FORMER Newent Community School pupil Vicky Holland claimed Commonwealth Games team relay silver for England.

The 32-year-old finished second with Alistair Brownlee, his brother Jonny and Jess Learmonth on the Gold Coast, Australia.

Learmonth had finished second in the women’s individual event but the Leeds athlete lost ground on Australia during her relay run and England never recovered.

They finished 52 seconds behind Australia in one hour 18.28 minutes with New Zealand a further minute adrift.

But Holland is already looking forward to more opportunities to compete in the mixed relay, including the ITU World Series event in Nottingham in June.

She admitted: “We always knew the Aussies were going to be the ones to beat. They’re a really tough team.

“We all gave absolutely everything. I really enjoy racing the relay.

“I’ve been privileged to be part of British teams and of English teams and we’ve had a lot of success.

“I enjoy it. It’s a fun event. I think it’s the best one for spectators to watch. It’s really important that we do more of these because it’s going into the Olympics.

“There are more and more opportunities to do this, including in the UK, and I think that’s important. We’ll only get better.”

On her women’s individual fourth place, Holland said: “I had a long time to build into the race following being injured at the back end of last year. I’ve done everything I can to prepare.

“A few things just didn’t go my way. I struggled in the swim and just didn’t have my best day overall.

“Those real fine percentages just add up — if you’re not really sharp then it just doesn’t quite work.

“I struggled to find clear water in the swim. I felt like I was fighting the whole way.

“It’s a long way back from there once you lose the girls at the front. It became clear on the bike that it was going to be a fight for bronze.

“I expected the biggest challenge to be Ashleigh (Gentle, Australia)) but it came down to myself and Jo (Brown, Canada).

“I thought maybe I could take her but she hung tough and I didn’t have the legs to respond.

“Fourth is a hard place to finish but I’m proud of myself and I gave it my all.”