Kate Waugh won junior silver at the ITU World Championships in Rotterdam behind defending champion, Taylor Knibb (USA). Olivia Mathias finished sixth in a great race for the British junior women.

Loughborough University second-year student, Sophie Alden, 19, got the race off to a fantastic start by exiting the water in second place behind Japan’s super swimmer, Fuka Sega. 

Knibb went alone off the front on the 20km bike course with Sega just behind, whilst Mathias and Waugh worked well in a small group just behind them and Alden was behind them in the next group.

Waugh had an excellent second transition and immediately got into her running. Looking strong and smooth, she was catching Knibb, who was 24 seconds ahead at the start of the 5km run.

Waugh erased ten seconds of her lead after 2.5km, and eventually finished sixteen seconds behind her with the fastest 5km time in the huge field of 69 starters.

Waugh said: “I didn’t have much expectation going into this race, so a silver medal is unbelievable.”

She could see Knibb throughout the run, adding: “I thought I was chasing her down at one point, I could see her in my sights, but towards the end I could feel myself tiring so I just tried to hold on to it.”

Olivia Mathias was pleased with sixth place, and, like Waugh, still has another year to race as a junior.