PLYMOUTH modern pentathlete Kerenza Bryson opened her 2022 season in tremendous style by winning the women’s British Open Championship title at the University of Bath.

It was the first time since 2019 that the championships had been held due to the Covid pandemic.

In an exciting women’s competition, Bryson held her nerve and produce a perfect round in the horse riding to claim the British crown and deny Jess Varley a hat-trick of successes in this winter’s national ranking events by five pentathlon points, with European U24 champion Olivia Green completing the podium.

Bryson’s overall victory was also built on an outstanding fencing performance, with the Army MPA athlete suffering just one defeat from her 25 bouts in the ranking round.

In the swim, the Plymouth athlete produced a solid time of 2:20.83 before producing the second-fastest laser-run time of 12:08.23.

It meant she went into the ride just behind Varley, but Bryson came into her own in the equestrian ring and produce a perfect round to guarantee gold with 1,439 pentathlon points.

Varley picked up just seven penalty points on the ride but had to settle for silver, while Green also produced a fine ride to clinch the bronze medal.