Lloyd Rosewell

I am currently the Competition Officer for Pen-y-bont. I have been part of the club since the first group of Nippers, so I started the club at age 7.

I have represented Wales for 20 years, my first youth cap was when I was 14 and my final senior team cap was last year, aged 34. I was part of the Youth GB team for three years aged 16, 17 and 18, travelling to European Champs in France, Bulgaria and Italy. I represented GB at senior level in one world championships in Germany and two Europeans in Tenerife and Alicante. I have also travelled with the GB team to Japan, South Africa and Australia.

Over the years different ocean events have been my strengths but I have always preferred the Ironman, as it’s always the most challenging. I have had a range of medals in international competitions, but the two stand outs are gold in the Junior European Board race and Masters World Ironman Champion.

Question from Bethany:  “How do you prepare and train for the Welsh Team?”

That’s a great question to which different people will give a lot of different answers. I believe that the three most important aspects are: consistency – having a weekly plan that you follow. To gain a place in the team you need to be strong in a variety of events, so you will need to work on all four aspects of our sport, running, ski paddling, board paddling and swimming.

Patience – this follows on from having consistency. You may not see immediate improvements over the short term, but stick with it and you will get stronger over time. This could take a few months, you will see results.

Fun/enjoyment – to get the results and gain a place in the Welsh team you will need to put the hours into training, this will be a chore if you are not having fun and enjoying yourself. Spending time with your mates and doing the sport that you love, while putting in the effort, is the key to success and you will have memories that will last a lifetime.