A POWYS border athlete further underlined his growing reputation at the men’s Junior World Triathlon Championships in Spain last weekend.

Deri McCluskey of Llanymynech helped form the Great Britain team which competed at the event based in Torremolinos.

McCluskey is a former Llanfyllin High School student and Maldwyn Harrier Athletics Club ace is now a student at Cardiff University where he has continued to develop as a triathlete.

He joined his peers in travelling to Andalusia with the entire British squad making its debut at world level as organisers bid to ensure the next generation of triathletes were given a platform to compete against one another.

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McCluskey was 10th out of the water after the 750m swim and stuck with the lead pack through the first laps of the bike.

The Powys athlete was 15th after the first two run laps and climbed two places to 13th when he crossed the line in 00:56:21 to ensure all three Brits a top 15 finish on their World Championship debuts.

McCluskey said: “It was a real honour to represent Britain at the World Championships and I was pleased with the result on my debut.

“I am enjoying training and competing, it is of course a challenge but one I am enjoying in Cardiff.

“My aims now are to just keep on training hard and hopefully stay injury free and continue to develop as a triathlete.”

Earlier in the year the athlete ended third at the 2024 Europe Triathlon Junior Cup in Quarteira.

The youngster’s commitment to training and competing at the highest level also earned plaudits from proud father Ryan who said: “Deri has worked so hard alongside his university studies to achieve this.”

However McCluskey and other triathletes will not be competing at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after it was confirmed triathlon would not be included in the programme.

Triathlon has been part of the programme since 2002.