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Anatole Ferera is a triathlete, with huge ambitions to make it professionally. However, he faces some tough decisions ahead regarding his international future, with both England and France vying to secure him for upcoming international tournaments.
Anatole had an interesting route into triathlon. He grew up as a swimmer, competing regularly at a high level including internationally. This was put on hold during the covid period, but afterwards, Anatole’s transition into triathlon really started to progress when his dad suggested taking up cycling, “I started swimming again and cycling, so I was doing two out of the three sports for triathlon, so I thought I’d give it a crack.”
Anatole mentioned that his family played a key role in his decision to transition into triathlon, in particular his father, who introduced him to cycling. “He always had bikes at home, and would go out for weekend rides, and then during covid he asked me to with him.” From here Anatole’s interest in cycling only increased, starting with a mountain bike, and eventually getting his own road bike. “I loved it, but at first I was very slow, I started mountain biking with a couple of mates, and then get my first proper road bike, which was all down to my dad.”
Anatole is in his fourth year studying chemistry and maths at Leeds university. When speaking to me about the difficulty of balancing these two aspects Anatole said, “In second year, when I did my course full time, and was just starting to get quite seriously into triathlon, I really struggled.” Now in his fourth year, Anatole is only studying part time, and says that this has made things easier for him. “Since I’ve split my year up, and only studying part time, it’s been much easier to manage as long as I'm efficient with my time.”
Anatole currently trains at the Brownlee centre in Leeds, set up by the well-known triathletes, the Brownlee brothers, for high level athletes. He undergoes an intense training programme to ensure he is well equipped to compete at the highest level. “We have a set programme. We have coaches for swim, bike and run, and also a gym trainer.”
With all the high intensity training, Anatole feels he is set to make his ambitions of competing internationally soon come to fruition, “this year, I need to decide which country I want to represent. I was born in Paris, so I need to choose between France and England.” When speaking about his wider future and where Anatole sees himself in the next few years, he said, “once I’ve decided which country I want to represent, the next couple years will be training with the national team in a more specific training centre.” Anatole is also looking ahead to the races he wants to compete in. “The world championships for iron man are in Nice, my grandma lives there, so I spend all my summers there every year, the race even goes by right outside her flat, so to compete there would be really special.”
When speaking about his role in representing the Jewish community in a sporting context Anatole said, “In Israel and the States, there are massive Jewish triathlete groups, but here in the UK, I'm the only Jewish athlete in my team.” Anatole feels a strong sense of pride in his Jewish heritage, speaking out against injustices, and having a strong moral standpoint, but also likes to use his sporting life as a source of distraction, especially given the overwhelming rise of antisemitism in recent times.
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