- Junior athletes Charlie Follett, Georgia Hannam and Kerenza Bryson all qualify for Women’s Budapest Indoor final
- Bristol’s Follett and Morecambe’s Hannam cruise through Group B as Bryson battles her way out of Group A
- Somerset’s Holly Parker misses out on a place in the final 36 at opening international of the season
After an interrupted build up, Pentathlon GB’s youngsters showed that the future is bright as Charlie Follett, Georgia Hannam and Kerenza Bryson all qualified for the women’s final at the Budapest Indoor Competition.
Holly Parker, who was only called up to the team on Tuesday following the withdrawals of Samantha Murray, Joanna Muir and Jessica Varley due to illness also performed well but missed out on a place in the final 36.
With a bumper entry list for the opening international of the season, the Pentathlon GB trio showed there are different ways to make it through qualifying with Follett producing a stunning fence to set-up her day, Hannam performing consistently across all four disciplines to ease through and Bryson battling her way into the final with a strong laser run.
Story of the Day – Group B
Bristol’s Follett and Morecambe’s Hannam were both placed in qualifying group B, starting their day with the 200m swim. Both Brits started the day in impressive fashion, pushing their best times despite being the start of the season, as Hannam recorded a 2:15.06 and Follett 2:20.75.
The fencing salle proved to be even more rewarding for the British youngsters, with University of Bath psychology student Follett producing an excellent display to secure 19 victories and just 8 defeats. Despite being her least favourite discipline, Hannam, who also combines training and studying at Pentathlon GB’s National Training Centre, recorded a positive fence too with 15 victories from her 27 bouts. It meant that the duo were well placed in 3rd and 8th heading into the laser run.
Although not at their best on the range, 20-year-old Follett and 19-year-old Hannam still out-performed most of the athletes around them and their winter training ensured their run was strong enough as they both comfortably qualified for the final by crossing the line 4th and 7th in the group standings.
Story of the Day – Group A
The 2018 international season began with the Group A fence in Budapest, including Pentathlon GB’s Kerenza Bryson and Holly Parker. Usually the strongest discipline for Plymouth’s Bryson, the youngster who finished 8th at this event 12 months ago was below her best, despite recording a positive score of 14 victories and 13 defeats. Somerset’s Parker, who was only called up to the team 2 days ago, battled valiantly despite her lack of preparation, and finished with 9 victories.
Both athletes performed well in the pool with Parker stopping the clock in 2:17.75 and Bryson recording a time of 2:23.69 for her swim. However, it meant both athletes were outside the top 15 automatic qualifying places after the opening two disciplines with Bryson in 16th and Parker 22nd.
Despite this, 19-year-old Bryson showed all of her battling qualities and sharp shooting skills to move up 3 places in the final discipline, crossing the line 13th and booking her place in Saturday’s final. Parker also performed well in the final discipline with the nineteenth quickest time in the group, but it saw her drop a couple of places overall to finish 26th.
Tomorrow sees men’s qualifying taking place in the Hungarian capital with Jamie Cooke, Sam Curry, Tom Toolis, Bradley Sutton and Jamie Harper in action for Pentathlon GB.
Follett, Hannam and Bryson will all return to action on Saturday for the Women’s final.
Report courtesy of Pentathlon GB
