feel this is the FAIR option, but this will allow all the BQA Quadrathletes to claim those valid points! We hope this may encourage many more athletes to take part as ‘Shrewsbury Quad’ has been cancelled, this is a fantastic opportunity as it enables athletes to still get 3 Races in for the BQA National Trophy Series!
The BQA were so pleased that Dearne Valley and the Team at Manvers Lake took on the task, of hosting the BQA National Championships, and what a fabulous event it turned out to be! They upped the event this year and made it even better, less laps on the swim course and on the kayak course made it much easy for the athletes, and with the use of chip timing for the first time it was so much better for the marshals and organizers! We were also blessed with gorgeous weather for the 2nd Race in the BQA Series, congratulations to everyone who raced and to everyone who gave up their time to help this event run extremely smoothly!
Special thanks to Mark Benton, David Jones and there Manvers Team for organising this great quad, you are a wonderful ‘Team’ of people thank you for your enthusiasm and for inspiring so many to take to the water and embrace the challenge, you have put so many smiles on peoples faces at Manvers. Without a doubt it’s such a fabulous feel good event, enjoyed by everyone, from seasoned athletes to first timers it was so good to see everyone just loving the day
Also huge thanks to ‘David and Caz Jones’ who have been organizing Quad Training Days throughout the year and encouraging newcomers to our sport, they do a fantastic job to introducing people into our sport!
We started the morning at 8.30 with the QuadKidz Tri and Quad race a huge well done to them, they were all amazing all finished their races in fantastic style , most certainly our stars of the future!
Boys 9-11 1st Sam Docherty 23.40 2nd Guy Hebdon 26.59 Boys 16-18 (full distance) Joseph Dsilva 2.248 Girls 12-15 1st Charlotte Docherty 36.15 2nd Isabelle Moorhouse 44.36
The main race started at 9.30. It was 1 800m lap in the swim, followed by an out and back 15km gravel bike ride on the Trans Pennine Route. Then back to the lake for the 4km kayak, 4 laps (approx. 1 km per lap), and finally a 5 km off road run around the whole lake. A great course and inclusive to all standards of athletes. We had our strongest quadrathletes competing at the front end of the race for the National Overall and Age Group Titles, but as always its so good to see our year in year out athletes and the first timers who always give it their all! The BQA want to thank every single one of you for taking part and supporting our small but wonderful sport, we do really apricate your commitment …. Thank -You!
OUR 2024 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS including Age Groups, plus a special mention to all our BQA members taking part!
MENS BQA NATIONAL CHAMPION – 1st Vet 60 Jules Taylor 1.37.16 BQA 2nd overall – 1st Senior Oli Fairbairn 1.38.33 BQA 3rd overall – Nicholas Farnell 1.45.32 BQA 4th overall – Phillipe Jumeau 1:49:25 BQA 5th overall – 1st Vet 50 Jeff Chappill 1.51.34 BQA 6th overall – John McAdam 1:53:39 BQA 8th overall – 1st U23 Blake Mawson-Burren 1.57.23 11th overall – 1st Vet 40 Adam Draup 2.03.20 BQA 12th overall – Andrew Lawson 2.26.25
Jules Taylor National Champion & Vet 60Oli Fairbairn Senior ChampionJeff Chappill Vet 50 Champion
Blake Mawson-Burren U23 Champion
LADIES BQA National Champion – 1st Vet 40 Helen Russell 1.48.24 BQA 2nd overall – Tora Oetgen 2.08.12 3rd overall – Clare Addy 2.14.15 BQA 4th overall – 1st Vet 60 Helen Recchia 2.15.06 BQA 5th overall – Janet Green 2.20.26 BQA 6th overall – 1st Vet 50 Caz Jones 2.29.49 BQA 7th overall – Geraldine Richards 2.31.59 BQA 16th overall – Amanda Lord 3.06.48
Helen Russell National Champion & Vet 40Helen Recchia Vet 60 ChampionCaz Jones Vet 50 Champion
The BQA love to hear about your Race experiences, so we can share them and inspire others to have a go at our sport, so please dont hesitate to send me your story … we’d love to share it! SEND malpasashleys@btinternet.com
Big Thanks to ‘Jules Taylor’ ‘Our Men’s National Champion for writing us his Race Report
Plans are made to be changed I think someone once said ! Brigg was going to be my only Quadrathlon originally this year , but having enjoyed it so much now have a full season of racing . National Championships here at Dearne Valley World Long Course Quad in Hungary Awesome Foursome at Bude Brigg Sprint distance
I hadn’t raced at Manvers home ground before, but on arrival I was blown away by the lake and the whole setting . The lake looked really inviting, and was a great for the swim and kayak. With Amelia (13 yr old daughter) as my support crew we pitched up Saturday evening and had a good night’s sleep .
