Keele's Talented Athlete Programme
Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGWbz2j15fY
The Talented Athlete Programme is designed to support student athletes so they can sustain their level of sport whilst studying at Keele. Various support is available, from access to facilities and physio, to support with seeking funding.
We recently met with Nick Browning, third year student and TeamGB Cross-triathlete to find out how the programme has helped him prepare and compete at the top level of his sport.
Hi, my name’s Nick Browning. I’m a third‑year adult nurse studying at Keele University and I’m part of the Elite Athlete Programme.
I’ve been doing cross‑triathlon for about a year now, and I got into it by doing road triathlon previously when I was between 15 and 18. That kind of got me thinking about different elements of triathlon. I trained mountain biking during that time to gain strength on the bike, and that became my real passion and interest, which led me to switch to cross‑triathlon.
At the moment, I’m competing at international level. I’ve recently just come back from Maui, Hawaii, competing at the Xterra World Cross Triathlon Championships. Prior to that, I raced in Zittau in Germany at the ITU Championships, which are the International Triathlon Union Championships, and I’ve also been competing at national level within the British Championships.
The triathlon you see in the Olympics would be road triathlon. Instead of what I do on a mountain bike, that’s done on a road bike. The main difference with cross‑triathlon is that the bike section is on a mountain bike and the run is trail running.
The Elite Programme has allowed me to really structure my training. That’s something I had done before, but not with the same professional input that Keele has enabled me to have. The use of the strength and conditioning room has been incredibly beneficial and has allowed me to excel by using the equipment to best improve my strength and overall performance.
Looking ahead to the future, I really hope to go professional within the sport, and I feel that the Keele scheme can allow me to do that with the high level of structure and forward planning involved in my training.
