Chris Silver

Chris represented Wales from a young age in both cross country running and swimming, but he didn’t discover triathlon until his early twenties during his last year of study at the University of Bath.

He moved to Birmingham to study a masters at the University of Birmingham and at this point he started to take triathlon more seriously and quickly progressed from novice to elite. Towards the end of his time here he began competing more frequently in domestic elite events achieving a number of top 15 results.

In the summer of 2017, Chris’s main goal was to qualify for the mixed relay for the Commonwealth Games. He managed to finish third in the qualification race, which initially gave him a spot as a reserve on the squad. In the spring of 2018, Chris travelled with the squad out to the Gold Coast but due to an injury to another squad member he was given the call up to race. He was able to deliver one of the best performances of his career and bring the team home to a 6th place finish. Competing at the Games had been a childhood dream of Chris’s and being able to represent his country at the level was a real privilege. Overall, it was an incredible experience and one he’ll never forget!

After the games Chris made the switch to longer distance racing. In his first 70.3 pro race Chris finished 9th at Challenge Peguera in October 2018, then followed this up with a 7th placed finish at Challenge Gran Canaria in April 2019, amongst a strong British field. Chris also won the Snowman triathlon in July 2019, one of the toughest races in the UK, with one of his best performances to date.

At the end of the 2019 season Chris was struck down with Glandular fever and then suffered a further blow during his comeback contracting Coronavirus in March 2020, which then developed into ‘Long Covid’.

Chris is now feeling a lot better and is back training, slowly building back up. He is confident he can come back a better athlete physically and mentally from his experience and feels he knows his body better than ever.

Chris’s goals for the 2021 season were to just get back on a start line again! As Chris says ‘I know I’m unlikely to be at my best but given everything I’ve been through this would be a huge achievement for me (and a very emotional one I’m sure) and would provide me with a great steppingstone for the future. I then plan to make a return to pro racing in 2022 and have an eye on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.’

Outside of triathlon Chris has a passion for psychology and strongly believes his ability to understand how his mind operates gives him a competitive advantage in the world of elite sport. During the lockdown period Chris has also been supporting athletes as a performance and wellbeing psychologist.