Sunday morning was lovely, warm, just a little breeze, perfect. Kit sorted, gravel bike racked, and straight into the swim . It was such a relief to have the space to swim in, not getting kicked, grabbed, or swim over, it felt like it went ok , with no issues at all .
Into T1, and Helen (Women’s Champion ) was already getting her bike kit sorted so she must have had a storming swim, it was a rapid transition and of on the bike. Within a short while a few of us found ourselves on the golf course having followed the wrong path, quickly we got back on the right one and I put the effort in and was pulling away. Before the turnaround , the eventual winner of the Triathlon event passed me , but I managed to keep him in sight to the finish of the bike. Having seen where the other Quad competitors were after the turnaround I knew I couldn’t let up!
This was always going to be a hard race between Oli and myself, having never beaten him yet, I was vaguely pleased to be ahead at this stage , but knew he would be putting in maximum effort .
First onto the kayak, and this I felt should be my ace card, confident with some solid training the past couple of weeks. It was a great feeling to have the lake to myself and got stuck in to a strong smooth rhythm. First lap rounding the islands , and then I could see others now on the water , but not till the start of the second lap could I figure out where the other competitors actually were. At the start of each lap after, I saw I was making time on Oli which as it ended up , I badly needed.
Onto the run, and realised I really had been pushing it on the kayak as I struggled to bring my breathing down. I had around 3 minutes I reckoned on Oli, but knew his running was stronger so just had to zone out and work as hard as I could. I had a few of the Triathletes to use as targets to run down, using this to keep my pace up as much as I could, eventually I could see the finish line on the other side of the lake , so with about 1.5 km left I started to empty the tank! I kept looking back but no sign of anyone, so it ended up a really satisfying victory for me. As it turned out Oli had pulled back a couple of minutes and was only a minute behind me …. it was a great race !
On paper, it looked a really nice fun race and it was , but also one of the hardest I’d done. A very deceptive course …underestimate it at your peril! Many thanks to all involved it was brilliantly organised, awesome atmosphere, once again another fabulous Quadrathlon hear in Great Britain!
For me …. Next stop World Long Course Championship in Hungary!
Thanks Jules, and we wish him Luck at the Long Course World Championships flying the GB Flag!
Once again a Big Thanks to Everyone, and a special mention to the Manvers Team for there non stoppable enthusiasm and to the BQA who keep our sport going for us all to enjoy! I look forwards to seeing many of you girls at the Deva Divas Quad (and your Team Coach David too) … you will have an absolute Blast!!
The Awesome Manvers Divas!The BQA Team keeping our sport alive! Any help is always appreciated!
A great day was had by all in Brigg at the World Championships, we were blessed with warm sunshine and blue skies! The numbers were on the low side but it was good too see Quadrathletes coming over from Hungary, CZ Republic and France!
Lincsquad organized the race in great style, and huge thanks must go to Jeff and Donna Chappill who worked so hard to get together a Team of Marshalls and Helpers to get this race on the circuit for yet another year! Considering they are a small Club these days they really did us Proud so a big thanks must go to them for hosting the Championships, and giving our Quadrathletes a fabulous day out!
Congratulations to all the competitors and to the Overall and Age Group Winners, and to our BQA Members for Flying the Flag!
Big Thanks to Jules Taylor Winner Vet 60 for his Race Report below:
Having entered the Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon last year , it was an awesome surprise to hear to was going to be the World Middle Distance Championships this year .
The weather was so grim for the early part of this year , that I spent most of the winter and spring just running…I couldn’t get motivated to go kayaking or cycling outside. So with about 7 weeks to go finally got things into gear. Kayak training went well , and my cycling training has consisted of 10 hard turbo trainer sessions, having not ridden outside since the Bomber last year!
Quick look through the start list and plenty of familiar names, Nigel, Oli, Phillipe, John and quite a few from Europe including the dominant Ferenc.
Last year Nigel , Oli and myself were separated by only 50 seconds so I knew it could be a hard race, and Petr Majzlik from the Czech Republic who is up there on the European race circuit was also racing
I parked up at Brigg Leisure centre Saturday night , and a decent sleep in the van. Usual race breakfast of cocoa pops , registration done , and minimal faffing and suddenly the river was full of athletes and we were off.
