Triathlon challenges athletes

INVERLOCH delivered perfect racing temperatures for the 2017 twilight triathlon on Saturday.
Competing in a 500 metre swim, a 25 kilometre bike ride and a five kilometre run, there were 76 people registered for the event.
Starting from the jetty through to Anderson’s Inlet, the swim was fast with the outgoing current still strong.
A fresh south east wind proved to be a challenge – even for the seasoned athletes and during the bike ride, and during the run there were some wobbly legs.
Melbourne’s Jonney Yeates demonstrated how to coolly turn a deficit into a lead in transition.
He outran his competitors to win the triathlon in just over an hour.
Aidan Rich came in second and the ever consistent local athlete Matt Sullivan was a minute back in third.
The 25 to 29 year age group was the biggest in the women’s field with Hilary Meyer crossing the line first.
Brittany Campbell finished second and Katherine Henderson came in third.
Barracuda participation was scarce with some recovering from their efforts in Geelong.
Damien King, Rod McCall, Andy Chisholm and Rick Whitehouse were among the locals with veteran Jenny Merrick again putting in a strong performance.
The Barracudas thanked their sponsors for helping to run the event, as well as race director Deb Rielly and the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club.
Deb said it was fantastic to see so many new athletes competing this year.
“It was a perfect afternoon and it was great seeing the bystanders there cheering on the athletes,” she said.
“It was challenging but the winner smashed it out. Everyone did so well and will now be gearing up for the fun run (this weekend).”
The day ended with a presentation in which most of the participants were recognised for their amazing efforts.

Great effort: from left, Melbourne’s Katherine Henderson, Latrobe’s Hilary Meyer and Melbourne’s Brittany Campbell were the first girls over the line after the Inverloch Twilight Triathlon.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Feb 28 2017. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry