An Oldmeldrum man with multiple sclerosis has finished fourth at the World Para Triathlon Championships – four months after taking up the sport.
Colin Wallace finished just outside the medals in the PTS3 category at the event in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Colin – who had already won British Championships and Euro Cup gold, and World Cup silver in 2022 – said: “I’m over the moon, I can’t actually believe it.
“It’s a phenomenal result and I’m just blown away by how far I’ve come, as I’ve only been doing triathlon four months.
“It’s been a whirlwind and a rollercoaster, so just to get here was amazing enough and then to come fourth in the world is incredible.”
Colin, 37, quit his job as a PE teacher at Bridge of Don Academy in September last year and is now a stay-at-home dad to daughter Avie, 7, and son Alec, 10.
In the aftermath of the Abu Dhabi race, he hailed his “phenomenal” wife Judith, who works full-time as an IT manager with Shell, with Colin able to focus on his health and now paratriathlon.
Colin is already thinking about bettering his performance at next season’s world championships… and perhaps even reaching the biggest event of them all in 2024.
A former Inspiration prize winner at Aberdeen’s Sports Awards for his efforts in paracycling, Colin said: “There’s so many areas for improvement in triathlon.
“The bike is my stronger part because I’ve got the background in paracycling.
“The swim is my weakest, but the local club I go to – TrYthan in Ellon – have been phenomenal at improving my swim over the past few months.
“If we can keep that improvement trajectory over the next while, then fingers-crossed next year could be looking bright.
“We’re into the winter break now, and the new season starts in May.
“I’m looking at some world series (events), potentially Yokohama in Japan.
“The Paralympics are in Paris in 2024, so next year there’s a test event in Paris to trial the course, which would be a target for me as well.
“There’s a world championships in Spain next year – a bit earlier, in September –and that will obviously be the main focus.”
‘Swim was my best yet’
On the Thursday, Colin took on the rest of the world’s best male PTS3 paratriathletes over a course which was comprised of a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run.
He was delighted with the first two components, but says the heat was a factor during the final section of the race.
Colin explained: “The swim was my best swim I’ve done yet.
“I was a few minutes down on the leaders coming out of the water, but my technique has improved so much – my first triathlon I did back in June, I was doing breaststroke for most of it, but managed to push on with front crawl the entire way (in this race).
“I was the quickest bike out of all the 10 athletes in my category, which I was chuffed with again.
“And, with the run, I really, really struggled just with the heat, and not being used to the heat in the north-east of Scotland.”
Alongside his rapid rise in paratriathlon, Colin has also been boosted by recent good news regarding his MS, adding: “I changed medication a year-and-a-half ago and it’s slowed down the progression of the MS. My last MRI tests have shown no further damage, which is excellent and really positive.
“Fatigue, and balance and co-ordination issues are the main thing (I suffer with).”
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