VETERAN sportswomen Mary Collett began her preparations for a possible FOURTH successive world biathle title by winning a Masters event in South Africa.
The 56-year-old, who lives in Totton, won her W50 section in the first round of the World Tour 2003 event at Gordans Bay, near Cape Town.
She recorded a time of 10min 36 sec in the race, which featured a 100m swim in the sea either side of two 1,000m runs.
Mary, who teaches swimming at the Gregg School in West End and at St Winifred's Junior School in central Southampton, spent five days in South Africa. She is also a City of Southampton swimming club member.
"It might sound a long time to be there for just ten minutes' action," she quipped. "You actually spend longer warming up for the race and longer warming down after it.
"But it's great fun, and a terrific spectator sport. It was also lovely and sunny."
The Cape Town race included
the African Championships to select their team for the World Championships to be held in Monaco in September. Mary has been World Champion for the
past four years and remains unbeaten in this event. In addition, she has also held the British national triathlon - run, swim and shoot - title for the past seven years!
The Totton AC member - Mary used to run for Team Solent - is something of a globetrotter. Last summer she spent three weeks in Australia training for the World Championships in Sardinia and plans a repeat trip this summer.
Other destinations in the 2003 World Tour include Holland, Italy and Cuba, though she admitted she might miss the latter event.
But one race she is committed to is the British Championships in Bournemouth in July, after which the British squad for the World Championships will be picked.
The last time Mary attended the Worlds in Monaco it was for two 1,000m runs around the Formula One race circuit and a swim in a pool, though this year the swim will be in the sea.
Meanwhile, she will be bidding for another national Biathlon title in Wolverhampton in June.
Biathle comes under the umbrella of modern pentathlon and is not to be confused with biathlon, which at world level comprises the Nordic version of shooting and skiing.
Mary, though, could probably do well at that - next week she is taking a group of 44 schoolchildren skiing in America!
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