Roaming with abandon... again.

We often roam with abandon at events, and this last week was no different to any other. We popped up at a few different events, and not just the ones we sponsor.

You might have bumped into us at either the iconic Capital Classic ocean swim, the Anthony Moss pool meet, the Christchurh round of the the national Contact Tri series event, or even one of New Zealands oldest triathlon’s, the Rotorua Blue Lake Festival. Here’s a quick summary of how these events rolled out.

Rotorua Blue Lake Festival
This event is one of the oldest in New Zealand, and got a lot of international media attention when cycling legend Lance Armstrong named it as his debut race. Top names came out to race against the 7-time Tour de France winner, but sadly he pulled out with a knee injury. Despite a few people pulling out without the star attraction, they still had a huge number of entries, and we went along to enjoy the weekend of racing too.

The event boasts some of the most spectacular scenery you could want to race on, and with a (reverse) aquathon, open water swim, sprint tri and a 5km fun run. Athletes battle it out over the weekend for the title of King or Queen of the Lake, with the top spot taking home $1000 hard cash each. Sign us up!

The weather was threatening to cause havoc, with torrential rain but it dried up just in time for the first event on Saturday – the reverse aquathon. Yep – 5.5km of off road running, followed by an 800m open water swim in choppy conditions. Next up was the 2km swim across the lake later the same day, and the wind played havoc for swimmers roughing up the water. Just as well it tastes good, because I think competitors left the lake rather well, er, hydrated.

Er, what happened to summer? 

The sun came out on Sunday, although the cold wind kept spectators rugged up. Record 480 athletes did the sprint tri, with every second counting for those aiming to take the title of King or Queen of the Lake. Times are added together across the three events to give a total time, with the fastest taking home the spoils.

It was a ding dong battle across the mens race, but it was blueseventy’s Cameron Todd who did enough over the weekend to take home the cash. In the women, Junior Mikayla Nielsen dominated across the three events finishing nearly 10mins clear from the second fastest overall competitor.

King of the Lake
1. Cameron Todd
2. Michael Pool
3. Sam Osborne

Queen of the Lake
1. Mikayla Nielsen

Cam Todd and Michael Poole
 battling it out on the run

2. Emma Rathbone
3. Christie Sym

Aquathon
1. Sam Osborne
2. Cam Todd
3. Steve Worthington

1. Mikayla Nielsen
2. Lydia Hale
3. Liz Burrows

2km Lake Swim
1. Cam Todd
2. Bryan Rhodes
3. Will Griffith

1. Rebecca Roling
2. Rebecca Kingsford
3. Jessica Rogers

Sprint Tri
1. Michael Poole
2. Cam Todd
3. Sam Osborne

1. Mikayla Nielsen
2. Christie Sym
3. Lizzie Orchard

Capital Classic – State Ocean Series

It was always going to be a blueseventy athlete across the line first, with the first five men out of the water wearing the distinctive new Helix.  It was Kane Radford who took the line honours though, just 5 seconds ahead of Bryn Murphy.  The womens race was also close fought with blueseventy’s Cara Baker holding off Charlotte Webby by 3 seconds to make it a clean sweep for top podium spots. Nice.

Start of Capital Classic, Wellington.
Mark Tantrum Photography

Elite Male Results 


1. Kane Radford, Rotorua - 30:20


2. Bryn Murphy, Dunedin - 30:25


3. Ben Campbell-Macdonald, Wellington - 31:20


4. Stefan Talbot, Auckland - 31:41


5. Casey Glover, Wellington - 31:45

           

Kane & Cara - winners
Mark Tantrum Photography

Elite Female Results


1. Cara Baker, Auckland - :31:51


2. Charlotte Webby, Taranaki - 31:54


3. Georgia Hind, Wellington - 33:49


4. Brenda Russell, Auckland - 33:39 


5. Nicole Rosewarne, Auckland  35:48

Contact Series – Christchurch

Nicky Samuels fresh from smashing the bike.
Photo: Bruce Wilson Photography 

Fresh from hosting the HOT Festival of Triathlon, Pegasus was again host to some of NZ’s top athletes for the Christchurch leg of the Contact Tri Seriers.  Local athletes dominated the day with blueseventy’s Tom Davison and Nicky Samuels winning their respective fields.  Nicky absolutely dominated the womens race leading from start to finish, showing exactly how strong she is across all three disciplines.  And this is her off season!

Elite Male Results

Tom Davison

James Elvery

Harrison Dean

Elite Female Results

Nicky Samuels

Julia Grant

Janine Simpson