Silver triathlon medal delights 82-year-old Bob

The 82-year-old, a competitor in the 80-84 age category and the current British and English champion, came second to Mike Smallwood from Daventry and he beat Doug Wood from Edinburgh in the sprint category, which comprises a 750m swim, 20k bike race and 5k run.

They were the only all British podium trio in the championships.

Rogers, who lives in East Preston, was a partner in Miller Parris solicitors for 40 years and it was only after retirement at the age of 72 that he took up triathlon.

He qualified for the World Championships at Blenheim in June last year and has now qualified for the European Championships in Austria next year and the World Championships in Hamburg in September.

His main interest has always been rugby and he played for Worthing Rugby Club in the 1960s and 70s, captained the club and played for Sussex. He went on to become President of Worthing and President of Sussex.

In the 2006-2007 season he became President of the Rugby Football Union. In his 40s he ran five marathons but then there was a long sporting gap before he took up triathlon.

“My daughter, Sarah, an age group World and European triathlon champion, encouraged me,” he said. “I’ve always cycled and walked a lot but ten years ago I learned to swim front crawl. Now I swim in the sea and at The Wave, cycle regularly with a local group and run or fast walk most mornings.”

He is also a member of Tuff Fitty Triathlon Club.

In Spain, Rogers was fifth out of the water after the swim but managed to work his way into second place by the start of the run.

He said: “It was a really tough course with a long climb on the bike ride. The run was also hilly. But I was spurred on by another Tuff Fitty competitor, Colin Simpson, who was in a different age group. He was really supportive both on the bike and in the run and we finished arm in arm.”

Two other Tuff Fitty members, Jenny Oliver and Sue Simpson also competed in the championships in the aquabike event.