Watch here for race reports and winter training progress/updates towards the 2006 season!

16/08/06 Marsport Kayak sponsorship makes the difference!

'The New Alpha kayak from marsport made so much of a difference at last weeks world championships that I made it up to the medals.' Andrew explained how he gained an incredible 2 and a half minutes over last years performance, allowing him to remain with the leaders. The carbon kevlar kayak is a slimline shape and weighs only 8kg. The new adjustable Lettman nordic paddles with their moulded shaft and blade seemed to be helping a bit too....

15/08/06 First World Championship Medal

20/07/06 Quadrathlon National Ranking Win

As the pictue shows another epic battle was on the cards for Matt Thomas and Andy Byatt at the weekend. The pairing went stroke for stroke, pedal for pedal and step for step on the swim, bike and run respectively. It was the kayak leg that saw Andrew pull away on his first outing on the new Marsport Alpha kayak. Andrew crossed the line first with Matt second, the result should them both to be in admirable form for the upcoming world championships.

12/06/06 Team Bike Chain on Top Form

05/02/06 Sponsorship boost for Andrew

Last year, Perranporth born multi-sport athlete Andrew Byatt had his most successful domestic sporting season to date. In 2005 he became the first person ever to collect British Championship medals in the three separate sports of Triathlon, Quadrathlon and Surf Life saving, all within the same competitive season. In recognition of this he has received great support with his training and racing for 2006. The University of Plymouth awarded him with a Sport Scholarship to assist with training costs while studying towards a degree in Physiotherapy. This week Andrew also picked up a top of the range Cannondale racing bike, Oakley eyewear and cycling accessories from sponsors Bike Chain in Redruth. Snugg wetsuits also continue to provide him with custom made wetsuits. Andrew commented that "support from local businesses and institutions has really helped me to achieve my goals. I am extremely grateful to everyone who has assisted me. I am looking forward to further enhancing my performance this year with greater success on the international scene".

Today Andrew became the 2005 British Elite Quadrathlon Champion and the first person to achieve individual national medals in the three separate sports of triathlon, surf life saving and quadrathlon in the same season. The event was closely contested with teammate and closest rival Matt Thomas. After a strong 1km swim and 40km cycle Matt had set him self up with a healthy 2 min lead, leaving Andrew with much work to do on the kayak leg. This involved 3 laps of a course totalling another 10km where Andrew made his move. His hard work here gave him the fastest individual kayak leg of the day to exit the water 1min 30 in the lead. Running the final 10km across muddy fields and along the cliff tops he was careful not to repeat the mistake of taking the wrong course as he did the previous year. With the familiar footsteps of Matt T chasing him down, Andrew managed to hang on to the lead finishing just over a minute ahead of Matt and in a new course record time of 2 hours 32mins. A great end to a great season. For complete race results see http://www.shorelineactivites.co.uk/

The swim start	Matt T in control	Andy and Nick P. chasing	Matt entering the kayak at the front	In pursuit	Finishing as GB Champ

Andrew became the first hometown winner of the Perranporth Triathlon in its 18-year history. The race was another close fought battle with Matt Thomas and Nathan Jolly. After the surf swim Matt Thomas was looking strong and pulled out a comfortable lead, Andrew held a wave all the way to the beach pulling him up into second ahead of the chasing pack. Matt was a man on a mission on the first of two 20km loops on the bike, pushing out his lead even further,  taking him into a favourable position of 1 min 30 ahead of his competitors. The second lap saw Nathan push the pace reeling matt back to within 30 seconds and Andrew in close pursuit. After a speedy transition from the bike it was the 8km run leg across the soft sands of Perranporth and up over the top of High cliff. By the end of the decent all three competitors were head to head and remained so for the next 4km, Jolly began to push the pace and Matt was the first to be dropped, feeling the strain from his great bike effort earlier in the race. With 1.5km to go Nathan made his break and pulled ahead until the final 200m where Andrew sprinted to finish 0.5 seconds behind. However, due to a time penalty gained earlier for cycling in the transition area Nathan was relegated to third position and Andrew was crowned champion. For full results and times see http://www.perranporthslsc.org.uk/ 

Sprinting for the line in the closest ever finish in the triathlons' 18 year history		Congratulating Nathan on his performance prior to the time penalty announcement	Post race interviews

Returning to his ocean roots Andrew competed in Surf Life Savings British Championships at the weekend gaining a silver medal in the board race final and a number of team medals with home club Perranporth SLSC for full results see http://www.surflifesavers.org/

The World Championships for Quadrathlon were held in the Czech Republic at the weekend. This was the main event of the year for Andrew who had high hopes of his first world medal. The event consisted of a 1.5km swim, 7km kayak, 50km Cycle, 10km run. Andrew had a 30 second lead after the swim and had the crowd around the lake very excited, the excitement was short lived however when 7 times world champion Miroslav Podborsky and Czech team mate Lukas Matys took control of the race in the kayak leg, After this Podborsky demolished the field with one of the fastest bike legs ever seen in Quadrathlon, leaving other competitors fighting it out for the minor places. Andrew dropped to 5th by the end of the run eventually finishing 1 min off medal position. He was disappointed after high hopes of a finishing in the top 3, but satisfied to achieve the best position yet by a British competitor at these World Championships. Full results can be viewed on http://www.quadrathlon-online.de/

On the podium at the World Quadrathlon Championships

British Sprint Championships silver medal 25-30 age group