Warriors Pentathlon and Athletic Club showed what experienced endurance coaching can achieve when combined with new skills in Germany recently.
Nine young Warriors athletes qualified for the GB Pentathlon team earlier in the year at the British Championships, and this was their first test in a GB vest.
Flying into Munich that week opened a whole new world for our young athletes. Up against teams from 26 other European countries, they would soon be racing against powerhouse nations such as Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The British team was staying in Erding, near the actual site of the European Championships, a stunning 300 acre park with a large lake and a tarmac trail, both of which would see intense action during the week.
The sport of Modern pentathlon offers opportunities to combine swimming, running, and laser shooting in a variety of competitions, and is open to anyone from age eight years old.
Great Britain sends teams to compete in every age group from U11 to Masters aged over 70, and the team area throughout the week was a friendly environment, where older athletes were on hand to help with tips and competition nerves and a friendly smile.
The young Warriors put on a brave show, and all the athletes made their competition finals during the week.
Some outstanding individual performances came from Poppy Boden, winning the European title in laser shooting at U11, despite only being the third-ranked British athlete in the team.
Eve and Isobel Beddow won both the Gold and the Bronze medal in the Laser shooting. Eve was probably one of the favourites going into the competition, but Isobel had only qualified as a wildcard place, so it was an astonishing performance by the young U13 twins.
A special mention goes to the outstanding athlete from any country at the European Championships. Jasmine Rogan had powered her way into the British team in three separate events, and also the relay teams.
She combines National level swimming with strong running and deadly shooting, and won two individual Gold medals in Biathle and Triathle, as well the Relay Gold in laser run. She was only beaten once into Silver during the whole week, and that was by Warrior team-mate Poppy Boden in the final of the laser shooting.
For her age, Jasmine has proven herself one of the outstanding multi-sport athletes in Europe, and was a bit of a mini-celebrity as young athletes from other countries wanted to swap their kit with her.
For any athletes out there who would like to try combining swimming or running with other sports, please get in touch. Next year’s European Championships will be in Madeira during July. www.runwirral.uk 
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