Liz shares this two reports from Wight Tri. Well done to all involved Ed
Chichester Lake Triathlon
Dave and Steve – on the top step of the podium!
Wight Tri Members, Dave Sweet and Steve Dines travelled a bit closer to home to take on the Chichester Lake Standard and Sprint Triathlons, taking place just outside Chichester in the Westhampnett lake.
Dave, who is soon to represent the IOW at the forthcoming island games in Gibraltar in 4 weeks times, was using this event as his final race preparation.
Dave took on the Standard Distance and started off with a great 1500m swim . He was in the front group for most of the Swim, exiting in 5th place in 25:45. A quick transition and out onto the Bike course, 2 laps of an undulating course which took the triathletes up to the Goodwood Race Course on the downs before heading back past Goodwood Racing Circuit and back along the A27 for his second lap.
Dave cycled strongly to post the fastest bike split of 59:54 for the 38 km course and move into 1st place.
Dave continued to improve his pace and after the second lap of the mixed terrain run route, crossed the line to take first place in a fantastic 10 km run split of 36.29 to finish in a massive PB time of 2:02:55 and also 1st in the 30-34 category.
He couldn’t stop for the prize giving, so he jumped on his bike and peddled off towards Portsmouth to catch the Ferry home.
Steve Dines took on the sprint event. He had a good 750m swim of 18:53, exiting in a small group. Out onto to the one lap of the 23km bike course, and with this being his best discipline, a 45:33 bike split brought him back ahead of the group of swimmers he went out with.
Posting 26:02 for the 1 lap 5km run course, Steve ran strongly, showing that Park Run Training is starting to pay off. Steve finished in an overall time of 1:33:06 and 1st in the 60-64 category.
Leeds Triathlon, British Age Group Championships
Having competed at the triathlon European Championships in Weert, Netherlands last weekend 3 Wight Tri members made the long journey to Leeds to take on the British triathlon standard distance age-group Championships, which also incorporated the GB age group World Championship qualifier for Edmonton, Canada 2020.
Glyn Jenkins, Liz Dunlop and Jan Fletcher, who are all members of the IW Talented Athlete scheme, supported by the IW Council and Wightlink, took on the tough course in the hope of getting a qualification place for Canada next year.
The 1500m swim was in Roundhay Park lake, the only part of the course that was flat and involved one lap of the lake before exiting the water with the triathletes then making their way up an incline of 400m to T1 to pick up the bike. Once the bike was collected they faced another long transition run to the mount line which was also up a steady incline and once over the mount line the bike started on an upwards slope making for a challenging mounting which saw many athletes struggle. The 37km bike consisted of 2 laps of the undulating technical course which included some tight turns and tough inclines.
With building wind and a large number of competitors the bike course was challenging but the descents were speedy. On completion of the bike it was back to Roundhay Park and a reverse of the long run back to transition, down the slippery slope. With the bike racked and trainers on the athletes then had to negotiate an immediate incline out of the park and then completed a one lap undulating 10km run with an additional loop near to the finish which ended in Leeds city centre where the streets were lined with spectators creating a great atmosphere before finishing across the line on the blue carpet.
All 3 Wight Tri triathletes competed well in large age groups and waves making for a busy and congested course throughout and should be please with their respective performances.
Glyn Jenkins finished 7th in his age category 65-69. Swim 32.24, bike 1.19.50, run 57.11 with an overall time of 3hrs 3mins 1sec.
Liz Dunlop finished 9th in her age group 60-64. Swim 28.33, bike 1.22.0, run 54 mins with an overall time of 2hrs 56mins.
Jan Fletcher finished in 11th in her age group 40-44 with swim and bike PB’s. Swim 27.19, bike 1.11.43, run 45.37 with an overall time of 2hrs 34mins 17 sec.
As Jan moves up an age group next year she is hoping to have gained automatic qualification for the World Championships in Canada next year, with Liz and Glyn also hoping for qualification, all subject to official GB confirmation.
