TROWBRIDGE’S Rachel Bown was delighted to see that she still has room for improvement despite clinching the greatest result of her career so far with a silver medal in the 40-44 age group at the ETU European Triathlon Championships.

Bown, who is 41 and teaches at Larkrise School, finished behind fellow Great Britain competitor Suzetta Guerrini and ahead of Greece’s Loukia Loukopoulou in Eilat, Israel, last Friday.

The Trowbridge triathlete, who has twice competed ITU World Championships in Budapest and Beijing, was delighted to claim her first major international medal and was buoyed by the fact that her second-placed finish came in what she felt was a below-par performance.

“After Beijing (in September 2011), I wanted to work on my swimming and when you do that, it’s something that gives you a lot of fatigue,” said Bown.

“It comes at the detriment of the other two disciplines and when I came out of the water, I could feel a bit of a cramp coming in.

“It was different to the World Championships because rather than race in your age group, they sent all the under 40s and all the over 40s out at the same time, so it was hard to really know where you were, but I was told that the leader (Guerrini) was a minute and 45 seconds ahead of me.

“I had a decision to make – do I go for it and try to catch her or try to hold on to my place? In the end, I decided to try and hold on and she only finished 48 seconds ahead of me.

“It wasn’t a perfect race at all and that was a good thing because I know that I can do better. I want to try and work on other things now, like my cycling. It’s an amazing result and it’s only the start of the season.”

Bown will take her third shot at the World Championships when she represents Great Britain again in Auckland, New Zealand, in October.

The Trowbridge medal-winner is sponsored by by Bike Workx UK, Sci-Con, Compresssport, Ultralife and Clif Bar.

Fellow Trowbridge triathlete Matthew Griffin returned as European champion in the 16-19 age group.

The 18-year-old held his position throughout the run section, coming across the finishing line third overall.

Clarendon College student Kieran Hill, 17, who is also sponsored by Cycology Bikes of Chippenham and trains with Trowbridge Swimming Club, finished seventh overall and took the age group bronze, having finished fastest in his age range in the swim section.

FOR MORE SPORTS NEWS, REPORTS & PICTURES SEE FRIDAY'S WILTSHIRE TIMES AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @WTSport