Did you know that this Wednesday is International Women’s Day? We are very fortunate as a squad to have so many strong, powerful, and inspiring females, as well as one of the highest percentages of females in a squad.
We decided that one day to celebrate women wasn’t enough, so we’ll be celebrating and highlighting a few women in the squad all week!
Name: Aurélie Wilkinson (nee Gruaz)
How long have you been doing triathlon?
I’ve started in 2020
Which is your favourite discipline in a triathlon?
Running
What do you love most about the sport?
A few main things:
– Outdoor training & in various locations.
– The community. I used to play union back in France and after a few years training in gyms I was really missing the team spirit, which I really found again in triathlon, even if it’s meant to be an individual sport, it really isn’t.
– the adrenaline of the races and training for a purpose, like in rugby when I was training for a game, here training for a race gives greater goals and feeling of accomplishments.
What barriers have you faced in triathlon and how did you overcome them?
– Learning to feel comfortable with open water swimming from being used to swimming pools. Overcame with a great support group.
– Riding in a large group gives me anxiety. It takes time and a lot of practice to improve skills on the bike and get comfortable on the road surrounded by many cyclists.
What is something your fellow tri friends don’t know about you?
I was struggling to make a 5k run 4 years ago.
What is your favourite inspiring quote?
Mad to Live, Mad to Talk.
Do you have a mentor or another triathlete you admire?
Not a specific person in mind but I do follow a few pro females in triathlon or other sports like swimming, athletics, or tennis.
