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Corner claims second World Championship crown
Daniel Corner has swum, paddled, cycled and run his way to a second World Championship crown.
The 33-year-old lives in St Albans but has been a member of Hemel Hempstead Canoe Club for the past 20 years having lived in Bovingdon most of his life.
And on Saturday he won the Elite World Quadrathlon Championships, which are held annually in the Czech Republic, for the second year running.
"Elite Champion is a nice title to have," said Dan. "It was a real relief to cross that finish line - I have never been in that much of a state before. I was in pieces."
It is hardly surprising considering he had just completed a gruelling course consisting of a 1500 metre swim, a 9km kayak, a 40 km cycle and a 10km run.
But even though Dan knew what awaited him in the town of Sedlcany, just north of Prague, he still found the course more of a struggle than he remembered.
"I found it tougher than last year," he admitted. "To be honest I made it hard for myself. I capsized in the canoe and had to catch someone up on the run at the end."
By the end of the penultimate leg of the course, the cycling, Dan was over three minutes behind Czech champion Miroslav Podborsky and knew he had to be quick on his feet to reclaim his crown.
And on the last kilometre of the 5km-long second lap that is exactly what he did, storming past the race leader to finish up 1m 13s ahead.
Dan, who has a full time job in the building industry, decided to give up competitive canoeing 10 years ago in favour of entering the world of multi-sports.
"I just wanted a change after canoeing," Dan added. "When you're competing in different sports there's less chance of getting bored!"
He took part in triathlons for the next few years, but last year saw an advert for the British Quadrathlon Championships and decided to give it a go.
He won himself the title of British Champion, and was persuaded to go out to the Czech Republic to test himself against the world's best.
The rest, as they say, is history.
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Weather for Hemel Hempstead
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
