DORSET Pentathletes retained the title of best in Britain for a record fourth successive year at the National Biathlon Championships in Liverpool.

The county team took 28 competitors to the prestigious event and came home with an impressive haul of 15 medals, including three individual gold medals and five team gold medals.

That incredible accomplishment proved more than enough to see Dorset named top team of the Championships, a tag they have held since 2007.

However, the West Midlands, Yorkshire Region MPC and North Kent pushed the dominant outfit all the way this time around and will no doubt be contenders for the throne in years to come after showing huge improvement.

The Youth E Boys 10-and-under team got Dorset off to the perfect start with Charlie Samouelle (Tornadoes) producing the fastest 50m swim in 32.46 seconds to take first place overall ahead of colleagues William Blackledge in third and Callum Mullins in seventh (both Warriors).

That was enough to capture team gold by over 1,000 points from the 4 Life Triathlon Club, handing the county a huge boost for the rest of the competition.

In the Youth D Boys 12-and-under section, Dorset’s team of Harrison Yarnold, Hugh Ireland (both Warriors), Jonathan Greenwood and Alex Bourne were pushed much harder as they captured gold by just eight points, the equivalent of one second in the run, from Plymouth College.

Yarnold grabbed silver while Ireland, Greenwood and Bourne came home in ninth, 13th and 24th respectively.

The hotly contested Youth Team Girls event saw Mikala Curtis, Zoe Gowers and Aoife McCarthy all perform magnificently to claim sixth spot. Curtis finished sixth ahead of Gowers in 45th and McCarthy in 52nd.

Dorset then returned to the podium in the Youth C Boys and Girls 14-and-under section with the girls picking up team gold and bronze, and the boys following up with another team bronze.

Danielle Burry and Bethan Whittall (Weymouth SC) claimed gold and silver ahead of Lucy Flynn in ninth, Rebecca Bowles in 12th, Laura Chitty in 19th and Christiana Cole in 21st. Meanwhile, for the boys, Phillip Bourne captured 14th spot followed by Oliver Mullins in 22nd and Jordon Symington in 30th. Whittall, Bowles, Cole, Mullins and Symington will all compete in the same age group next year, which is further evidence of the strength in depth in the Dorset camp.

There was further success for Africa Mason in the Youth B Girls 16-and-under category where she captured a silver medal. Chris Perham finished sixth for the boys while Tom Cain claimed 21st spot in the Youth A Boys 18-and-under section.

To complete Dorset’s tremendous display in the competition the county won another batch of medals in the Masters Men and Women category with both teams taking gold.

Sara Cox-Caughlin took first place ahead of Laura Chitty in fifth and Vicky Gowers in 10th, while Nick Ireland and Andy Whittall secured silver and bronze respectively for the men, with Richard Bowles not far behind in 11th.

Dorset coach Mick Flaherty said: “Once again the kids from the local area have done a great job in their efforts at the Nationals to win so much and retain top club status.

“The time and effort they have put into training each week over the last few months has paid off once again and I would like to thank all the coaches from the various swimming and running clubs for all their support in the preparation process for this event.

“This year’s competition was a lot tougher than last year with many of the Dorset Pentathletes team still having another year in the age group they competed in.

“Also the opposition was a lot better than in previous years but once again we finished as Britain’s top team, which is an achievement we can all be really proud of.

“The next event on the calendar is the National Biathle at Salford Quays in August, which is a selection race for the Great Britain team for the World Championships in Dubai.” If you are interested in sponsoring Dorset Pentathletes contact Flaherty at flaherty121@aol.com