Further ironman success for Natasha

HENLEY triathlete, Natasha Harris-White, added another success to her 2024 season, winning the Karten-Klagenfurt Ironman race for the 25-29 age category in Austria on Sunday.

Harris-White grew up in Henley, attending Valley Road and Gillotts Schools and The Henley College, and she still lives and works locally. She started rowing at Upper Thames and after university, joined Leander as a full-time rower with notable wins at Henley Women’s Regatta twice and Henley Royal Regatta in a quad. She also won two gold medals for the GB Universities team in Shanghai and rowed in the GB women’s eight in World Cup III in 2019 in Rotterdam.

Having decided to have a go at triathlon in 2022, Harris-White found early success at standard distance races in Reading and Eton Dorney and then stepped up to try her first 70.3 Ironman in Aix-en Provence in May 2023, which she won. Later that year she won the Challenger 70.3 race in Wales which qualified her for the Challenger 70.3 World Championships in Slovakia three weeks ago where she finished second in her age group.

The Klagenfurt Ironman was a new challenge. This was double the distances that she had raced before, a 3.8km swim in Lake Worthersee, a hilly 180km bike ride entailing 1,750m of vertical climb and finishing with a full 42.2km marathon — the first time Harris-White has run a marathon.

Harris-White completed her first Ironman in nine hours and 28 minutes, winning her age category — and beating one of the pro men. The result saw her qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Nice in September.