The cardiology department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) is turning into a hotbed of sporting talent - with a trio of cardiac physiologists hitting the heights in their chosen sports.

Lauren Turvey, Bex Condie and Sarah Sribala-Sundaram all juggle their daily jobs at QEHB with tough training regimes to help keep them at the top of their game.

Lauren, of Harborne, Birmingham, is a multi-discipline athlete who competes in road triathlons, off-road mountain biking triathlons and aquathlons as a member of Birmingham Running Athletics and Triathlon club.

She got into the sport when she took up swimming during her rehabilitation after a stress fracture of the tibia, suffered whilst playing netball two years ago, during which time she also underwent physiotherapy at QEHB.

She has just returned from the World Aquathlon Championships in Chicago where she finished 13th in her age group after a 750m swim in Lake Michigan and a 5km run, while in August she was third in the Xterra England Triathlon.

The World Aquathlon Championships in Chicago was an amazing experience,” she said. “I came 13th overall and was fourth European too. I was absolutely thrilled to be 13th in the world! I totally exceeded my own expectations.

“I train twice a day, before and after work, so being asked to go was great recognition and made all the hard work worthwhile.

“Having the three of us in the same department is great and we're are all very encouraging of one another.

“As the other girls are still newly qualified I have guided them on the best way to juggle training and our demanding job.”

Bex, who lives in Edgbaston, is captain of the University of Birmingham women’s hockey team who, at the time of writing, were top of the National Premier Division after an unbeaten start to the season.

She also broke into the senior Scotland team with two games against Wales in June and just missed out on a place in the squad for the subsequent EuroHockey Championships in London in August.

“This is hopefully just the start of my international career, with several major tournaments to look forward to in the next few years,” said the 25-year-old.

“Hockey’s just awesome - an exciting, fast paced game, that year on year keeps developing. I have met and made some incredible friends from across the world through the game.

“It’s nice to know that when you arrive at work, someone else has also gotten up early and put the training hours in beforehand and has another session to look forward to after work.

“We don’t really compare notes as all of our sporting disciplines are quite different, but we definitely have each other’s back when it comes tournament time. We all respect and understand the hours of training and sacrifice that has gone into reaching that moment.

“Our non-sporting colleagues probably think we are barking mad, but nevertheless, as a department, there is a lot of encouragement from behind the scenes!”

The sporting trio is completed by 26-year-old Sarah, a left arm spin bowler/all-rounder who has played county cricket for more than 10 years and now captains the Derbyshire Women’s team as well as being a qualified coach.

In 2014 she was the highest wicket taker across all divisions in the Women's county championship and also crossed the gender barrier.

“I enjoy playing men's cricket on a Saturday, which usually attracts a lot of interest from the media,” she said. “Last year I was the only female to play in the Lincolnshire Premier League, something I enjoyed a lot.

“This year I moved to Harborne CC and I have just completed my first season with them where I played in their Worcestershire League teams. 

“I have been coaching the young spinners at Harborne with the hope of trying to set a women's team up there next year.”