This one was with the GB triathlon squad for the World Triathlon Championships in Sweden in 1999
Although the problem there was not nice, accommodation wise, the race itself was lovely starting in a beautiful lake there. There was also a delightful ceremony in a natural park that was as wonderful as the team base was awful. The huge institution has now been allowed to fall into ruin as shown in my research to see if it was still in use. It was a collection of buildings with massive escape proof asylum walls. It stood in a fabulous location though and an ideal spot for a true sports village.
It was somewhere that we had never been
And so it was to us of instant interest
Many folk go to the same place every year
But that is not for us to matter what
We like to go somewhere we’ve never seen
We both keep fit with the same sport
And have done triathlon for many a year
Combining sport and holiday seems the best
We take these sport vacations quite a lot
So somewhere more unique we would court
The World Championships would be here
At Säter, in Sweden
Of weird locations, being something of a test
The race information showed us that not
‘Accommodation in a sport village’ so less clear
Yet the site was one our heart would detest
On the UK
A place where distraught once lived in fear
Charging us to stay there seemed obscene
Largest asylum in Sweden
Clanging corridors in an institution is what
They gave us, curtain-less rooms beyond drear
Simple cot beds and cold tap sink was nought
But insult to visiting teams and not clean
Team manager said to forget what it was not
This wise mans advice; focus on the job in hand
Think only of sport whilst in this foreign land
Be determined to do well that would be grand
Forget anger and rise to do what we had planned
Show strength and in sport we would proudly stand
1999 Age Group Female 55-59 1st
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