Young triathletes try their best (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Young triathletes try their best

Alex WrightCRICKLADE Town Festival kicked off with a splash.

The two-week event began with a successful triathlon event, which took part at the town's leisure centre and the country lanes between Cricklade, Minety and Ashton Keynes.

Wayne Francis organised the event.

He said: "The weather was perfect and it went very well."

The main race was won by Bryn Mayell, a member of Swindon Triathlon Club, who told the organisers that he will be back to defend his title next year.

A special sprint distance triathlon was won by Steve Dutton.

The first placed Cricklade athlete was Richard Craig, who came in second.

The fastest woman racer was Rebecca Dutton who secured fourth place.

For the first time there was a junior 'fixed-distance' event, which attracted an entry of 47 children not only from Cricklade but from places further afield such as Minety, Swindon, Wroughton, Fairford and Malmesbury. Mr Francis said: "For us this was the big success of the day. It took a huge amount of organising and the children really put their hearts and souls into it.

"Because of their mixed ages we didn't want to have winners and losers."

The festival continues tonight with a concert by saxophonist and clarinet player Frank Abrams at the Red Lion pub.

The concert begins at 9pm and admission is free.