Killarney Open Triathlon - What a Ripper!

24 Nov 2019 by Ian Barnes

The sun was out, the winds were low – and in near perfect racing conditions, with the momentum for our events building we saw 48 participants take part in todays events – a mix between Come-and-Tri distance and the Open events, with individuals and teams taking part. This was up from 35 who took part in the same event last year – which is great to see the word is getting out – with some competitors taking part in their first triathlon today, lots of regular tri club members, and some returning competitors coming out of racing hiatus.

Off with a bang our race for today started under the watchful eye of the Warrnambool Surf Lifesaving Club Crew who helped to ensure everyone in the water felt safe and supported. First out of the water in the mens was Tom French, followed by Jason Dart with Ruben following and Luke Taylor as part of the Heavy Hitters chasing close behind. Gab Lanman was first out of the water in the women’s followed by Lisa Logan. The group of Come-and-Tri participants looked to enjoy their 250m swim, and headed into transition largely as a group, ready to tackle the next leg.

Out onto the bike leg – which saw participants in the come and tri distance tackle 1 lap of the 8km course, and those in the open event completed the 2 laps. Great conditions, saw the standings change with some of the guys and girls bike legs standing out. Ruben quickly took charge of the race early into the bike leg, with Andy Ryan making up ground over the two laps to come second off the bike. Trav Greening (Heavy Hitters) kept them honest on the bike, never far from the pace. With Ruben out in front, a pack formed trying to chase him down with Jason Dart, Andy Ryan, Greg Pudney, Jason Morgan, Tom French and Darren Pearce in pursuit. Onto the women’s side and Penny Mather caught up some ground from the swim, overtaking Gabrielle to take the lead in the bike, with Australian Champion Duathlete Jenny Dowie working to her strength in the bike leg, with a shuffling of positions in the ladies.

Off the bike and into the run with some jelly legs present, Ruben held his lead, making the run look easy. Sam Edney (Heavy Hitters) – did his best to chase him down, but wasn’t able to pip him. Penny looking strong off the bike, wasn’t able to hold on with a strong finish by Gab and Jenny after 2 hard fought laps of the run course. Some friendly competition, Barnsey and Baldy battled it out right to the line, with Barnsey taking honours on this occasion, managing to hold out a fast finishing Baldy as both were happy to be done and head to the sausage sizzle. Our Come and Tri participants completed 1 lap of the run course taking in the beach and a lap of the oval to finish.

Winning the mens open division was Ruben De Silva-Smith in a time of 52:49 followed by Andy Ryan (55:27) with Greg Pudney (58:06) rounding out the podium placings. In the ladies category Gabrielle Lanman was too strong and held on to take first place in a time of 1:04:41 followed by Jenny Dowie (1:05:47) and Penny Mather (1:06:15). Our teams division was hotly contested – with the ‘Heavy Hitters’ combination of Luke Taylor (swim), Travis Greening (bike) and Sam Edney (run) too strong for their competition finishing in a time of 53:37. Second across the line in the teams was the ‘Pace Makers’ combination of Scott Barclay (swim), Luke Pretlove (bike) Ben Wallis (run) in 1:03:02 followed by ‘Powered by Pilates’ – Prue Nadaraj (swim) and Dallas Jones (bike and run) in 1:04:36. Lots of satisfied faces by all as they crossed the line, with a special big cheer to all those completing the Come-and-Tri distance – a fantastic effort by all, with everyone looking to have enjoyed themselves and had some fun.

Thanks to everyone who participated for supporting our events and our club, and mostly for having fun out there and supporting each other. A nice vibe around the place and a real buzz in the air.

And a cheer out to some of our super woman – who completed yesterdays ladies only come-and-tri and backing up again for todays events – Gab Lanman, Lyn Lanman, Liz Lane and Katherine Russell. What amazing example you are all setting for your families, bring active and also encouraging your kids to have a go as well its great to see some new families getting involved in the club. Most of these ladies did their first events at last years womens only tri, and have continued on, with Liz and Katherine regulars at our training and social sessions, which is fabulous to see. 2 triathlons in 2 days – maybe they’re starting to get hooked like the rest of us!

Time for a few thank-you’s. To Dave McIntyre and Kate Haberfield for your work as Race Directors over the weekend – so much work goes into bringing you one of our largest triathlons on the calendar and these guys have spent countless hours coordinating and organising. Awesome job guys – thank you. To Pete Varley for running the kids events on Saturday – you certainly have a way with encouraging and supporting the kids – many who already asking when they can go again – how good is that! To our big army of volunteers who helped make the weekend fun and safe for all participants – thanks for giving up some of your weekend to set-up, pack-up, Marshall, cook BBQ or help with whatever other random tasks we threw you way. Legends! And as the saying goes many hands make light work – so Thank-You! To the Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club – thanks for your assistance guys, helping to keep our crew safe in the water!

Thanks you to our sponsors for the ‘Couch to Coast’ Family Triathlon weekend – Saputo Dairy Australia and This Girl Can for allowing us to give free entry into Saturdays Splash-Dash-Dawdle and Women’s only triathlons. Cheeseworld for providing cheese hampers and gift voucher spot prizes as well as flavoured milks for the kids triathlons. UPR (Ultimate Performance and Rehab) for providing the Open Mens/Women’s place getters with gift vouchers, and The Cally Hotel for our fist placed Teams prize. Shout out to Bakers Delight Warrnambool CBD and Materia Brothers for their support of our BBQ Fundraiser – the snags went down a treat. And to our other WTC Sponsors, Taits Legal, Central Storage, Optus – we ask that where you can, you support those who support us, and tell them we sent you!

After the highs of today, we continue into December with our training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights – a mix of pool swimming, open water swimming and running training – for the latest, check out TeamApp or our website. Next on the list of events is the Aquathon on Friday December 27th at the Pavilion, leading into a big new year, with the Blue Hole Mini Series and the Foreshore Triathlon, finishing with another hit out at Killarney to end the season in March.



Location

Killarney Beach, Killarney, Victoria

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