Last weekend we had the National Long Distance Aquabike Championships in Poland as well as the National Championships in Slovenia. There were two big events in Austria and the second aquabike race of the year in Germany. And of course also some aquabike races going on in Great Britain.
But let´s start in Poland. The country that had no aquabike race before 2022 but National Championships over four distances planned this year. Unfortunately the middle distance race had to be cancelled due to bad water quality. So the Long Distance Aquabike race at the Castle Triathlon Malbork was the third race and a worthy final of the National Championships races in Poland. After coming out of the water no less than 19 minutes behind the fastest swimmer Rafał KORULCZYK showed an impressive performance on the bike. 4 hours 39 minutes and 29 seconds for the full 180 kilometres. With an overall time of 05:50:40 he took a clear win, ahead of standard distance national champion who came in 10 minutes behind. Another ten minutes passed before the next man came in. The battle for the third spot on the podium was pretty close though. It was Robert SIWIRSKI who took the bronce medal, finishing only 22 seconds ahead of sprint distance national champion Bartosz DUDEK. In the women´s race it was Agnieszka FĄFEREK who took a clear win, coming in 23 minutes ahead of Kinga LOREK, while Karolina ZYGO came in as a close third, only two more minutes behind.
In Slovenia the National Championships where carried out over the standard distance at the Triglav Triathlon Bled Bohinj. In the men´s race it was Mitja MORI who took an impressive win, nine and a half minutes ahead of last year´s third placed Primož ŠOBAR. Another seven minutes later Boštjan JAKLIČ came in as third. Only four women competed in the race, but still showed some remarkable performances. Laura ANGLEITNER SAGADIN was the first athlete to come out of the water (even a few seconds ahead of the fastest man) with Vita PILIH following only 19 seconds later. With a strong performance on the challenging bike course it was Vita who took the win in the end, finishing third overall. Laura followed about five minutes behind, while Tina AUBELJ took the bronze medal, coming in another eight minutes later.
In the east of Austria the traditional Austria Triathlon Podersdorf included aquabike options in the middle and long distance races on Saturday for the second year. In the long distance race the only Austrian on the startline was able to keep the competitors from Germany and Hungary at bay. After 6 hours, 9 minutes and 21 seconds he was well celebrated at the finishline (check out his race review), taking a close win only one minute ahead of Markus KRETZSCHMAR. They had to wait a little longer to get the podium completed though. Jens HAUSWALD came in thrid, almost 44 minutes behind the winner. Claudia KREUZBERG was the faster of the two women in the race, coming in 18 minutes ahead of Heidi LÖBBECKE.
23 athletes started the middle distance aquabike race. Johannes PILLER was the fastest of them, taking the win about five minutes ahead of Thomas GALDA. Three minutes later Roman KAZMIR came in as third. In the women´s race it was Alina POLJANC who took her second win of the season, coming in almost eight minutes ahead of Michaela SPINKA, who came in second just like in last year´s race. Third woman on the podium was Birgit KRAVAGNA, coming in 22 minutes behind the winner.
On Sunday we had another middle distance aquabike race in Austria at the Aloha Tri Mondseeland. Germany´s Uli MUTSCHELLER was the fastest man in the water as well as on the road, taking a clear win 10 minutes ahead of Mario LEPSCHY and 12 minutes ahead of Heinz TRAVNICEK. The women´s race also saw a German winner. Veronika STEGER took the win, putting her fellow countrywoman Kim KRAUT into second place, 02:42 minutes behind. Austria´s Geraldine BOUVIER came in third, about 20 minutes behind.
In the sprint distance race only three athletes competed in the aquabike race. Sascha BICHLER was the fastest of them, winning the race with a time gap of almost six minutes to Alfred LANGEGGER.
At the TriBühne Triathlon near Hamburg we had the second aquabike race of the season in Germany. 20 athletes showed up on the startline. And it was World Championships runner up Jonas HAFEMANN who took revenge for his close defeat in Samorin. He put more than nine minutes into second placed Jörg GERSTENBERG, a top 10 finisher of last year´s Championships in Almere. Ole DRÖNNER came in third, about 14 minutes behind the winner. Fastest woman of the day was Pia KETELSEN, taking the women´s race win about two minutes ahead of Elvira GRUBER. Only a minute later Stefanie MANN came in to complete the women´s podium.
In England the Belvoir Castle Triathlon returned to the race calendar after quite a few years break. And on the first time it also contained aquabike races over several distances. The middle distance race was dominated by Ben REDMAN. He was the fastest of the only five athletes to tackle the race, winning with a time gap of more than half an hour to second placed Andy TUCK. Another 30 minutes later it was the fastest woman Nicola ROUGHTON who crossed the finishline 3rd overall.
The Olympic Aquabike race was much closer though. Simon DELLER was the fastest over that distance, winning the race about two and a half minutes ahead of Dave CAMERON and Lynden DEMAINE coming in three more minutes behind in third.
The sprint distance aquabike race was won by Darren BINKS, while Winston SOUTHWELL came in second, almost five minutes behind. Third to cross the finishline was the winner of the women´s race Hannah TALBOT.
In Box End we had a sprint distance aquabike race on Saturday. Mark ROBERTSON won the men´s competition, with the fastest women of the race Wendy CLARKE coming in only 02:26 minutes behind. Garry DAVY was the runner up in the men´s race seven minutes behind the winner, closely followed by the second and third of the women´s race Amy FONSECA WILLIAMS and Samantha BROADWAY.
On Sunday there was a “Challenge Distance” aquabike race at Box End. Two men and two women showed up to tackle the 1,5 km swim and 60 km bike leg. In the men´s race the decision was still pretty close. Zac BOFFEY finished only about two minutes ahead of Mark BOOTH, while Nicki BROAD was clearly the faster woman, with a time gap of almost fourty minutes to Helen WHITEHURST.
In Scotland we had an offroad aquabike race at the Lochore Offroad Triathlon. Paul KEAVNEY was the fastest of the five aquabike competitors, crossing the finishline three minutes before Eck ANDERSON and 07:35 minutes before Peter HOUSTON who completed the podium.
The race that attracted the most aquabike athletes on the British Island this weekend was at the Louth Triathlon. 15 aquabike athletes started the sprint distance race. In the men´s race Shaun ROBINSON took his second victory of the season. Karl HUNT followed about a minute later, with Robert SPASHETT completing the podium another minute later. Although there were only four women starting the race, also the women´s competition didn´t see big time gaps between the podium finishers. Verity MILES took her third win of the season, putting last year´s winner Lisa UDALL in second place, only about a minute behind. Another two minutes later it was Sophie DOIG who came in third.
You can find links to all full results at our aquabike race result search or check out the current Aquabike Ranking Europe.
Chapeau and congratulations to all aquabike finishers of last week´s races!