A year ago Mel Nicholls entered her first triathlon. Now she is dreaming of Paralympic success in 2024.
It has been a stunning first year in a third sport for the Gloucestershire athlete, who only joined her local triathlon club for fun.
A world-class wheelchair racer and handcyclist, the two-time Paralympian had been looking for some gentle activity in a social setting to supplement her more serious training.
It's happened by accident. I joined my local triathlon club just for a bit of social time really— Mel Nicholls
Not considering herself much of a swimmer, taking up the sport competitively was not even in her thoughts.
Yet after her talent was spotted and being encouraged to consider it, she now suddenly finds herself as one of the best para-triathletes in Britain and bidding to make her mark in Paris next summer.
“It’s happened by accident,” Nicholls told the PA news agency. “I’m a wheelchair racer and a handcyclist.
“I’ve never been a swimmer. I’d do a bit of swimming as part of my recovery in the pool but that was about it.
“I joined my local triathlon club just for a bit of social time really, to train with other people. I was training on my bike and it was just to get in the pool and maybe learn to swim a bit better.
“There was a bit of talk about me doing a triathlon but, to be honest, I had no plans to do it.
“Now I’m under the world-class programme, working hard with the rest of the squad for, hopefully, Paris next year. That will be absolutely incredible.”
Tewkesbury-based Nicholls, who turns 46 this month, is no stranger to elite competition having raced on the track in her chair at London 2012 and Rio 2016 before switching to the marathon and endurance road racing.
She later moved into handcycling, in which her achievements include travelling from Land’s End to John O’Groats and around the coast of Britain in record times, as well as completing a 24-hour challenge in the United States.
“When I cycled around the coast of Britain I was completely unsupported,” said Nicholls, who has been unable to walk or use much of her left side since a series of life-changing strokes in her 20s.
“That was a huge challenge – but still in my comfort zone. I am used to suffering in horrific weather, riding through the night and finding bus stops to sleep in.
“That is where I’m most comfortable but put me in the sea or a lake where I have to swim to start a race – that is way out of my comfort zone. I would say this is my biggest challenge.
“I hadn’t closed the door to another Paralympic Games but I hadn’t considered that I would go to another either. It has all been a bit of a whirlwind, the last year.”
Nicholls entered her first triathlon in Llanelli in May 2022 and won in the women’s category.
She said it was intended as a “one-off” and the answer was a “definite no” when she was initially asked if she would attempt another.
Yet she gradually came round to the idea and three months later she finished just 21 seconds off a podium place in her first World Triathlon Para Series event in Swansea. By November she was good enough to come fifth in the World Championships in Abu Dhabi.
She is now a firm fixture on the circuit and a medal in Paris might not be out of the question.
“I am not there yet,” she said. “Even though I am experienced in two of the three elements, triathlon is very different. It’s a different set of skills you need and the courses are very technical.
“And I don’t think I’d call myself a swimmer yet. I’m still working on it!
“I’m just behind the podium against the rest of the world but I got a couple of golds last year in World Cups in Europe. Obviously I’d love to podium in Paris, that is the ultimate goal.”
