Student engineer wins Commonwealth Games silver for Team Wales

Dom Coy earns a silver medal for Team Wales in the Mixed Relay Triathlon at the Commonwealth Games 2022.

The civil and environmental engineering student took a silver medal in his first ever Commonwealth Games – alongside teammates Non Stanford, Iestyn Harriet, and Olivia Mathias. It was a close battle until the end. The relay team finished in 1:17:26, just 3 seconds ahead of Australia who took third place.

After competing in his earliest triathlon at just eight years old, the 20-year-old has progressed through the junior ranks with distinction. He placed 3rd in the 2021 Junior Sprint Triathlon National Championships and 3rd in the 2021 World Triathlon Junior Championships Quartiera. Coy also competed in the Individual Men's Triathlon at the Commonwealth Games 2022 and finished eighteenth.

Dom was based in Yorkshire before heading to Cardiff University, where he’s just finished the second of a four-year integrated master’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

On his experience taking part in the Commonwealth Games, he said: “It was certainly something I'll never forget. I still can't believe it was me out there even on the racecourse, never mind on the podium. The support from everybody there was mental, and it definitely helped push us all on and made it extra special.”

“The whole team was super pleased with the result. Expectations beforehand were that we had an outside chance of third place if things went perfectly. We surpassed even our highest expectations. It was our coach's birthday too, which was nice. Overall, I’m very happy with the result. We just need to replicate that performance next time in Victoria 2026!”

Engineering can be a demanding subject to study, so we asked the young athlete how he juggles studying and training.

He told us: “Balancing my engineering course with training isn't easy. I train for 20-25 hours per week around my studies. Generally, by planning ahead and using my time effectively I fit everything in. At times I will back off training slightly when my workload is greater and vice versa in the lead up to an important competition.”

Cardiff is the base of the National Triathlon Performance Centre in Wales, a partnership between Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University and Welsh Triathlon. Coy credits the Welsh training group with accelerating his progress.

“I think going to Cardiff University and having the training centre and the squad has definitely had a big impact on my training. I enjoy training at home and it’s a great place to train, but here [in Cardiff] it’s a lot more specific to what I need. There are a lot more opportunities to be consistent and get good training in with other people."

Dom has more races planned for this year, including two British Super Series events and a European Cup Race in Portugal.

It’s great to see our engineering students being so successful. Well done, Dom. We wish you every success in the future.