The Tornadoes of South Dorset took a 22 strong team to the 2006 British Modern Biathlon Championships held at The Aquatics Centre and Sportcity Athletics Track in Manchester on Saturday 13th May. For all the athletes it was a big occasion and a fantastic opportunity to compete in these impressive sporting venues, used previously for the commonwealth games.

First up was Connor Aitken in the youth E category (9 – 10 age group) who ran and swam personal best times and finished a very credible 13th place overall. The youth E girls Laura Chitty and Sophie Dawe also ran and swam extremely well with Laura matching Connor with personal best times in both the swim and the run and finishing 15th overall.

Next up was the Youth D category (11-12 age group) this time with both a girls and boys team. For most of them they were competing young in this category with very tough competition. For the boys Marcus Crew, Oliver Bowen-Ashwin and Christopher Galloway gave it their all, Marcus clocked up personal best times in both the swim and the run and Chris in the pool, the boys team finished 11th overall.

The girls in this age group had a battle on their hands, Harriet Stewart and Natasha Cain had a personal best times in the run with Harriet finishing in 19th position overall. The girls team finished in 10th position.

The youth C category boys Thomas Crew and Jonathan Mowlem competed as individuals with Thomas achieving personal bests in both the pool and the run finishing in 21st place overall for Jonathan it was his first experience at a national competition.

The Youth C girls showed both their experience and determination, all 5 girls Laura Bowen-Ashwin, Joanna Puckett, Megan Bevan, Lauren Podger and Abbie Letherby had an impressive start out on the track with all the girls clocking personal best times, despite the wind and the rain!!. The girls kept their form in the pool and the team of Jo, Lauren and Abbie finished in Second place taking the Silver, with Laura taking an individual award in 5th position and Jo 6th. Megan a novice to the nationals finished in a very impressive 12th position.

Tornadoes ‘Youth B’ (15/16) boys found a silver lining when they took part in the National Club Biathlon Championship 2006. Leading the way was Niall Laming with personal bests in both the run and swim. These superb performances also earned him another trophy with 6th position in the overall individual championship. Ably assisted by Ashley Hall and James Baker they claimed 2nd spot in the team competition. Ashley, not long back in training after illness, also swam a PB and completed his day with a gutsy performance in the run. James, still struggling from a recent ankle injury, battled through the 200m swim and 200m run to add valuable team points, helping to secure a team silver.

The Youth B (15/16) girls where also in contention for a team medal when they all produced excellent time times to hold 3rd place after the swim, unfortunately although Jess Rodari, Jenny Galloway and Geraldine Day all ran hard races they slipped to 7th in the team position. Jess finished highest in the individual ranking, with 19th place.