Pentathlon GB’s Collin, Parker and Choong to make 2017 international debuts in Prague
- Buckinghamshire’s Sarah Collin, Somerset’s Holly Parker and London’s Henry Choong to make first international appearances of 2017
- Plymouth’s Myles Pillage who has competed at all three World Cups this year heads to Czech Captial
- Bristol’s Charlie Follett, Basingstoke’s Bradley Sutton and Ampfield’s George Budden complete 7-strong PGB line-up at Junior event
Buckinghamshire’s Sarah Collin (pictured above), Somerset’s Holly Parker and London’s Henry Choong will all make their first international appearances of 2017 at the Milan Kadlec Memorial in Prague this week. The trio will be joined by Charlie Follett, Myles Pillage, Bradley Sutton and George Budden in a 7 strong Pentathlon GB team heading to the Czech capital for the popular Junior event.
It will be 20 year-old Collin’s first international appearance for over 2 years having suffered a long injury lay-off shortly after joining the Pentathlon GB National Training Centre in September 2015. Meanwhile, 20 year-old Parker will be making just her second ever international appearance, the first coming at the last year’s Junior European Championships in Drzonkow, Poland.
The third member of the women’s team, Bristol’s Follett, will be looking to continue her fine start to 2017 with the 20 year-old’s three international appearances yielding an 11th place finish in Hungary, 2nd in Switzerland and 19th in Germany.
The trio are currently ranked 8th (Follett), 9th (Parker) and 10th (Collin) in the UK respectively, demonstrating the current strength in depth of the Pentathlon GB women’s team.
In the men’s team, 20 year old Choong, younger brother of 2017 Olympian Joe, will returns from a long international absence; his last appearance coming 22 months ago at the 2015 Under 19 European Championships, also in the Czech capital.
The other 3 members of the men’s team have all already appeared on the international circuit this year with 19 year-old Pillage competing at the opening three World Cups of the year, claiming a brilliant silver medal alongside Jo Muir in the Mixed Relay at the second World Cup in Cairo.
18 year-old Sutton, who moved to Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre at the University of Bath in September, has competed at both the Hungarian Indoor International and German Open Championships this season as he continues his progression through the Pentathlon GB ranks. The Basingstoke born athlete who finished 22nd at the Milan Kadlec Memorial last year will be looking to improve on that performance this season with another 12 months of experience under his belt.
The final member of the men’s team, Ampfield’s George Budden, makes just his second international modern pentathlon appearance with his full debut coming in Germany only 2 weeks ago. The competition concludes a busy month for the 17 year-old following his 7th place finish in the boys’ event and 4th place in the Mixed Relay at the Under 19 European Cup (modern tetrathlon event format) in Sant Boi at the end of April.
Full team:
- Charlie Follett, 20, from Bristol. Currently training at the Bath NTC.
- Holly Parker, 20, from Faulkland, Somerset. Currently training at the Bath NTC.
- Sarah Collin, 20, from Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. Currently training at the Bath NTC.
- Myles Pillage, 19, from Plymouth, Devon. Currently training at the Bath NTC.
- Bradley Sutton, 18, from Basingstoke, Hampshire. Currently training at the Bath NTC.
- Henry Choong, 20, from Orpington, London. Currently training at Cambridge University.
- George Budden, 17, from Ampfield, Hampshire
Full competition schedule:
- Friday 19th May – Men’s Competition
- Saturday 20th May – Women’s Competition
Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB
