Race Report Gatorade Active Feet Race 4 Sandringham Olympic

Going into Race 4 of the Gatorade/Active Feet Series and we had a few more nerves than normal, as some athletes took the challenge to complete their first Olympic Distance Race. This is a big step up for a short course athletes, but very rewarding once you cross the finishing line!
Our Saturday Pre Race Session with Coach Darren took athletes through a pre race session to familiarise athletes with the course and provide tips, advice and words of encouragement to athletes. But none could beat the words of wisdom from Tania Darvell (who was also about to embark on her first Olympic Distance Race) “Don’t trust a fart!” We’ve probably all thought it, but now we’re glad someone has said it. So we hope that helped on Sunday guys! 😛

Race 4 of the Series was also the second leg of the Gatorade Triathlon Triple Crown, so well done to those athletes who will now lead into the longest race – the Portarlington Long Course in 6 weeks.

Keep reading to find out how our athletes fared in the Active Feet, Sprint and Olympic Distance races. Our Coaches were VERY impressed by results across the board and it was hard to wipe smiles off our faces (and we’re sure yours also!) after the race. So well done Team – a fantastic effort all round.

Crunching the numbers

66 athletes raced over the Olympic, Sprint and Active Feet with:
5 Olympic podium finishers
8 Sprint Podium Finishers
1 Active Feet Podium Finisher
14 additional top 10 place getters

Olympic Distance

First Time Olympic Distance: Well done to the following athletes in their first Olympic Distance, a great experience and fantastic efforts by everyone!
Tania Darvell, Iona Stavrou, John Watts, Brianna Laugher, Anne-Marie Cooke, Tim Salt, Edward Terry, Dave Burton
Overall Times: The high fliers Team Tri Alliance smoked the course in the fastest time overall of the day in 1:51:49. Young gun Will Pullin flew around the course in our fastest individual time of 2:10:11. Some big things coming from this fella so keep an eye on him. Dan Brueckner in his come back race had a great race clocking in at 2:20:36 and Tim Grant, Jeff Souter, Michael Grau-Veliz, Shane McCormack, Peet Vermeulen all came in under the 2hr30min barrier.
In the ladies, Belinda Griffiths came away with the fastest female time in 2:31:17 for a massive PB, and Kathryn Siddle had a great race landing herself on the podium in 2:36:01, with Emma Oliver just behind in 2:36:21.
Place Getters:
Team Tri Alliance: 1st Teams Event
Will Pullin – 3rd M25-29
Kathryn Siddle – 2nd F20-24 (tbc)
Emma Oliver – 3rd F20-24 (tbc)
Dale Robinson – 3rd Athenas
Just missing in 4th place: Brianna Laugher
Not far off the pace with top 10 finishes: Shane McCormack, Belinda Griffiths, Jo Stavrou, Tania Darvell.

Sprint Distance

Overall Times: Xavier Flynn continuing his stellar season with his first Gatorade Podium to clock in at 1:06:09. Mark Skilton also having a great race in 1:08:53 with Geoff Taylor and Chris Dixon right up there with the boys.
Lisa Dominquez had a break through race and a great lead in to Geelong Olympic this weekend, along with Brittany Carver, first timer Kate O’Connell and Eleesha Nesci.

Place Getters:
Xavier Flynn – 1st M35-39
Mark Skilton – 2nd M30-34
Lisa Dominquez – 1st F30-34
Geoff Taylor – 1st M55-59
Brittnay Carver – 2nd F25-29
Kate O’Connell – 2nd First Timers
Geoff Houston – 3rd M55-59
Caroline Houston – 3rd F55-59
Just missing in 4th place: Chris Dixon
Not far off the pace with top 10 finishes: Daniel Kelly, Andrew Sammons, Eleesha Nesci, John Giordano, Ross Higgins,

Active Feet

Our newest ‘Triathletes’ in the sport and what improvements we have seen over the last 6-8 weeks from this group. Most of these athletes have come through our Try-the-Tri Program with Coach Bernadette and continue to improve after joining the Core Squad. Well done to Wendy Sheldon on her 3rd place and coming first out of the water. Louisa Orta and Jessie Waugh finished 4th and 6th respectively in their age groups and Glen Smith was our fastest in 38min flat (time for a sprint Glen?) 🙂 Mentions also go to Issy Biddle and Carly Laughton who continue to enjoy their training and racing.

TRY-the-TRI’s
A big congrats goes to our latest Try-the-Tri Group who all completed their first Triathlon and can now proudly call themselves triathletes!

Kate – Who unfortunately lost her timing chip in the swim, but luckily had her time recorded when she crossed the line in 2nd place overall in her category! Would have loved to have seen the split times!
Luisa – Miss Modern Family continues her triathlon career with a fantastic 4th place finish!
Luke – For smashing out a 4:28 swim to secure first place in his swim category!
Ray – Who inured his calf leading up to this race, but managed to pull together a great day in a runners’ race (not an optimal course for someone with a sore calf muscle!)
Andrew – Had a cracker day securing a top ten finish (and some blisteringly fast transition times!)
Owen – This boy can ride a bike! Owen killed the bike ride with 34:39 for 3rd place in his category.
Stephanie – A great performance overall, but a particularly strong bike leg in 5th position.
Jane – Must have been super fast because the Coach didn’t see her all day! Great race Jane with solid results in all legs.
Melissa – Pre-race, standing on the beach, she was cool as a cucumber; and it paid off with a great race day and good results all round.

Noteable mentions

Edward Terry on his fantastic performance in his first (and last) Olympic Distance before he heads over to the US for work. Best of luck Ed!
Our growing team of volunteers and marshal helping out at the race and learning and understanding what it takes to put on such a fantastic event.
Brad Campbell having a race to forget with a flat 5km into the bike and having to finish the bike with a less than inflated tyre.
Will Pullin for cracking the podium in the Olympic Distance but heading home before the presentations because he thought he’ d come 4th! Won’t do that again Will!!
Ian Renouf for having THE LONGEST Sprint Distance race on record. ‘Roofie’ had wondered why his swim cap colour was different when lining up at the start line for the Olympic Distance. Seems he had accidently entered the Sprint Distance instead of Olympic! And you would have cracked a top 10 finish too Roofie!
John Giordano continuing his improvements and finishing his best result to date with 8th place. Not bad for someone who could barely swim when he joined us!
Todd Peterson for his awesome enthusiasm both during his race and afterwards. The triathlon bug has hit! 🙂
Husband and wife duo Caroline and Geoff enjoying the glory of both having podium finishes. What a fantastic experience to share!
Our fantastic partners Lakeside Sports Medicine Centre – particularly Khahn, Kara and Kane this week for working their magic on our athletes with pre and post race massages.