90 year old Triathlete Arthur Gilbert, Berrow Road . Burnham-on- sea.

A 90-YEAR-OLD pensioner from Burnham has been named the oldest triathlete in the world.

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Arthur Gilbert, of Berrow Road, was awarded the title by The World Records Academy and has been crowned age group champion in seven triathlons. He was also awarded an MBE in 2008 for his fundraising through the sport.

Arthur said: “It was very strange to hear and definitely a one-off.

“But to me, it’s just what I do, it’s just my sport and I’m going to carry on doing it.”

Arthur began his charity work with the British Heart Foundation in 1974 and later started raising money for cancer research when one of his good friends, Arthur Coles, died from the disease.

He completed his most recent triathlon, last year, in memory of his wife and son and raised money for the Musgrove leukemia group.

Arthur hopes to complete another triathlon in April, but said he needs to start off gradually as he has recently been ill.

He said: “I need to get back into the swing of things, I will head back to the gym next week to build myself back up.

“I’m going to do the short course in April, which is 10 lengths of a 25m pool, six miles on a bike and a two and-a-half mile run.

“If I do the short course I can see how fit I am for the long course.”

The inspirational pensioner also talked of how much support he gets from his number one fan, his granddaughter, Natalie Gilbert.

He said: “She is always around for me and supports me, she is a fantastic girl, I’m very lucky.”