Most 74-year-olds enjoy putting their feet up for a stress-free retirement but this fearless fitness fanatic will be training to complete 75 triathlons in 75 days.

Daphne Belt, from Littlehampton, has challenged herself to complete a triathlon every day leading up to her 75th birthday.

It means the 5ft 2in pocket rocket will swim 1,000m in her local pool, ride eight miles on her bike and complete a two-mile run along the Littlehampton seafront every single morning from June 1 next year.

In doing the challenge, she will be raising money for children’s hospice Chesnut Tree House, and is hoping to raise more than £1,000.

 

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Daphne said: “75 is a scary age and I thought that I might as well mark it by doing something good, and why not go for the big time?

“I sat down with my husband, who is also my coach, over the summer to work out what was achievable.

“I can complete Olympic-distance triathlons, but there’s no way I’d be able to do one every day for 75 days.

“This format seems doable, so hopefully the body will hold up.”

She suffered a setback in May when she broke an arm a foot and her hand in a nasty fall while running in Italy.

Daphne, who took part in the first of more than 250 triathlons when she was 51, added: “I think the key will be trying to do it steadily and making sure I don’t get any injuries.

“At my age, it takes much longer to bounce back from injuries because everything just takes a longer time to repair.

“I train almost every day, but if I miss a training day for whatever reason I don’t double up the following day or try to fit it in elsewhere.

“I try to get the training done out of the way early, so this morning I was in the pool for a turbo class at 6.30 and if you swim in the morning you can always try and to fit in a little run in the evening.”

Daphne also cares for her bedbound mother-in-law who is 93 and runs an antique business with her husband Stephen and still makes time for more hobbies.

“I’m a bit of a culture vulture, so I like to go to the cinema and the theatre and my husband still holds my hand.

“But from now until June it’ll be about quietly getting my training done.”

For more information or to donate, visit justgiving.com/Daphne-Belt.