Page 4 - RVC4Life - Alumni making a difference

MAKING DREAMS
COME TRUE!
Last year, the RVC Alumni Fund awarded an individual grant of £500 to Emma Dixon, to allow her to compete in
the Triathlon World Championships in Rotterdam.
Emma had long been a keen runner, but the idea of doing a triathlon arose when she sustained an injury which meant she took up cycling too. She would tag along on rides with a group of clinicians and interns that worked in the RVC’s Queen Mother Hospital and she loved it.
“I entered my first triathlon in July 2016 and before long I was planning my second triathlon season in 2017 around qualifying for the Age Group World Championships in Rotterdam. I ticked this box on 21st May as the fastest female qualifier in the sprint distance event (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run). This was my first slightly more serious event and my win completely surprised me.”
It’s safe to say that Emma doesn’t do things by halves! As well as a job in a local gelato shop she spent the summer training for Rotterdam. The day after this race was the start of term for the last two years of her Veterinary Medicine degree and she felt she had to satisfy her triathlon ambition before this next challenge took over!
“Race day arrived and against all odds the sun came out. I tried my best to stay positive and focussed. I had instructed my supporters to yell what position I was in at different points on the course. They think 12th out of the swim, maybe 5th off the bike and then it was down to my run. There were competitors of different age groups on the course so I didn’t know what position I was in as I sprinted down the blue carpet and over the line. When I heard what was then announced to the
grandstand, that I had won, people looked at me with faces of concern because I had burst into tears – I couldn’t believe my dream had come true!”
“I am enormously grateful to my generous sponsors – the RVC’s Animal Care Trust and Student Union. Competing in Rotterdam was not cheap, they made it possible and I was proud to represent them. Now I am looking forward to using the new sports facilities at the Hawkshead campus and getting involved with RVC TRI club to train for whatever I enter next!”
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