COFFS Harbour Triathlon Club welcomed back community sport with their first event of the season last Saturday, the annual Triple Sprint Race.

As the sun rose over Muttonbird Island, 35 triathletes dove into the water to start the 300m swim followed by a 6km ride and a 2.5km run.

Participants had the choice to complete one, two or three laps of the circuit which speedster Isaiah Koopmans completed in 1 hour 20 minutes as the fastest male and Shannon O’Hara completed in 1 hour 33 mins as the fastest female for the three lap circuit.

Club President Shaun Lawer said the conditions were perfect for the first meet of the season.

“We were met with perfect conditions for the first race of the 21/22 season and we welcome all of the new members.

“It’s fantastic to see some new faces and we hope you enjoy being part of the club,” he said.

Club stalwart Paul Herring was on water safety duty for the event and is already looking forward to the next event.

“This was a good turn out in glorious conditions to kick off the season and it was great to see new faces and reconnect with friends.

“The next event is on Sunday 7 November and it’s the popular ‘Tri a Tri’ which is a social event where we encourage members to bring a friend along to give it a try.

“Participants can choose the standard distance which is a 750m swim, 20k ride and a 5k run or can they do the ‘enticer’ distance which is a 300m swim, 10k ride and a 2.5k run.

“It’s a great way to start the day, the race starts at 6:15am and we recommend participants arrive 30 minutes prior to their start time, for more information check out our Facebook page or email president@coffstri.com,” said Paul.

Results:

One lap

1st – Titan Barry

2nd – Adam Fitzgerald – good to see you back!

3 – Lisa Holly

Two Laps

1st – Kath Gibney

2nd – Kristen Nash

3rd – Kath Robson

Congratulations to club legend and life member, Peter Wood rounding out the field for fourth place.

The Triple Tri (Three Laps)

Males:

1st – Isaiah Koopmans – 1 hour 20

2nd – Pat Brennan

3rd – Ben Walker

Female:

1st – Shannon O’Hara – 1 hour 33 mins

2nd – Mel Silvester

3rd – Andrea Burth

It was great to see Joseph Wilbers, Tom Maley, Grant Armessen, Simon Quinn and Jo and Ian Ferguson start the season well.

 

By David WIGLEY