Simon Ward and Sian Rainsley

The ONLY elite triathlete in the world with Crohn’s disease

The life of a triathlete is hard.  It’s almost impossible when you have Crohn’s disease.  In fact, that is what the doctors told today’s guest when she was diagnosed at the age of 18.  At this moment in time there are no other elite triathletes in the world suffering from Crohn’s and training full time.  Sian Rainsley is an elite triathlete based at the High Performance centre in Leeds. Her whole world nearly fell apart a few years ago when she found out what was making her so ill.  Since then she had medalled at the ETU U23 triathlon taking a bronze, and competed at the World U23 championships taking a 9th place and just a few months ago at 15th place, despite a season that was ruined by illness.

Despite her tender age, Sian has already demonstrated the toughness of spirit and obstinacy required to be a champion at this point in her career.

In this conversation Sian talks about:

• Why a swim/run background as a youth is still the biggest predictor of triathlon success
• Swim and run success as a junior athlete
• A devastating diagnosis at 18 years of age
• The definition and symptoms of Crohn’s disease and how it affects her life
• The joy of just being active
• Never taking things for granted
• Repeatedly ignoring the doctor’s advice
• Sometimes in life you have to adjust your goals and be happy with what you get

For more information please go to www.SimonWardTriathlonCoach.com, or www.TheTriathlonCoach.com, or email Beth@thetriathloncoach.com.