Issy’S Triple Crown

On Sunday 8th March Issy represented Wales U20 women in the 1500m at the Welsh Athletics Indoor International against England in Cardiff. Issy recorded a personal best time of 4.33.41. This was four seconds faster than her previous best and the fastest time for an U17 athlete in the UK this year.

She will spend this coming weekend revising for her GCSEs before travelling to Santry Park in Dublin to represent Welsh Schools in the SIAB schools International cross-country being held on the 20 March. Christ College pupil, Issy qualified for this event back in February when she represented Powys schools in the National Cross Country Championships held in Brecon. This is Issy’s fourth consecutive appearance at this event and she has achieved her own ‘Triple Crown’ by competing for Welsh schools on Welsh, English, Scottish and Irish soil.

And finally on March 29th, Issy will be returning to her favourite sport and putting on her Welsh Triathlon tri suit to compete in the first round of the British Triathlon Elite Youth Super Series being held at Rockingham in Northamptonshire. This is the first event of an invitational series of six held across the UK, culminating in the British Triathlon Championships, which take place in Liverpool on the 26th July.

Issy is hoping to improve on her 6th place finish of last year. She is the youngest member of the Welsh National Talent Academy and is hoping to follow in the footsteps of former Welsh World Champions Non Stanford and Helen Jenkins. Performance Development coach of Welsh Triathlon, Richard Brady commented ‘Issy is one of the brightest stars that Welsh Triathlon has seen since Helen Jenkins’.

In addition to this Issy has been shortlisted for the Powys Junior Sportsperson of the Year but will be unable to attend as she’s competing. She has also been selected to represent Welsh Schools in the British Athletics 3-Mile Road Race Championship in London for the fourth consecutive year. Issy’s busy schedule means that she is unsure if she will be able to attend this event though such is the demand for her many talents.

Emma Taylor, Head of Christ College, said ‘We are immensely proud of Issy and her achievements; she is immensely dedicated and committed as well as naturally talented, and her success is just reward for her hard work and her modest, down-to-earth attitude to everything she does.’