Katie Crowhurst credited guide Grace Hawthorne for their dramatic silver at the Volvo 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Swansea.
The 18-year-old pipped Canada’s Jessica Tuomela to second place with a sprint finish, with her time of 01:12:06 securing silver behind France’s Annouck Curzillat.
Tuomela had overtaken Maidenhead-born Crowhurst on the bike before tough taskmaster Hawthorne denied the recent Commonwealth Games champion a drink from the final station with silver in their sights.
“We were catching the Canadians and Grace was like, ‘come on we are catching them’,” Crowhurst explained.
“She didn’t let me get a drink at the last station, so I was like, I’m going to be sick. She really pushed me and I'm grateful that she did.
“It was a tough last 100m, but we did it.”
Crowhurst’s debut Volvo WTPS got off to the best possible start as she emerged from the swim over a minute ahead of the chasing pack.
Silver for the Commonwealth champion! 🥈
— British Triathlon (@BritTri) August 6, 2022
A superb sprint finish from @KatieCrowhurst and her guide Grace Hawthorne secures silver for 🇬🇧 in the women’s PTVI!
🥇 Annouck Curzillat (FRA) 🥉 Jessica Tuomela (CAN)
Watch live 📺 https://t.co/51nGOw46zq#WTPSSwansea pic.twitter.com/tLIJ51uGdd
Tuomela would make up the difference on the bike stretching her advantage to over two minutes as the race for silver come down to the home straight.
But Crowhurst was roared on by a home crowd to claim silver to add to her gold from Birmingham 2022.
She added: “The home crowd has been amazing; it is so cool to be able to race in the UK again is amazing and to have it as my first World Series has been amazing.
“There were jellyfish in the swim, but it was fine, we got through it!”
What a finish! Grandstand battle for medals between Katie Crowhurst B3🇬🇧 and Jessica Tuomela B1 🇨🇦 in the women's PTVI race.
— TriathlonLIVE (@triathlonlive) August 6, 2022
Watch on: https://t.co/rqgIRswNIq#ParaTriathlon @BritTr @TriathlonCanada @worldtriathlon #WTPSSwansea pic.twitter.com/xW1L1qJ9vd
Crowhurst’s triumph in Birmingham came when guided by Jess Fullagar, but in Swansea – which was making its debut as the host of a Volvo WTPS event and the UK’s first standalone World Series para-triathlon – she claimed another medal this time with Hawthorne.
With Crowhurst competing as a visually impaired athlete, communication is key for success.
She said: “Obviously, each guide is different, and you've just got to build that relationship, it requires a lot of communication.
“So, I'm grateful that Grace has been able to communicate with me and work with me. We did our first flying mount too so that was good.”
The Volvo 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Swansea - Britain's first ever standalone World Triathlon Para Series event - headlined a week-long para sport festival in the Welsh city, which also included the first ever International Paratriathlon Conference. Interested in getting involved in paratriathlon? Visit the get involved page on britishtriathlon.org
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