Aaron Royle and Emma Moffatt win 2013 Noosa Triathlon
It was a case of youthful naivety and mature confidence that saw Aaron Royle and Emma Moffatt take out the elite race at the 2013 Noosa Triathlon Festival.
For Moffatt it was a title that had escaped her for a decade despite the two world titles, Olympic bronze and countless wins the 29-year-old has amassed. It was almost derailed before she started after a major scare from a water snake.
The win for Royle has confirmed his status as our leading Australian male, winning on debut in Noosa.
The former Under 23 world champion has been showing great promise over the past few years but says he didn’t expect to win at Noosa in his first attempt.
“It’s an honour. Craig Walton who has won here so many times mentioned to me earlier in the week that most people who win here go on to do good things in the future. This is just the start, I am only 23 and I will come back and defend next year,” said Royle.
The youngster was part of a massive pack on the bike leg with Joey Lampe and Josh Amberger the first to make a break. However, when it came to the run, Dan Wilson went for it and led out of transition but within a kilometer Royle had reeled them in.
“I was confident when I got into the first kilometre and took the lead and got a bit of a gap but you never know and I was cautious not to go too hard as I didn’t want to blow up.
“I have to admit once I got the lead I was running scared for a while but when I got to the six kilometer mark I was fairly confident that I could hold it together,” added Royle.
Wilson hung on to finish second from Ryan Bailie.
“It was a hard, tough race today. The pace was on and I knew I’d have to push it on the bike, but once we were out on the run Aaron was just gunning it. Full credit to him. He just ran past us and no-one could catch him,” said Wilson.
| Pos | Name (#) | Time | Categ (Pos) | Gender (Pos) | Swim | Cycle | Run |
| 1 | Aaron ROYLE (9) | 1:46:11 | Elite (1) | Male (1) | 0:19:07 | 0:55:20 | 0:31:43 |
| 2 | Dan WILSON (8) | 1:46:52 | Elite (2) | Male (2) | 0:19:02 | 0:55:21 | 0:32:28 |
| 3 | Ryan BAILIE (17) | 1:46:59 | Elite (3) | Male (3) | 0:19:09 | 0:55:18 | 0:32:31 |
| 4 | Cameron GOOD (13) | 1:47:14 | Elite (4) | Male (4) | 0:19:11 | 0:55:17 | 0:32:45 |
| 5 | Ben SHAW (12) | 1:49:07 | Elite (5) | Male (5) | 0:19:06 | 0:55:22 | 0:34:37 |
| 6 | Brad KAHLEFELDT (4) | 1:49:33 | Elite (6) | Male (6) | 0:19:15 | 0:57:50 | 0:32:28 |
| 7 | Tom DAVISON (14) | 1:49:53 | Elite (7) | Male (7) | 0:19:12 | 0:55:14 | 0:35:26 |
| 8 | Greg BENNETT (6) | 1:50:14 | Elite (8) | Male (8) | 0:20:15 | 0:56:48 | 0:33:10 |
| 9 | Josh AMBERGER (10) | 1:50:36 | Elite (9) | Male (9) | 0:19:01 | 0:55:26 | 0:36:09 |
| 10 | Bryce MCMASTER (15) | 1:52:38 | Elite (10) | Male (10) | 0:19:18 | 0:58:50 | 0:34:29 |
| 11 | Shane BARRIE (16) | 1:52:57 | Elite (11) | Male (11) | 0:19:00 | 0:58:08 | 0:35:49 |
| 12 | James HODGE (20) | 1:53:09 | Elite (12) | Male (12) | 0:19:17 | 0:57:54 | 0:35:57 |
| 13 | Ben COOK (31) | 1:53:32 | Elite (13) | Male (13) | 0:21:02 | 0:58:30 | 0:34:00 |
| 14 | Peter KERR (1) | 1:54:30 | Elite (14) | Male (14) | 0:19:36 | 1:01:17 | 0:33:36 |
| 15 | Daniel COLEMAN (25) | 1:54:48 | Elite (15) | Male (15) | 1:54:48 | ||
| 16 | Sam BETTEN (11) | 1:54:55 | Elite (16) | Male (16) | 0:19:10 | 0:55:47 | 0:39:58 |
| 17 | Clayton FETTELL (7) | 1:55:18 | Elite (17) | Male (17) | 0:19:04 | 0:58:14 | 0:38:00 |
| 18 | Lucini AUDRIC (22) | 1:55:18 | Elite (18) | Male (18) | 0:19:14 | 0:58:02 | 0:38:01 |
| 19 | Giles CLAYTON (33) | 1:55:58 | Elite (19) | Male (19) | 0:20:12 | 1:00:51 | 0:34:54 |
| 20 | Matthew ROBERTS (3735) | 1:56:41 | Open (1) | Male (20) | 0:19:42 | 1:00:44 | 0:36:14 |
In the women’s race it was the experienced Moffatt who showed the crowd what a world class triathlete she is, even if her race start was a bit unusual.
Moffatt was in the water just about to start the swim when she spotted a sea snake.
“I’m scared of all things like that, it felt really close but I don’t think I was in any danger, but it definitely got the heart rate up.”
Maddison Allen was the first to exit the swim and onto the bike with Moffatt, Gentle and Jackson not far behind. However, it was the defending champion, Gentle and Moffatt who took off up the road not to be seen again by the chase group.
“Last time I came here was in 2008 and I came second to Emma Snowsill so to win today is great. It will be a real honour to go on the role of past winners,” said Moffatt.
Whilst Moffatt says she doesn’t like to put pressure on herself she did admit she wanted to win the Noosa Tri.
“At the beginning of the year I just had in my head that I would finish the season off here so mentally I was prepared to work hard.”
Gentle who took second place couldn’t match Moffatt on the run today.
“I actually would have liked to do a lot more racing this year, however I had to really prioritise my racing around injury. Last night I was thinking that I just want to put it together today and come away smiling and satisfied and I did that. I can’t ask for anything more,” said Gentle.
IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion Mel Hauschildt finished in third place today.
