This weekend the elite Team GB athletes will race in Australia in the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, the last of nine events of the 2018 series. One of the team is 23 year old Sophie Coldwell. This is the second time Sophie will don her Team GBR trisuit on the Gold Coast this year, as in April she also represented in the Commonwealth Games, placing 6th.
From morning latte to lights out, we caught up with Sophie to find out about life as a young professional athlete.
European sprint champion – I’ll take that! Thanks for all the support out on the course today! pic.twitter.com/VB7UQUYLpT
— Sophie Coldwell (@sophiecoldwell) July 20, 2018
For those who don’t know you, can you briefly introduce yourself?
I was born in Kent and am currently living in Loughborough. I adore all animals, especially dogs so I foster them. Having ‘failed’ at this twice, I now have two permanent four legged run partners, Poppy and Rocco. I have OCD about nail varnish and absolutely hate not having perfect nails. Aside from dogs and nails I compete internationally in triathlon and have been fortunate enough to compete all over the world (I probably should have mentioned that first!).
My alarm goes off…
As late as possible! Training starts at 7.30am and I literally get up 30 minutes before morning swimming and eat my toast in the car and take my tea in a travel mug. I love sleeping and a day rarely goes by without having a nap.
I got into triathlon…
At the age of 8. My mum saw a local triathlon advertised and down we went. At the time I couldn’t swim 50 metres front crawl so had to do half of it as backstroke. I then biked and ran around in one of my mum’s t-shirts so I wouldn’t get cold!
My typical day…
Consists of 2-3 training sessions, a nap and dog cuddles! Training varies day-to-day depending on what the key session of the day is. For example on a Friday when we have a big run session we then only have an easy swim in the afternoon, compared to a Saturday which has more volume but nothing is high in intensity. I’m lucky to have a great squad to train with at Loughborough University and over the last two years I’ve had the privilege of training with my teammate Jodie Stimpson. My training schedule doesn’t change throughout the year, but the content of sessions will vary slightly as the winter will be for mainly building strength then the summer will be for speed.
My most memorable moment…
Was finding out that I made it onto the British Triathlon ‘Olympic Talent Squad’ back when I was 15. We were finding out by post about a week after the trials and my mum and I were running around the streets near where we live to find the postman and to hunt down my letter! The selection process back then was a combination of a swim and run time trial, plus interviews and then they also looked at your previous race results.
The best part of my job…
Is doing something I love 365 days a year! I love training and competing so I feel incredibly fortunate that it’s my job. I’ve had two big wins in 2018 at the European Sprint Championships in Tartu and Triathlon World Cup in Tiszaujvaros, which serve as a huge source of motivation and I’m really proud of.
The worst part of my job…
Is being away from home so much. I love travelling around the world but its hard being so far away from close friends and family. Thankfully now though technology helps to stay in touch, especially when we’re in different time zones, and Facetime gets used a fair bit when I’m away.
After work…
I like nothing better than to relax on the sofa, TV on, dogs by my feet and cup of tea in hand (and probably a biscuit or two!). Currently I am watching Bodyguard on BBC and obviously the Great British Bake Off.
Yellow Jersey provide Triathlon Bike Insurance and Triathlon Travel Insurance to Sophie Coldwell