A meeting with Alex Yee in the communal showers has given Claire Cashmore the inside track on the Paris 2024 Para triathlon course. 

Yee stormed to men’s Olympic gold earlier this summer and was back training in Loughborough, where Cashmore is also based, almost immediately after. 

Having both finished a swimming session, Tokyo bronze medallist in Cashmore took the chance to ask Yee about the punishing Parisian course before she embarks on her sixth Games. 

“Alex Yee was actually back in training a few days later,” the Redditch native said. “So, I saw him in the showers.  

“That sounds very dodgy, there is communal showers. We were just chatting in the showers and was telling me about it, and saying it was just awesome which definitely got us all really excited.  

“It was good to share some tips and tricks for what we’ve got to expect. 

“We’ve been aware of this course for so long, we did the test event last year. We have been putting loads of things in place to be prepared for that.  

“We've been doing a lot of river swimming, so we completely understand the current, the lines we need to take, how to do it tactically.  

“On the bike, we do technical stuff week in, week out so you know you’ve got the skills and the capacity to be able to do it and you’ve just got to go out and do that.” 

Cashmore competed in four Games as a swimmer, beginning her Paralympic career in Athens 20 years ago. 

Eight medals in the pool were followed by bronze on her switch to triathlon, finishing behind compatriot Lauren Steadman. 

The 36-year-old currently sits top of World Triathlon’s ranking in the women’s PTS5 category, with Steadman in 11th and another of Cashmore’s rivals, the USA’s Grace Norman in sixth. 

The reigning European champion and world silver medallist finished second behind Norman in the Paris test event. 

This all comes despite Cashmore having to deal with an injury that has taught her that less is more is true. 

She added: “The previous two years, I struggled with the knee injury and as a result of that, my training load massively reduced, and we found that really worked for me.

“That is not typical in the sport of triathlon, but I have been doing this since 2004 and have been absolutely destroying my body in the pool to start with and then moving onto the swim, bike and run.  

“And so, I have that engine, and it is now about being a bit smarter about the way I use that engine and focusing on the intensity rather than the aerobics stuff. 

“It is funny that I was in the best place I can possibly be from doing less.  

“Mentally, it is tricky to get your head around. As an athlete you always want to be doing more but it is about realising that what works for other people might not work for you.” 

Cashmore competes on 1 September with her event beginning at 9:20 BST. 

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