Ellis is a former King's Lynn Fury basketball player

Norfolk triathlete Matthew Ellis has been handed a call-up to the Great Britain squad for July's European Triathlon Championships.

The 31-year-old, who only made his competitive debut 12 months ago, will be in the 30-34 age group.

"I started competing in triathlon this time last year, and I always wanted to see how far I could take it," he told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"It's gone quite well, I've got a lot further, a lot sooner than I expected."

"I had the chance to do an early season GB trial in Ampleforth and happened to perform quite well," he added.

Ellis came second in his age group, fifth overall, and admits his success has been something of a surprise, having only made his competitive bow, winning the Waveney Triathlon, in May 2008.

Like another Norfolk triathlete Chrissie Wellington, the reigning two-time world female Ironman champion, Ellis was a latecomer to the sport, but now he's started he admits it's an all-consuming obsession.

"If I'm not working or sleeping I'm training or eating to make sure I've got enough energy to train, it's about 13 or 14 sessions a week, most days twice a day," he said.

"I occasionally get an evening off, but I'll generally be training early the next day."

"You've got to put the hours in if you want to get somewhere."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version