YEALAND Redmayne triathlete Beau Smith took gold at the British Universities Championships having made his senior international debut a week previously.

The 2013 British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Sprint Distance Triathlon Championships were held at St Mary’s School, Calne in Wiltshire, and the event comprised a 750m pool swim, a 25k cycle leg in a loop around the surrounding area, and a 5k run along an out and back course finishing on the school playing fields.

The Olympic legacy was in evidence, with the event attracting a record number of entries in excess of 500 from universities all around England, Scotland and Wales.

Having travelled down on the Saturday with his team from the University of Leeds, Smith was at the business end of the competition, starting in the final wave of swimmers and hoping for a podium position.

The staggered start format meant that Smith went hard from he start, recording the second fastest swim split of the day and the seventh fastest times on both bike and run legs.

He added to speedy transitions between disciplines to record a final time of 1:07:55, giving him the overall victory by a mere eight seconds.

The podium was separated by just nine seconds and universities from all three nations were represented, with Sam Wade (Cardiff) in second and Cameron Milne (Stirling) third.

In addition to his individual win, Smith also won gold in the team event along with Liam Lloyd and Richard Anderson.

Just one week previously, the youngster made his senior international debut racing in an ITU European Cup event in Antalya, Turkey over the longer Olympic distance.

Going into the race ranked 62, he put in an admirable performance to finish in 31st place - particularly impressive was his run split of 34:09 for 10k in 31 degrees!

Smith is being supported for 2013 by Leisure Lakes Bikes, who have provided him with his specialised racing bike and shoes, and also by Saucony UK (through the Runners’ Centre) who have provided him with running kit.