Just reading about a normal day’s training for modern pentathlete Louise Helyer would be enough to exhaust some people, but for the 22-year-old from Kirriemuir it is all part of the path which she hopes will take her to the London Olympic Games in 2012.

“A typical day in my life would involve getting up at about 8am and packing all my respective kit for the day.  This can take quite a while as on a Tuesdays I train for all 5 disciplines,” explains Helyer, who is studying Coach Education and Sport Development at Bath University.

“Tuesday is my busiest day. I shoot at 9.30 for an hour then it is off to the swimming pool - luckily only a short walk across the training centre. I will swim for an hour and a half and a normal session is about 3500 meters. Then I have lunch and catch up on my training diary and consult my coaches about the rest of the day’s training.

“In the afternoon I have a riding lesson at half one, which takes about half an hour to get to the riding centre so I leave at 1pm. I ride for an hour and return to the national training centre at 3pm.  This part of the day becomes a rush as I have a fencing lesson at 3pm, however my lesson often only lasts 20 minutes as they are quite intense.

“I then go to the gym for half an hour and do any rehabilitation exercises I need to do and running drills before going on a 40-minute steady run. This brings me to about 4.30 or 5pm. I then have a rest so I go home and have a little snooze before making supper and starting training again at 6.30pm. I have footwork/games for an hour and fencing from 7.30 until 9pm.”

It is a wonder, with all of the hours of training, that she has the time to study. But the Scot, who is in the final year of her degree, says that her university lecturers have been supportive of what she is trying to achieve.

“I am lucky because the University of Bath completely understands my commitment to Modern Pentathlon and although my degree comes first, if I am abroad competing I do find my time management very difficult.

“For instance this year alone I have only been in the country for 2 weeks since January and therefore only able to attend 2 lectures. My lecturers post lectures electronically so I can work whilst I am away.”

She has also been lucky enough to find a sponsor to help with the costs associated with an expensive sport where there is a lot of equipment to maintain.

“As an elite athlete I am on the World Class Performance Programme and receive funding which is solely dependent on my competition results and achieving the standards set by my coaches.  This Lottery funding not only enables me to maintain my equipment, pay entry fees, but also ensures that I can concentrate solely on my sport.

“Living in Bath is expensive and the funding I receive barely covers my living costs so I am also fortunate enough to receive sponsorship from Artemis, an investment management company who have supported me for the last two years together with my parents who have supported me for much longer!”

Helyer says that as a teenager in Angus she was inspired to take up the sport as she watched Britain’s Stephanie Cook win gold at the Sydney Olympics.

“From the age of eight I was competing as a member of Angus Pony Club in tetrathlon, which incorporates four of the five disciplines within Modern Pentathlon.  I discovered I was a natural runner and when given the opportunity to join Forfar Falcons Swimming Club at the age of nine I jumped at the chance and never looked back”, she explained.

“I watched the 2000 Olympics on television and saw Stephanie Cook and Kate Allenby winning Olympic medals in Modern Pentathlon. They had both previously contested Pony Club tetrathlon and I clearly remember thinking that’s what I wanted to do.”

Eight years later and she has already won a gold medal at the junior world championships and established herself in the Great Britain senior team. She thrives on the competition with other national team members training in Bath and this month she will represent Great Britain at the World Cup in Mexico despite missing several months of training last year as she recovered from a knee injury.

“I suffered a knee injury last year so things did not go quite as planned and I underwent surgery in October. This was successful and I was back training within 2 months of the operation.

“I am getting back into fitness and the winter selection trials went well. I gained personal bests in my running and swimming phases so I am hoping to come out of winter training on good form. My aim is to make the European and World Championship teams in 2008.

“I would love to compete in the 2012 games. I will be 27 then which is a prime age for a Modern Pentathlete. Before that I would love to make the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Championship team as this competition is being held in Great Britain, and there is nothing to beat competing in front of a home crowd.”

In four years time it could be Lousie Helyer that is standing on the Olympic podium inspiring other youngsters to take up Modern Pentathlon.

AW
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