Personal best swim earns Dibb a second regional title

Princethorpe Colleges Mollie Dibb in action in the 1600m. Picture submitted

Organising body Pentathlon GB were inundated with more than 300 youngsters ranging from nine to 18, each aiming to qualify for next months’s National Biathlon Championships.

Held at the Tudor Grange Leisure Centre, Solihull, points were awarded for a separate run and swim, with the highest-scoring three gaining automatic qualification to the Nationals.

A nervous Dibb took to the 1600m track event in the final under-14 heat.

Despite struggling to find form this season, she began strongly and led for the first three laps.

However, she faded in the final 300 metres to come home in third, half a minute down on her predicted time.

A personal best in the 100m swim, however, paid dividends as she clocked 1min 5.12sec to give her an impressive 1,129 points, which took her overall tally to 2,308.

There then followed a nailbiting wait before the final scores were revealed, with Dibb again crowned champion.

With a six week build-up to the Nationals, Dibb said: “It’s up to me to get my run right for November.

“I was really pleased with my swim and would love to get a top three National position as last year I came fourth.”