Jules, happy after his swim!
I hate open water swim starts, they dont suit me, so it wasn’t until the half way turn around I felt vaguely comfortable and was able to settle down and swim strong to the get out.
Run to the bike, Nigel was also in T1 ,and checking whose bike was or wasn’t there , had a quick idea of where I was and it looked good , after a decent swim in the end.
Out on the bike, nearly a year since I had ridden on the road I settled down and was feeling ok. A lot warmer than last year and not so windy so pretty pleasant really.
Nigel was just ahead of me , and we were soon joined by a few of the triathletes , and it was proving difficult to stay away from each other, but its fair to say we all raced pretty fairly I reckon. A decent pace throughout, with about 4km to go Oli came storming past me not to be seen until the end, and back into transition . A swift T2, noting that Petr’s bike was not on the rack , and onto the kayak .
I had been lent a new K1 from Carbonology sport , and it was awesome. Seven kilos my kayak last year was 14kilos it is super comfortable, the Ultra K1 ticked all the boxes. Settled down into a good pace, with no dramas at all. I was unable to make any ground on Oli, but had managed to gain a few minutes on Nigel.
Into T3 , shoes on and my favorite discipline, the run. It took a few minutes to wake the legs up but was soon moving ok , and it was HOT! I ran well to the turnaround , losing some time to Oli , the run back was a constant look out for others in my age group. Once I had seen all the ones I’d been concerned about, I eased back a bit as I was really suffering from the heat now. A few times in the last kilometre I walked for a couple of seconds as was a bit lightheaded it was a relief to finally run into the finish straight and across the line first in my age group. Very Happy!
Coming to Brigg for their races is like coming home. So well organised, such a friendly club Lincsquad , and an amazing group of volunteers all come together to produce slick enjoyable events time and again, thank you to all of you!
Such strong efforts from everyone on the day the cloudless skies and heat made it a tough one, for those out there longer than others it must have really been hard going, well done to all.
Back home , and browsing through the Quadrathlon 4 You website , came across the World Long Distance Quadrathlon Championships in Hungary on August 10th just so happens we are on a bit of a road trip for 3 weeks , guess where we are going to head to for August 9th Yep…all entered!! Anyone else going to join us ..?
A Big Shout out must go to ‘TEAM MANVERS’ who had a fantastic team of athletes racing. Huge credit to David and Caz Jones who motivate, organize training sessions and do so much to keep our small sport Alive! Your are an amazing Team Thank You!
Their Quadrathlon is the next race in the BQA Series, it is also the British Championships, please support them, you’ll enjoy a fantastic day out! Enter Here Manvers Quad
If anyone wishes to do Race Reports or contribute to the BQA please do not hesitate to contact me, we are a small sport and it does get more and more difficult trying to recruit members, and enthusiasts, so please keep spreading your love for our sport! Thanks Jean
The BQA and WQF are very PROUD to announce that the Brigg Bomber Middle Distance is crowned The WQF WORLD Quadrathlon Championships for 2024!
A superb race to start the season, extremely well organized by our Top Quadrathlon Club ‘Lincsquad’ a fast flat safe course, which consists of a 1500m river swim, 30k bike, 7k kayak & 9.3k run. It has ‘WORLD Championship Status’ and is part of the ‘WQF World Cup Race Series for 2024 so certainly not one to be missed! Lincsquad will certainly pull out all the stops to make this a brilliant day! BRIGG BOMBER DETAILS and ENTRY
The MIDDLE DISTANCE RACE is part of the BQA National Trophy Series and part of the World Quadrathlon Federation World Cup Series WQF Rules will apply. http://wqf.quadrathlon.com/rules.
Your Solo result only will score points towards the BQA National Trophy Series and WQF Race Series – (overall trophies male or female and age group). Your best three results will be totaled to decide the trophy winners. Full details can be found at http://wqf.quadrathlon.com/world-cup. To receive an award, you need to complete three races. Updated results will appear as soon as possible after the race. BQA Membership is required to be entitled to Win trophies/prizes for the BQA National Trophy Series … please support your Governing Body and Fly the GB Quadrathlon Flag!
Previously the Brigg Bomber has hosted the British Quadrathlon Championships, the European Quadrathlon Championships, World Cup rounds and the 2014 & 2019 World Championships.
