Retirement village porter becomes double quadrathlon world champion at 63

Jules Taylor, 63 achieved his unique ‘double’ by winning both the 2024 Middle Distance Quadrathlon World Championship and 2024 Long Course Quadrathlon World Championship in the over 60s category.

Jules said: “I really did enjoy competing in both events and was very proud of my results, particularly in Hungary. It had been years since I did a long distance event and combined with the 35 degree heat, it was very challenging.”

Whereas triathletes compete in three disciplines, quadrathletes combine swimming, bike riding and running with Kayaking. For the Middle Distance Quadrathlon World Championship held in Lincolnshire earlier this year, Jules completed a 1.5 km swim, 30 km bike, 7 km kayak and 9.3 km run in a time of 2 hours and 51 minutes.

While at the Long Course Quadrathlon World Champion held in Hungary, Jules claimed his second world championship title in 2024 with a 2.6 km swim, 20 km kayak, 62 km bike and 21.1 km run in a time of 6 hours and 59 minutes. This result also saw Jules placed 4^th overall in the event.

"Almost old enough to be one of our residents"

Jules is sponsored by Bristol-based charity the St Monica Trust where he works as a porter at their Westbury Fields Retirement Village.

He said: “I was working as a personal trainer when all the gyms shut during lockdown. I needed something to do to keep me occupied and saw an opportunity to volunteer with the St Monica Trust.

“As I got more stuck in, I thought – I really like this – and it’s great interacting with all the residents who are so supportive of what I’m doing. When the chance of a permanent position came up I jumped at it.”

St Monica Trust’s Director of Retirement Villages, Roger Hayward said: “What Jules achieved last year would be a staggering achievement at any age, but even more so when you consider he is almost old enough to be one of our residents.

“He is a constant source of inspiration for our residents at Westbury Fields - and vice versa - as I know that some of them enjoy working out with Jules when he is using the onsite gym or running around the cricket pitch in his lunch hour.”

Winning against quadrathletes half his age

Jules’ 2024 world championship titles were added to the Overall National Champion title, as well as Overall National Trophy Series Champion, which Jules won by competing in a series of four quadrathlon races held across the UK. Becoming Overall National Champion saw Jules winning against quadrathletes who were half his age.

He only started competing in quadrathlons in 2022, having previously competed in half-marathons, marathons, triathlons, Ironman events, ultra distance kayaking and 24hr ultra running.

Jules said: “I do something for a while, get to certain level and then I think – ‘what else can I do?’. Three years ago I was struggling with not being where I wanted to be at the ultra events, so I decided to go back to what I was good at, which was multi-discipline events. I’d always enjoyed kayaking, so moving from triathlons to quadrathlons was prefect for me.”

Jules estimates that it took seven weeks of training to get the different disciplines up to speed and in the last two years, he has won every event in his age group he has entered.

“I’ve always enjoyed sport and it’s how I measure myself. If I’m doing well at something it puts me in good place. I’ve always been competitive and always felt the drive to be doing something. It doesn’t matter what, as long as I enjoy it and can be good at it.”

Paddling the length of Loch Ness

Jule’s goals for this year include defending his national titles and competing in the Glasgow to Edinburgh Challenge and the Monster the Loch long distance kayak races, the second of which will see him paddle the entire 22.7 mile length of Loch Ness.

Jules said: “I’d like to thank the St Monica Trust for sponsoring me. Their financial support has been a huge help with accommodation and travel expenses, as well as providing me with a new racing outfit.

“I’d also like to thank all the residents at Westbury Fields for their support and inspiration. Every day they remind me that if you keep using what you’ve got, then you never lose it and that it’s always possible to improve – no matter what age you are.”