A cold, wet and windy morning in Melbourne greeted us for Race 3 of the Gatorade Series that doubled as the Australian Sprint Championships.
The bay was angry, with swells and waves making navigating to the turn around buoys difficult. Our newest (and bravest!) athletes from our latest 6 Week Beginner Tri Challenge were nervous pre race as for once, they hadn’t actually had the chance to practise training in these conditions. But to their credit, they took the challenge head on and did extremely well in difficult conditions – even for seasoned athletes!
In conditions such as we had on Sunday, stronger swimmers will always prevail as they are able to fight with the waves not against them. Some traditional ‘pool’ swimmers can also find it challenging if they generally have a lower stroke rate, with each slow stroke they can get pushed back with the swell. So increasing your stroke rate in these conditions can help you beat the waves and chop. And next time your coach has you doing plenty of band, paddles, polo and medley you will know why!
Onto the bike and athletes copped it pretty hard from the strong southerly wind. A passing morning drizzle turned into rain, making visibility on the bike pretty poor. The wind continued to blow up making conditions even more challenging, particularly around the corners where a few athletes had some close calls on the slippery roads. But of those who were able to hold strong in their position on the bike, maintain an aero position (we saw a lot of riders off their tri bars!), and were prepared to work hard into the wind and maximise the tail wind – still managed reasonable times on the bike. So great work. 
By the time most athletes were onto the run, the clouds had dried out, but the wind was still fierce. Athletes had a nice tail wind out on the run out, providing a fast first half of the run. But the head wind made for a tough return trip home and it was just a matter of gritting the teeth and digging deep to finish strong!
It was also pretty amazing to race along side some of the best para-triathletes in Australia at this race. Makes you appreciate what you have and not take what you do for granted.
Jelly Belly Kids Tri
To start the morning, the day kicked off with the Jelly Belly Kids Tri. The chance for young kids to get out and have fun and learn the sport of triathlon. Ambassador Lance Willies Son Xander had a fun race and looked great in his new TA kit. Well done to all the kids racing in what must be pretty scary for them!
Active Feet Fun Tri
Next up was the Active Feet Tri and as a remind to Race 1, these guys had it pretty tough on course again. The wind was horrible, the rain started to fall and the waves were huge – made even bigger knowing that most of those lining u on the beach were knew to triathlon! So a huge well done to everyone in the Active Feet Races – including our 4 starters.
- Danielle Marsh – 3rd F50+
- Julie Blinco
- Daniella Pager
- Holly Gregoul
(If we missed you, remember you need to enter Tri Alliance as your Club name, otherwise it won’t come up on our results)
Gatorade Sprint Distance – Australia Sprint Championships
Overall we had 69 athletes race in the Gatorade Sprint Distance – our second biggest showing for the year behind race 1. We had some great individual races from athletes, with PB’s even given the conditions. Plus there were a few lessons learnt and a couple of hard luck stories as well. including Sarah Lausberg with a flat – to her credit changed the flat and continued her race! Tai who had a head on with an athlete in the swim who was doing their warm up in the race line! Kathryn Siddle missed her start, then had a touch down on the bike but showed true determination and finished off really strong. But overall a super race – well done to everyone on a great third race of the Gatorade Series – we look forward to seeing you all refuel, reset and refocus for Race 4 in four weeks time. 
Crunching the numbers
- 69 Tri Alliance athletes raced the Gatorade Sprint Race, with:
- 4 podium finishers including a second and 3 thirds.
- 3 4th place getters to just miss podium honors, and another
- 9 top 10 place getters overall
**Note we are still waiting on results for advanced SC athletes Will Pullin and Daniel Kelly - Our male to female ratio was nearly 50/50 with 36 males and 33 females competing – the girls are on a comeback!
- We had 3 advanced athletes racing open and each of them finished on the podium
The Place Getters
- 2nd – Sarah Grove – FOpen
- 3rd – Marina Jurjevic – FOpen
- 3rd – Ryan Bourke – MOpen
- 3rd – Belinda Griffiths – F35-39
- Just missing out in 4th was Julia Hebb Athenas, Isabel Ley First Timer, Geoff Taylor M55-59
- Not far off the pace for top 10 finishes:
Mark Skilton, Christine Samy, Caroline Houston, Kathryn Siddle, Kristine Hopkins, Barry Gilbertson, Tai Lennon, Richard Rouse, Amy Gianotti.