Entries are available as; a Solo competitor, or as a Team (2, 3 or 4 team members), Minimum age for this event is 17 years as of the 31 Dec 2024, parental consent is required for under 18 years. For further detailed event information see here: brigg-bomber Information
I’m sure most of you will have time to wear your lycra, and get out for a swim, kayak, bike or run over the festive holidays! Like all the athletes I know, we like to get out in the fresh air for some fun on the trails, or a blast on the river ….. leaving room for more mince pies and mulled wine! It’s what makes most of us tick ….. and besides, I bet we will all want to test out our new kit and maybe new toys! So have a Wonderful Christmas Time and a Healthy Happy New Year too.
I am so pleased to announce the ‘The Brigg Bomber’ will be hosting the World Middle Distance Championships, and that ‘Manvers Dearne Valley Sprint Quad’ will be our NATIONAL Championships, and Bude will be part of the WQF Series.
So get these dates in your diary’s and entries in, then have a reason kick start your training right now, having a goal does wonders for your motivation
BQA National Trophy Events for 2024
RACE 1 – 2nd June – Brigg Bomber Quad – World Championships 1500km river swim/40km road bike/8km river kayak/10km road run.
A superb race to start the season, extremely well organized by our Top Quadrathlon Club ‘Lincsquad’ a fast flat and safe course, its the World Championships so certainly not to be missed, Lincsquad will certainly pull out all the stops to make this a brilliant day!
RACE 2 – 23th June – Dearne Valley Sprint Quad and QuadKidz – 800km lake swim/4.4km lake kayak/13.2km X/MT bike/5km trail run.
This race takes place around the Manvers Waterpark and its surrounding area, all the racing takes place within this lovely venue, this race gets better each year! We are so pleased this race will host the National Championships, its organized by a great team of enthuiastic Quadrathletes, who offer training sessions all year round! The Junior Quadrathlon will run along side the sprint event, with various distances for the 3 age groups … it will be time for our Quadkidz to Shine!
RACE 3 – 1st September – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad – 550km river swim/5km river kayak/23 road bike/5km run.
We are so pleased to have this race back in our calender this season. An excellent fast, flat sprint race, running on the back of a very popular Triathlon. A great day out with a superb race atmosphere, with lots of support especially on the 3 lap run course around the Showground! A real ‘feel good friendly race’ instigated and organized by one of our very passionate quadrathletes along with SYTri … one not to be missed!
RACE 4 – 7th September – Awesome Foursome QuadWorld Cup Series Race – 800km sea swim/30km road bike/10km canal kayak/10km mixed terrain run.
This is one of our longest running established Quadrathlons, in beautiful Cornwall in the surfing town of Bude. It never ceases to amaze me, I have raced it in all weathers …. it is always a brilliant exciting and challenging race and a great end the race season! Swimming in the sea, there’s plenty of hills on the bike, a historic canal for the kayak and amazing coastal views on the run! It’s one of those addictive races that keeps drawing you back. The race is on a Saturday so plenty of time for sun, sand and surf too!
RACE 5 – 29th September – Brigg Sprint – 750km river swim/18km road bike/4km river kayak/5km road run.
This is a great event to finish the season, organized by the dedicated Lincsquad Team. The course is flat, fast and ideal for both experienced quadrathletes and those wanting to race the shorter distance. Its our final Championship Race of the season, so great racing is always guaranteed!
All links to these races are on our ‘events’ page. I hope I have tempted you …. keep you eye on the events page as some race organizers may offer early bird race discounts!
You must be a BQA member to race for the ‘GB TEAM’ at the World Championships or in a World Cup race, and also to qualify for all BQA prizes in the National Trophy Series. We do need your memberships to help fund our sport. Money goes towards various areas within the organization, one being our website, where we keep you updated with the latest news and events. Our biggest annual outlay is insurance, which we use to cover the races on the British Quad Calendar, without this insurance many of our races wouldn’t take place. We also affiliate to the World Quadrathlon Association ‘WQF’ so our athletes can race at World Cup Races the World and European Championships. The future of British Quadrathlon is in our hands, so please support the BQA and you will be helping to keep our small sport alive!
BQA 2024 Trophy Series 2nd June – Brigg Bomber 23rdJune – Dearne Valley Sprint & QuadKidz 1st Sept – Shrewsbury Sprint Quad 7th Sept – Bude Awesome Foursome Quad 29th Sept – Keyo Brigg Sprint
Races supported by BQA (not Trophy Races) 18th May – Montgomery Canal Triathlon (Charity Event) 8th June – Norfolk SuperHeroes Quad Norfolksuperheros 14th July – Deva Divas Quad Deva Divas Quad
Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas … Safe Training over the winter months, look after those bodies and train well! We look forward to a very exciting 2024 Quad Season!
