Mark hoping to inspire young people of Redruth

REDRUTH'S Mark Lewarne is heading off to the ITU World Aquathlon Championships to compete for Great Britain. The event doubles up as part of the World Triathlon Championships and World Super Series.

And Mark, who teaches at Redruth School, is hoping his involvement in international sport will give young people of Redruth and surrounding areas a boost and become involved in sport.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to compete on the world stage and I am hopeful this will inspire young people to take up sport," he said.

"Redruth School has many very talented sports people who do not take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

"It's a great school with superb community links to sport and this can be the way forward.

"Redruth has had a lot of bad press recently and I am determined to show that there is some positive news and a brighter future for the area.

"Following the World Championship I'm hopeful the legacy left will get young people to join up with a sports club, whether that is rugby, football or athletics to name a few.

"We need to start at the foundation level and push for participation levels, then this will begin to develop and some performance athletes will come through.

''We really need to push sport in Cornwall leading up to the 2012 Olympics.

"We do not necessarily have the best facilities in the world so we are at an immediate disadvantage with the closest 50m swimming pool at Millfield in Somerset. This makes it difficult to nurture world class swimmers. We have to make do with what we have got.

"There are still opportunities for swimmers to further their career when they go to university or link up with national standard swimmers at Plymouth.

"I'm sure that in Cornwall we have a number of young people with raw talent who could make it as athletes. Parents and Coaches have to ensure they notice this and motivate them to continue with sport."

Mark will be competing for Britain in the 20-24 age group in Australia next week and preparations for the competition couldn't have gone any better.

He said: "Training and racing has gone very well, I feel good. With races every two weeks I'm feeling race sharp now and hoping for a strong performance in Australia.

"I am very grateful for the support from Bike Chain.

"Ricci has been great. In this tough economic climate, for someone to come on board and help leading up to a major competition makes all the difference.

"Athletes are struggling to gain sponsors during these tough times and even Olympic gold medallists from Beijing are now finding life tough.So for me to gain some help, I am very thankful."

Follow Mark's progress at the World Championships by logging on to www.marklewarne.com