Rising triathlon star Sian Rainsley taps into world-class resource in Leeds

Sian Rainsley, 25, moved up to Leeds in 2015 to further her academic education and try to maximise her potential in triathlon.

An early starter in the sport - she contested her first race aged eight - Rainsley takes to the start line of the women’s sprint in Roundhay Park on Saturday as the city stages the AJ Bell 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series.

As part of the British Triathlon programme based in Leeds, Rainsley trains side by side with Tokyo Olympic gold medallists Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown as well as former medallists and world champions like Vicki Holland and Non Stanford.

Not to mention the Brownlee brothers, their worldwide success the main reason Leeds has become such a magnet for the country’s top triathletes.

“It’s one of the best hubs in the world, a big draw to come here,” says Rainsley, who was born in Coventry.

“I’d say, over the last year, it’s the best it’s ever been, the whole age group, we’ve got a great mix of abilities.

“The women’s team here is probably the strongest in the world, so training is quite hard because you’re training with Olympic and world medallists in Georgia, Jess, Vicky and Non Stanford.

“I remember doing a session once and it was just me and Olympic and world medallists, which was pretty cool.

“It’s definitely helped my development because you get to see what the standard is.”

So what has Rainsley learnt in such illustrious company?

“The main one is being patient, not rushing because you can get stuck in a cycle of injuries,” observes Rainsley, a bronze medallist at the European sprint championships in 2019.

“The big learning for me is just taking your time, enjoying the process and it will happen at some point.

“They’re really cool to train with; they try to take you under their wing offering good advice.

“I used to feel miles behind them but it’s a couple of years now since I finished university and I’ve been able to have more time to recover, more time to do the training, and I’ve finally inched a bit closer.

“Each year I’m trying to get a little bit closer and I’m just using it as motivation to be like those girls.”

The potential is definitely there.

Saturday’s race marks her second start at the world championship event and only the third at that level overall.

“I didn’t even have a start 10 days before the Leeds race last year so it was all a bit of being thrown in at the deep end, so I was chuffed with a 13th-place finish,” she says of a weekend that sees amateur and open-age races in a festival of triathlon.

It’s back to Roundhay on Saturday for the individual women’s race which begins in Waterloo Lake at 3.45pm.

The men’s race, headlined by home favourite Jonny Brownlee and Olympic silver medallist Alex Yee, starts at 2pm.

“Roundhay is really hard,” says Rainsley.

“We train at Roundhay so I know what to expect, the home crowd was awesome last year and the course suits us all. We quite like high courses.”