To our 2023 Quadrathletes, BQA Members and Race Organizers, this year on the whole, has been an improvement on the last few years, even though our numbers are not back to ‘Pre Covid’ we are seeing many athletes getting into ‘race mode again! We had 4 Quads in our calendar, with sadly Shrewsbury having to be cancelled due to organization issues. The numbers racing across the board were were reasonable, but hopefully we can continue to build on getting more athletes into our sport next season.
‘The BQA’. would like to say a Big Thank – our wonderful Race Organizers, without you our sport would simply not exist, you have very successfully done us proud yet again, and also to every single one of you that made it to the start line this year, be proud of what you have achieved and we look forward to seeing you again next season!
If you’d like to read our Annual Report 2023 and Onwards & Upwards 2024 please see the link below. As always we are welcome to ideas, and suggestions for future events, so if you have any thoughts or contacts please get in touch.
It was great to get back to an almost full National Trophy Series this year. Sadly Shrewsbury had to be cancelled, but we still had 4 excellent races in our calender, The Brigg Bomber (World Cup Event also) Dearne Valley Sprint, Bude Awesome Foursome, and The Brigg Sprint. On behalf of the BQA I’d like to say a Huge THANK YOU to all our Race organizers and volunteers, who work so hard each year to put on these events for us, it is a big commitment and we really do appreciate your time! Thanks also to all the Sponsors who support them, and to you the BQA Members for you annual fees, which are vital so we can run the BQA Governing Body and more important provide the ever important Insurance fees to be able to support the Race Organizers…. Big Thanks!
This year we had we had 41 male athletes and 15 female athletes racing in the series, but only 1 athlete managed to do all 4 races ….. a huge well done to Phillippe Jumeau! It has been a difficult season for many of us, with injuries and other life issues, but lets hope 2024 will bring a fresh start, plenty of motivation and lots more of Quadrathletes back in ACTION!!
Well done and a big thank-you to all Quadrathletes that raced in the series, there have been some excellent performances and big improvements for may athletes this season, its been great to see some old faces back into our sport and as always so good to be welcoming newcomers, we hope to see you all again next year!
(L to R) Champions Philippe, Donna, Gill, Nick and Lance
Age Group Winners Vet 50 Male Lance Ball Vet 50 Female Donna Chappill Vet 60 Male Philippe Jumeau
Congratulations also to our Age Group Winners who have all produced some fabulous results this season! We have great depth in strength and experience in our age groupers, they are all great ambassadors of our sport and we are very proud to have them in our BQA Quadrathlon Family! Well Done to you all!
The Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy ‘For Endeavor’ 2023 Congratulations ‘David and Caroline Jones’ They have both shown Enthusiasm & Commitment and have been consistently Sharing your Passion for our Sport Showing True Dedication!
They are members of ‘Manvers Lake’ along with organizing and coaching training sessions. they have encouraged many Athletes into our sport, and even have time to race themselves! They are all great supporters of The BQA and spread the word of Quadrathlon far and wide! On behalf of the BQA we wish to say A BIG THANK-YOU for your Time and Effort it is very much appreciated by us all!
Have a Safe Winter and Come Back Stronger #2024 …. Jean Ashley
WORLD CUP TROPHY & WQF NATIONAL TROPHY
WQF Team Trophy
Also across the World the WQF have a Series of Events which make up the World Cup Results, these are the Best 5 Results to Count. Congratulations to The winner of men’s overall World Cup is Ferenc Csima (HUN) The second place is going to Leoš Roušavý (CZE), the third place is going to Laurent Martinou (FRA).
The winner of woman’s overall Word Cup in 2023 is Susanne Walter (GER). The second place is going to Ellen Mielke (GER), the third place is going to Antje Fiebig (GER). World Cup 2023.12
World National Trophy – The Country that has scored the most World Cup Points. 1st place is Germany, 2nd Poland, 3rd CZE and 4th GB WQF National Trophy 2023.9.2
Big Thanks to LincsQuad Quadrathlon Club for hosting the race, and to the ‘Small but amazing Team’ of organizers and Marshalls who work timelessly to make this event possible! The race consisted of a 750m river swim, followed by a 19km road cycle, then a 4km Kayak and finishing with a 5km run. The course is flat, fast and ideal for both experienced quadrathletes and those wanting to race the shorter distance. There was a good turnout of 22 athletes, a lot of them looking for those vital National Trophy Points, as it was the final trophy Race of the Season!
