BATTLE ROYALE ARMY VS RAF VS NAVY
On Wednesday 15 September 2021, hundreds of army, navy and RAF men and women descended on sleepy Cotswold villages near Tetbury. It was an invasion, but not the sort you’d normally associate with the armed forces. Sure, they were here for battle, but wetsuits, Lycra and bikes were their weapons of choice. They were here for the Inter-Services Triathlon.
“We deliver about nine events a year for military-only personnel,” says Stuart Irving, secretary of the Army Triathlon Association (ATA) and the man responsible for organising the race today. As with a lot of things, the race didn’t manage to go ahead last year due to the pandemic, and this year things have gone a little differently. Normally, the athletes in each service’s elite squads would battle it out for honours, but this year the organisers decided to bring everyone together for one big showdown.
The result is 220 confirmed entrants as opposed to the 85 that would normally compete, but even that is just scratching the surface
