Wow, what a spectecular weekend of aquabike racing it was! We had lots of races with big fields of aquabikers all over Europe. While the National Aquabike Championships of Slovakia took place just outside Bratislava, we also had an Aquabike race 70 km further up the Danube River at the Vienna Triathlon. We also had races with many aquabike athletes in France and also a race in Portugal.
The big points were made in England though. We did not only have the biggest race of the season (by number of athletes), but also one of the biggest middle distance races as well as the hardest aquabike race on the calendar on the British Island.
So let´s start by honoring the new National Aqubike Champions of Slovakia who were crowned at the Pressburg Aquabike. After world class triathlete and last year´s champion Richard Varga was absent this year it was last year´s runner up Peter ROJTÁŠ time to take the gold medal with an impressive performance. Last year he only lost a few seconds on the swim – on one of the world´s best swimmers in professional triathlon. So it wasn´t a big surprise that he was the first to come out of the water in this year´s race. Miroslav OZORÁK came out of the water only about a minute later though. But on the bike Peter was clearly the strongest athlete in the race. At the finishline he had put almost eight minutes into Miroslav who still held on to second place to take the silver medal. The third athlete to cross the line only came a few seconds later – but not to take the bronze medal. Alena SINAY showed an impressive performance to take the women´s title. With the 2nd fastest bike split of all athletes she came in almost two minutes before the third podium finisher in the men´s race Branislav KRÁL. No wonder she had quite a time gap before the second woman crossed the finishlie. Ema PODHORNÁ came in nine minutes later, while Barbora ŠUCHOVÁ took the bronze medal almost 13 minutes behind the winner.
At the Vienna Triathlon we had one of the closest finishes in an aquabike race this year. And since the author of this lines was part of it, the following report will be bit more personal. It wasn´t a surprise that strong swimmer Gajo BURIC came out of the water first, together with the first triathletes who started at the same time. Just as in Gerasdorf I came into T1 almost 5 minutes behind. I had a good day on the bike, but was pretty sure that Gajo will be out of reach. And I didn´t see him as long as I was on the bike. But as I came into T2 he was right there, putting on his running shoes. So I sprinted to my place as fast as I could, and put on the running shoes for the few meters run to the finishline – yes, this is mandatory in Austria. He passed me just in the moment when I got up to cross the finishline two seconds ahead of me. Chapeau Gajo, well done! Third on the podium was Manfred KARNER with a remarkable performace only one week after his win in the long distance aquabike race in Podersdorf! Fastest of the three women in the race was Klaudia BALVANOVA, showing a strong performance and putting more than 11 minutes into second placed Sabine WEINBERGER.
A strong field of aquabike athletes showed up at this year´s edition of the TriaLong & TriaCourt in France. Paul VANOTTI took the win in the middle distance aqubike race with an outstanding performance on the bike. After coming out of the water three minutes behind Franck ESCOMEL, he put down the hammer on the bike, putting almost 12 minutes into the fastest swimmer – who by the way still had the second fastest bike split. In third place it was Damien CUIGNET who crossed the finishline 14:30 minutes behind the winner. But how strong thos performances really were shows the fact that last year´s winner Laurent GABILLON had to settle for 5th this time – despite being a little faster than last year. Winner of the women´s race was Chloe MOUSSET – also with a remarkable performance on the bike. That´s why she had to wait more than half hour for the second woman to come in. Vanessa MALLOUET finished second, while Emmanuelle BILLE came in third only 39 seconds behind.
In the SwimBike Court there were 27 aquabike athletes starting the race. Pierre DUBREUIL was the first of them who finished the race. While he took a clear win the fight for the podium places was pretty close. Philippe CALVARIN came in 03:33 minutes down on the winner. And half a minute later two athletes came in, fighting for the last remaining spot on the podium. Mathias REMY had the better end, holding off Vincent MONET by only two seconds. Meanwhile in the women´s race it was Estelle FUCHS who took a clear win, more than nine minutes ahead of Morgane TURBAN. But there was also a close fight for 3rd place in the women´s race. Fastest swimmer of the race Amélie KASPERSKI had to settle for fourth in the end, while Margarita DE LESTRANGE came in 8 seconds earlier.
In Portugal we had the second aquabike race of the season at the Multisport Weekend Pinhel where only four athletes took on the sprint distance race. Gonçalo CARVALHO took a clear win about six minutes ahead of Nuno SIMOES.
After a few rather quite weeks of aquabike racing over the summer, we now had the busiest days of the year on the British Island. More than 200 athletes raced over more than 10.000 km this weekend. But I will start with a race that didn´t attract a huge number of aquabikers to start the race – for a good reason.
The aqubike race at the Helvellyn Triathlon is probably the hardest aquabike race in the UK. After quite a few hills on the first 45 km of the bike course, athletes then have to go over the Kirkstone Pass – but not through the main road that goes over this pass. “The Struggle” is the name of a small and steep road that also leads up to the pass. With gradients of up to 20% you better make sure you have the right gearing on your TT bike. Or maybe rather take your road bike. 8 aquabike athletes managed to get over it. John WAITE was clearly the stronges aquabike athlete that day – in the water as well as on the bike. Tony BARNES took second place, coming in alomst 20 minutes down, while Alex FAWCETT completed the podium four minutes later. In the women´s race we had a pretty close finish. Sacha ENZOR came in to take the win only 22 seconds ahead of Joy EDWARDS, while Carol EDWARDS came in third about 19 minutes later.