Overall Winner Nick Farnell with his fishing accessories!
The weather was kind, warm with no wind and it stayed dry, so a great morning for racing. The air temperature and river temperature were almost the same, so everyone enjoyed the swim and came out smiling!
The rain stayed away and despite the roads being wet the bike leg was ok, though Wayne Smith did have an incident but thankfully carried on the finish strongly.
The kayak went smoothly for everyone, though Nicolas Farnell did do a bit of fishing on the way back home, thankfully it didn’t slow him down too much as he went on to take the win!
The run is out and back, a lovely run back along the river fast and flat and always gives the athletes chance to encourage, and see everyone in the race!
Tristan Mannix from USA
Well done to all the athletes racing, some newcomers, and off course our ‘year in year out’ BQA Quadrathletes who are the back bone of our sport, constantly supporting all our races each year! We even had an International competitor ‘Tristan Mannix’ from the USA, he had a great time, smiled all the way despite his difficult kayak leg, if he comes back next year, we promise we will find him a kayak that only goes in a straight line! He loved the event and has gone home with lots of ‘BQA and Lincsquad Stash’ so he’ll certainly be spreading the Quad News back in the USA!
So Congratulations to Overall Winners, Nick Farnell and Natalie Abbott plus all the Quadrathletes that raced, it was so good to see the enthusiasm and commitment as you all embraced this great Sprint Event! Well done to everyone who crossed that finish line and to all the Prize Winners and BQA Trophy Winners too!
Ladies Winner Natalie Abbott
As always we must say a big Thank you to Lincsquad for organizing their 2nd Quadrathlon of the year! It gets harder and harder each year especially with rising costs, finding enough people to commit to helping out, its a difficult task each year, but you all certainly did an amazing job and you put so many smiles on all those athletes faces! So again its a Big Thank you from the BQA and it’s members, Be Proud you all help keep our small sport moving forwards 🙏 #smallsportbigheart 💜
Congratulations to the Overall Winners and Age Group Winners! As always Thanks to our BQA Members, its your Support and Membership Fees that help keep our sport ALIVE!!
Overall Winners Nick, Jason, Lance
MEN 1st Nicholas Farnell 1:40:47 (Vet60) BQA 2nd Jason Frary 1:41:37 (Vet50) 3rd Lance Ball 1:44:25 (Vet50) BQA 4th Philippe Jumeau 1:45:00 (Vet60) BQA 5th Jeff Chappill 1:50:50 (Vet50) BQA 6th Wayne Smith 1:50:58 (Vet50) BQA
Well done also to Team Winners ‘Swim Bike Cake’ 1:51:48 The team stared 2 supportive BQA members Pete Tindle and Lizzie Angood getting back into things after a new addition to their family … Congratulations!
It was also the Final BQA Trophy Race of the Season, its always a great pleasure to present these Trophies and Age Group Prizes each year, along with our Eric Hatliff Trophy Winners. Congratulations also to our Overall Winners: Nick Farnell and Gillian Melia, and our Age Group Winners: Lance Ball (Vet50) Donna Chappill (Vet50) and Philippe Jumeau (Vet60) they have all produced some fabulous results this season!
The truly deserved Winners of the Eric Hatliff Trophy are Daivd and Caroline Jones, who not only race but also give so much back, coaching, motivating and organizing races at Manvers Lake! We have great depth in strength and experience in our athletes they are all great ambassadors of our sport and we are very proud to have them in our BQA Quadrathlon Family! Well Done to you all!
Thank you to Lance Ball for his Race Report, and Congratulations to him on his brilliant race season, and to his daughter Hermione who continues to improve from strength to strength!
I have been participating in Quadrathlons for over 10 years. However this race at Brigg was going to be particularly special for me. I raced together with my daughter Hermione Ball as a pair just a couple of weeks ago at the Awesome Foursome in Bude where we had a fantastic race. Hermione has previously raced in other quadrathlons, but this event at Brigg was to be our first ever father and daughter race where we would be competing in the same event against each other.
As always, we started off by getting into the river Ancholme to acclimatize. Hermione entered well before myself. It was a little chilly so a couple of minutes acclimatizing was plenty enough for my liking. After a brief countdown we were off and without any intention I found myself swimming right alongside Hermione as we proceeded along the river. The last time I swam with my daughter must have been a few years ago when she was much slower. I don’t know when she improved so much, but here she wasn’t just keeping up with me, but started to pull away. I decided that the best option was to tuck in behind and just stay on her feet.