The fast and furious
- Overall: In the boys, leading from the front, Ryan had a near perfect race and secured himself his second podium in this division. Mark Skilton, Charlie Nathan and John Noel also continue to put together solid races to finish high up the pecking order in tough age groups. Scott D’Aucourt continues his big improvement over the season. Coach Sarah continued season for the fastest female, while fellow Coach Kathryn Siddle had a solid race despite a few mishaps, and Ironman Athlete Marina finished off strong to land a podium finish. And new athlete Amy Giannotti will be one to watch in coming races.
- Swim: In tough conditions our strong swimmers held it together well with Coach Ryan, Richard Rouse, Tim Salt and Charlie Nathan leading from the front. In the girls Kathryn had a great swim (just ask her about it!).
- Bike: The Bourkey Express train lead the charge on the bike, with the Second fastest age group bike time of 28:57! Mark Skilton, Charlie Nathan and Geoff Taylor all rode strong in the conditions also. Sarah set her race up on the bike with the third fastest female bike split, Marina, Bel and Amy were next fastest on two wheels.
- Run: Some solid times clocked on the run from our Advanced Short Course crew with Skilton showing that his time off hasn’t slowed him down with a 17:58. Sub 19s for Ryan and Richard Rouse, and sub 20’s clocked for John Noel, David Mair, and Charlie Nathan. Mentions go to James Tyler and Scott D’Aucourt who had great runs also. For the females, Sarah and Amy secured a Sub 20, and podium finishers Bel and Marina finishing strong also.
Noteable mentions
- Our first Timers Isabel Ley, Christine Samy and Maxine Kraut. And the rest of our TRY-the-TRI group who graduated including Steve Hamilton, Laura Schmerl and Samantha Hood.
- Sarah Lausberg for continuing her race even after a flat!
- Tutu Ralogaivau for never stopping smiling or cheering from others – even while racing!
- New athletes Barry Gilbertson, James Tyler, Dinaksha, Paul Yates, Sean Clarke all had consistant races, as did Andy Wood-Rich, Mike O’Neil and James McNab.
- Kristine Hopkins, Tai Lennon, Catherine Jansen, Sheridan Brown and Al O’Toole to name just a few had solid all round races in the girls.
- Andrew Sammons, Todd Peterson, John Giordano, James McNab, Geoff Houston
Thanks goes to…
- All those who helped set-up and pack down the TA TAJ. It is with your help that we are able to provide athletes with such a great set-up on race days. We’ll be looking for new volunteers next race!
- Brianna Scarlett and Juliet Vermeulen in their help with Marshalling on the day – a feat made even more challenging with a hangover!
- Athletes who came along and supported our Short Course guys – including lots of our Long Course athletes repaying the favour!
- The guys from Lakeside Sports Medicine Centre for their hard work pre and post race. Thanks guys!
Lessons Learnt:
- No matter how many sprint races you have done, don’t become complacent. Concentrate the whole time or you will make mistakes.
- Always ensure you read and re-read the race information and attend the race briefing. If you don’t you may find yourself missing your wave start!
- Ironman athletes don’t know how to ‘mount’ a bike like the pros. Just ask those watching at the mount line! 😉
- Running under the racks in transition will reward you with a stop-start penalty. As will unbuckling your helmet before racking your bike!
- We breed our beginner triathletes tough. And racing in tough conditions makes you even tougher!
- Never underestimate your competitors. Some times it comes down to a mind game and who is willing to hurt more.
- Sprint races are tough. And don’t let any long course athlete tell you otherwise!
- Para-triathletes are amazing. Full stop.
Full Race Results & Pictures
Click here for Tri Alliance Gatorade Athletes Results
Click here for full race results from the event
Click here for our pictures from the event
Click here for SuperSprint Picture Gallery from the event
Click here for our Ambassadors light hearted Race Report!
Next Race
Race 4 Sunday 16 March, Portarlington.