A little further to the south the traditional Vitruvian Triathlon Rutland offered an aquabike option for the first time. With 26 finishers it became one of the biggest middle distance aquabike races in England right away. And we had a clear winner in this race as well. Carl SHAW was 8 minutes faster then Roger CANHAM in the water, and also seven more minutes faster on the bike. Third placed Rob TOTTLE came in more than 20 minutes behind the winner. We also had a clear winner in the women´s race. Claire JACKSON was the fastest woman oft he day. The fight for the remaining places on the podium was a bit closer though. Louise HUGHES came in 11 minutes behind the winner, but only 13 seconds ahead of Sarah WOODHOUSE who came n third.
And there was another middle distance race further to the south. Much further to the south actually. The Granite Man, the traditional middle distance triathlon on Guernsey, also offered an aquabike option. Three athletes started the race. The only man Karl DODD came in first, while Lynn BLOXHAM came in only three minutes later to win the women´s competition.
The 3rd race of the St. Neots Triathlon Series also didn´t attract a huge number of aquabike athletes. Ian MURGATROYD won the standard distance race, while the only woman in the race Amy SOLE came in only 1:45 minutes later.
Nine aquabike athletes started the South Manchester Sprint Triathlon. Winston SOUTHWELL was the fastest man, coming in almost four minutes ahead of Daniel HULL with Kevin KNOX coming in third. The womens race also had a clear winner. Megan ATHERTON was the first to cross the finishline with a winning margin of 4:40 minutes, while Lynne GRUNDY and Alexandra MEGHEN completed the podium.
At the Black Country Triathletes Sprint Triathlon in Wombourne Richard PETERS was the fastest man of the day. Though he wasn´t the first athlete to arrive at the finish. Winner of the women´s competitions Vicki ORNSBY was there 32 seconds earlier. While the men´s race was pretty close with the other podium finishers Martyn SHEPPARD and Ian LANGFORD bot came in less than 100 seconds behind the winner, Vicky had a time gap of more than four minutes to the other two girls on the podium. The fight for 2nd and 3rd was pretty close though. Sarah KENNARD finished just four seconds ahead of Charlotte EVANS.
In Reading we had a standard distance aquabike race at the Reading Triathlon. Fabien LEONARD took the win in the men´s race with a strong performance, finishing almost nine minutes ahead of Adam PHILLIPS and almost 13 minutes ahead of Seamus MCALISTER. The women´s race was much closer, although there were only two women competing. In the end Jacalyn EYRES was the faster oft hem, finishing about a minute ahead of Samantha DREDGE.
On Saturday 32 aquabike athletes started the Cotswolds End of Season Standard Aquabike race. Adrien FAUVARQUE showed a strong performance in the swim as well as on the bike, winning the race almost five minutes ahead of Adrian WILKINS and about six minutes ahead of Chris ABBEY. In the women´s race we had a pretty tough fight for the podium places with four athletes finishing within less than a minute. After the 2nd fastest swim and the 3rd fastest bike split Sarah JANE MCDONNELL was the first of them to cross the finishline with Jane HARRIS coming in only 10 seconds behind. And they didn´t have to wait for much longer for the completion of the podium. Strong swimmer Kerry SMITH, who came out of the water before the first man, came in only 21 seconds behind the winner, while Jacqui PHILLIPS had to settle for 4th place only 59 seconds down.
Last but not least let´s come to the highlight of this aquabike racing weekend. The Bournemouth International Triathlon was the third qualification race for the Aquabike Standard Distance World Championships next year in Pontevedra, Spain. And it was probably the biggest aquabike race so far in Great Britain. No less than 115 aquabike athletes finished the race. Wow! And of course not only the quantity, but also the quality of the starting field was quite remarkable. Mark YEOMAN not only won all of the nine races (!) he started this year – in each and every one of them he had the fastest swim time as well as the fastest bike split. At the Bournemouth Triathlon however it was pretty clear that the competitions will be much stronger than in the previous races. And it became even clearer after the swim. Because it was the winner of the long distance race at Hever Castly in July Robin HUGHES who came out of the water first, putting more than two and a half minutes into Mark who came out second. Third athlete out of the water was Jonny RAWLINGS, just 12 seconds behind with the other top athletes also following closely. But on the bike there was no chance for anybody to get closer to the leader. After finishing the bike leg also with the fastest split time of the day, Robin took home a clear win, finishing in a time of 01:19:43. Nine time season winner Mark came in three minutes and 39 seconds behind. About five minutes after the winner came in, the fight for the last spot on the podium was pretty close though. After coming out of the water in 15th position Nicholas BARRATT showed a strong performance on the bike. Clocking the second fastest bike split of the day he caught strong swimmer Jonny Rawlings, but still missed the podium. With an absolutely impressive performance 60 year old athlete Graham BROOKHOUSE was able to hold on to third place, coming in just three seconds ahead of Nicholas, while Jonny had to settle for fifth only 12 more seconds behind.
In the women´s race Amy PRITCHARD was the first out of the water. While she also had a bit of a lead, time gaps after the swim still were smaller than in the men´s race. With 8 women coming into T1 within a bit more than two minutes it´s was sure to become a hard race for the podium places. But with the 3rd fastest bike split Amy brought home a safe win. Faster on the bike was Anel MEYER. But the 24 seconds she could make up to Amy were not enough to endanger her win. In the end she came in second, one minute and 18 seconds behind. Only 38 seconds later Eleanore NASH came in third to complete the podium. How strong also the women´s competition was, shows that former #1 in the Aquabike Ranking Europe Hannah PAULL, who won all the four races that she started during the last two seasons with a quite impressive winning margin, had to settle for 5th place in this race. She came in about five minutes behind the winner, while Sasha DYKE took the fourth place, 04:45 minutes down.