As we approached the turn around point I was still right on Hermione’s feet and Hermione was right behind someone else. This did cause a little dilemma of what to do at the turn with no buoy to go around. As the person turned in front of Hermione, Hermione stopped where she was and I stopped behind Hermione. Now stationary, should we turn in front of each other, around each other, try and follow some sort of arc that the person in front has done? I probably only hesitated for a couple of seconds, but it felt like I confused myself for ages. I looked across to the bank to see Pete Chappill waving at me to start swimming back towards the leisure centre, so I took this as a sign to stop messing about and to just start swimming in the opposite direction. Approaching the pontoon, Hermione was still in front of me, but I tactically swam to the left immediately behind someone else, which sneakily blocked Hermione out to the right. As a result we were absolutely neck and neck as we clambered out of the water and headed off to transition.
T1 was the second time I became a little confused, since I’m used to getting into transition to find many more spaces where bikes had previously been racked. I’m sure what exaggerated the feeling was that the triathlon competitors swimming inside the leisure centre had yet to come out, so there was a whole sea of bikes in transition, giving the impression that no bike had left. I inquired with my fellow quadrathletes who confirmed that we definitely were cycling next and not kayaking, so I duly set off as anticipated with a bike in hand.
I’ve completed several long distance cycling challenges recently, so I was more than happy to be out on the bike course, enjoying every minute of it. Approaching the halfway point, I caught up with 2 competitors that were both keeping towards the left, all the way around the roundabout. I took the racing line around the roundabout and managed to overtake both in the process before accelerating with a tailwind back towards Brigg.
Not long after leaving the roundabout I noticed my Masters 50 rivals, Wayne Smith and Jeff Chappill approaching in the opposite direction. I had hoped that I’d have created more of a gap, since I knew that they were better runners than myself. I was particularly pleased to see Hermione approaching sooner than I expected and knew that she must be having a good race, Unfortunately I had no idea how many had passed me in the opposite direction when I was heading out, so I had no idea what my current position was. Halfway back to Brigg, one of the competitors that I’d been so pleased to overtake at the roundabout, came past me and just carried on pulling away. I’m not certain who they were, but I’m sure they were from the relay team, so presume that they didn’t need to save any energy for the kayak and could just go all out for their last few bike miles.
There were no dramas for T2, except that when placing our kayaks, I had started a second row for Hermione and mine, expecting others to have been in theirs before we needed ours. However not many had been moved, so it cost me a few extra seconds whilst I carried my kayak from a little further away.
Once under way in the kayak, I could see Philippe Jumeau about 30 seconds ahead of me. I could just about tell that I was closing, but only very slightly. After passing the moored boats and heading out towards the red bridge I could see Nicholas Farnell and Jason Frary battling it out in the distance. I couldn’t see anyone else, so concluded to my own amazement that I must be in 4th position. Approaching the bridge I could see Philippe turning and appearing to take longer to do so than I should, since he was clearly paddling a kayak that was much more unstable than mine. I thought that this was my big chance to catch up. Unfortunately the turn wasn’t one of my best, having intended to turn under the bridge I ended up drifting beyond the bridge, turning later than I needed to. I still managed to make up a few seconds and that helped with the incentive to push on hard. Halfway back to the leisure centre and I was close enough to start feeling the assistance from being behind Philippe. Once there it was reasonably quick to catch up and begin the overtake. Somewhere near the moored boats I managed to complete the overtake but knew that I wasn’t going to be able to pull much ahead, if at all. However getting to the pontoon ahead was likely to be beneficial in receiving the first help in exiting the water. I’m sure it was as Mark Pryor encouraged me to run on as he took care of my kayak.
A quick T3 transition meant that I headed out onto the run probably 20 to 30 seconds ahead of Philippe which I doubted would be enough.
At the ‘run’ halfway point, there wasn’t anyone close in front of me. I saw the turn around marked on the floor, but decided to continue running past this point and instead ran around the marshall standing slightly further along the path, just to make sure that I’d gone far enough! Much to the bewilderment of the marshall. Heading back I saw Phillippe wasn’t far behind and that it would be a hard fought last few kilometers. My tactic to try and stay ahead was to sing AC/DC songs in my head.
It was again good to see all of my fellow quadrathletes as we passed each other out and back on the run. Weighing up how well each of our races must be going we still offered each other encouragement to push on. Natalie Abbott was having a great run as the leading female. Hermione was still going strong, continuing to have a really great race.
