Alex FairmanSport: Long course triathlon Age: 22 Key achievements:
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Alex Fairman is Medway's emerging triathlon star. He reached new heights at the 2008 World Championships in Holland winning the bronze medal in the under 24-year-old category.
Alex graduated from Loughborough in June 2008 in engineering. It was during his time there that he first tried triathlon and in the last 12 months alone he has gone from a student with an interest to a world class athlete.
Alex competes in the long course version of triathlon, sometimes referred to as Ironman 70.3. In Alex's event competitors must swim 1.2 (1.93km) miles, cycle 56 miles (90.12km) before running a half marathon of 13.1 miles (21.1km).
His first competitive triathlon was the UK Championships, held in Wimbelball, Exmoor in July 2007. Alex completed the 70.3 mile (113.14km) course in five hours and 15 minutes. This time was good enough to earn a place in the World Championships held in Clearwater, Florida.
Alex finished 13th in the world in the under-25 age group and was the ninth highest British athlete across all age groups. Owing to the favourable conditions in Florida Alex improved his time for the course by one hour to a time of four hours and 15 minutes.
With a strong dedication to his new-found sport Alex trained hard all winter ready for the 2008 season. He didn't compete in the 2008 UK Championships as they clashed with his exams but his performances in other events secured him a place at the 2008 World Championships in Almere, Holland where he picked up his bronze medal.
Alex is looking forward to a busy 2009 season when he hopes to win more international medals and gain national selection.