MedwayTri athlete Nicola Lilley is raising money to compete in the World Triathlon Championships next month.

The mum-of-five from Gillingham is looking for sponsors to help take her triathlon exploits to the next level.

Lilley has emerged as one of the best age group athletes in the world in just four years. This year has been a special one, defending her national age group title at the British Championships in June.

That qualified her for the World Championships in Abu Dhabi, where she is set to represent Great Britain.

She has set up her own gofundme page which has raised more than £1,500 of the £2,000 target and explains why she is so determined to make it to the championships.

With Covid ending her hopes of representing GB at the World Championships in 2019, she was determined to keep going, saying: “In 2020 there wasn’t any racing at all, so when 2021 came around we were all ready and raring to go. I had trained incredibly hard over the winter and the Covid months never taking my eye off the prize. I was in the best shape I had ever been in.”

She went onto become British champion in Leeds and said: “I was ecstatic. I knew I was in good shape, but this was truly the first time I had started to believe that maybe I could compete with the best. I was starting to believe in myself and what I'm capable of.”

She was selected for the European Championships in Valencia in September - after a last-minute application was accepted. Lilley won a silver medal just five seconds off first place.

“I was over the moon,” she said. “I had battled to get there, and I had made the podium! I couldn’t be prouder. Nikki Lilley silver medalist at the European championships sounds okay, right?

“So now there was this fire in my belly to get to the World Championships 2022 in Abu Dhabi. The Europeans was such an amazing experience, but the worlds will be the next level. I’d love to see what I can do or just how it feels.”

Lilley works full time for the mental health charity Mid-Kent Mind. It’s been an extraordinary journey into triathlon since first taking up the sport in 2018.

She entered the Leeds Castle Sprint Triathlon four years ago, in January 2018, as part of a New Year’s resolution after years of inactivity.

She didn’t even have a bike and naively assumed the organisers would lend her one. She had never swum in open water or taken part in any organised swim activity but had a strong background as a running junior for Medway AC, Southern England, and England, racing at the prestigious AAAs Championships in the 1990s at the age of 15 before eventually giving up on sport.

Since joining MedwayTri she hasn’t looked back. As she doesn’t drive or own a car, her first cycle training session at the Gravesend Cyclopark on a Tuesday night saw her ride 15km to Gravesend, complete the session, and ride to the train station to get home as she had no lights.

She has been helped by the generosity of her club-mates and has always been grateful for the support, while giving back when she can. Lilley currently supervises the club’s cross country sessions each winter at Capstone Country Park and encourages others to compete at different events.

To help Lilley raise the funds to compete at the World Championships, visit her gofundme page