As I approached the leisure centre I was still feeling good, looked around and couldn’t see any of my rivals. Nicholas Farnell had already finished first a few minutes earlier, closely followed by Jason Frary. I crossed the line in 3rd place to claim my first ever individual podium finish. Philippe crossed the line about 30 seconds later and immediately came over to congratulate me.
Natalie Abbott continued with a very fast run to become first female finisher, followed in by Gill Melia. I was particularly looking out for Hermione and was so thrilled when she came across the line after Gill to claim 3rd female.
For our first race competing against each other, both Hermione and I absolutely loved the event. Not just because we both had great races, but because of the friendly atmosphere amongst all of the athletes taking part that are just too many to name here. Most of all though, we are so grateful to Lincsquad, the marshalls and all of the volunteers that enabled this race to take place, providing a great friendly atmosphere and giving us encouragement all the way around.
Thank you so much everyone, we look forward to seeing you all again next year. Regards, Lance and Hermione.
Latest News and Chat
Keep up to date with all the British Quadrathlon news and chat on our Facebook page.
Quadrathlon4YOU is the news page for and by quadrathletes, where you can get involved: share your experiences, chat with others in the Forum, or let us know about new races
Sadly our National Trophy Series was down to just 3 races this year, Shrewsbury has finally folded completely, which is very sad news, and Bude was also cancelled due to lack of support. Thankfully we still had 3 excellent races in our calendar, The Brigg Bomber (World Cup Event also) Dearne Valley Sprint, and The Brigg Sprint. On behalf of the BQA I’d like to say a Huge THANK YOU to all our Race organizers and volunteers, who work so hard each year to put on these events for us, it is a big commitment and we really do appreciate your time! Thanks also to all the Sponsors who support them, and to you the BQA Members for you annual fees, which are vital so we can run the BQA Governing Body and more important provide the ever important Insurance fees to be able to support the Race Organizers…. Big Thanks! I would also like to say an enormous thanks to John Kavanagh who produces the BQA and WQF Tables after each race, this is a huge commitment and we are all very grateful … Thanks John 
Our next British Quadrathlon Trophy Race is ‘The Awesome Foursome’ on Saturday 7th September. Every September since 2002 Simon Hammond and his Team have run the ‘Awesome Foursome Quadrathlon’, an extreme multi-sport race for individuals, pairs and relay teams to enter. This is an established event in the British and European Quadrathlon calendar regularly being a World Cup ranking event or the European Short Course Championships. This Year it is part of the World Cup Series!
The BQA were so pleased that Dearne Valley and the Team at Manvers Lake took on the task, of hosting the BQA National Championships, and what a fabulous event it turned out to be! They upped the event this year and made it even better, less laps on the swim course and on the kayak course made it much easy for the athletes, and with the use of chip timing for the first time it was so much better for the marshals and organizers! We were also blessed with gorgeous weather for the 2nd Race in the BQA Series, congratulations to everyone who raced and to everyone who gave up their time to help this event run extremely smoothly!
Also huge thanks to ‘David and Caz Jones’ who have been organizing Quad Training Days throughout the year and encouraging newcomers to our sport, they do a fantastic job to introducing people into our sport!
I hadn’t raced at Manvers home ground before, but on arrival I was blown away by the lake and the whole setting . The lake looked really inviting, and was a great for the swim and kayak. With Amelia (13 yr old daughter) as my support crew we pitched up Saturday evening and had a good night’s sleep .
A great day was had by all in Brigg at the World Championships, we were blessed with warm sunshine and blue skies! The numbers were on the low side but it was good too see Quadrathletes coming over from Hungary, CZ Republic and France!
Keyo Brigg Bomber Quadrathlon –
Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas … Safe Training over the winter months, look after those bodies and train well! We look forward to a very exciting 2024 Quad Season!
The Eric Hatliff Memorial Trophy ‘For Endeavor’ 2023 Congratulations ‘David and Caroline Jones’ They have both shown Enthusiasm & Commitment and have been consistently Sharing your Passion for our Sport
I have been participating in Quadrathlons for over 10 years. However this race at Brigg was going to be particularly special for me. I raced together with my daughter Hermione Ball as a pair just a couple of weeks ago at the Awesome Foursome in Bude where we had a fantastic race. Hermione has previously raced in other quadrathlons, but this event at Brigg was to be our first ever father and daughter race where we would be competing in the same event against each other.