International ITU triathletes headline the Wollongong Triathlon Festival
Elite Energy's Wollongong Triathlon Festival is becoming a big part of New South Wales triathlon calendar. This year's event went off without a hitch (apart from one poorly dished out drafting penalty 🙂 ) and the events which started on Friday night culminated in the Olympic and Sprint
Elite Energy’s Wollongong Triathlon Festival is becoming a big part of New South Wales triathlon calendar. This year’s event went off without a hitch (apart from one poorly dished out drafting penalty 🙂 ) and the events which started on Friday night culminated in the Olympic and Sprint distance triathlons on the Sunday. Saturday saw the Enticer and Miniman triathlons which are proving to be a major introduction point for newcomers to triathlon in NSW.
The weather was perfect and the ocean provided a smooth surface on Sunday for the main races.
The Olympic distance triathlon was won by Wollongong based James Davy in 1:54:15 with Davy’s main competitor David Mainwaring nursing home a twinge on the run.
The fastest women on the day was Sydney’s Hannah Donaldson in 2:13:37. Donaldson slept through her alarm and ended up racing in the mates wave.
Davy has shown some good form over the Olympic Distance this season and is currently attempting to juggle the start of a second University degree in Canberra with coming back to Wollongong each week to work and spend time with his girlfriend.
In the race Davy lead Mainwaring out of the water by about 30seconds but was caught before the first of six turn arounds on the three lap bike course. The two leaders then rode together for the remainder of the bike.
In the Sprint triathlon we saw some of Jamie Turner’s Wollongong based international ITU triathletes Gwen Jorgensen (USA) and Bryan Keane (IRE), Akos Vaner (HUN) and Andrew McCartney (CAN) all having some race practice before they head to Molloolaba for this weekend’s ITU World Cup race. Gwen and Akos took out the race with Andrew and Bryan coming in second and third respectively.
The Sprint triathlon’s competitors faced a tough ride with the North Wollongong hill having to be ridden up six times in the short 20kms.
Next up for the Elite Energy team is Challenge Batemans Bay this weekend with the season ending triseries race to be held in Port Stephens on Saturday May 17.
