Apia Triathlon Club gearing up for another successful event

By Vaelei Von Dincklage 20 June 2021, 2:10PM

The Apia Triathlon Club’s third event at Mulinu'u last Saturday attracted a total of 48 participants and present near-perfect conditions for the athletes.

The club’s co-founder Bernard Poort told the Samoa Observer that the race last Saturday comprised swimming, riding and running for the children.

“Our third event was held last Saturday at Mulinu’u with a record 48 participants on the start line. Once again near perfect conditions presented for the athletes,” he said in an interview.

“Swimming in a big group can be daunting so we decided this time to start the Kids Tri in advance of the bigger race: 200 metre swim, 1km bike or scooter and 1km run was the challenge for the kids on Saturday with lots of parents helping support the event. 

“Agape Mulitalo was too quick for his older brother Filipo, finishing in a super impressive time of 14 minutes 53 seconds.”

The next division was the En Tri Race which comprised a 200m swim, a 10 km bike race and a 2km run. There were 25 participants for each division. But it was Laura McIhenny of the Australian High Commission who came out the victor after a great performance. 

“Laura McIihenny (Australian High Commission) was again too strong with a fast-finishing run to take out first place (38:16) from Elizabeth Evans who had led for much of the race (39:39). 

“In 3rd place was Cassidy Jackson-Carroll in 40:50 and after two solid months of training, it was fantastic to see Dr Malama Tafunai in 4th place making huge improvements. 

“In the team's category, Young Steel was again very polished and too good for Greentree, despite their faster performance in this race. 

“A young ANZ team also put in a brave performance and will have learned a lot from their first race outing.

“It’s the standard for the sport. Darren Young set a new race record for the year taking out line honors 1hour, 11 minutes, and 16 seconds. 

“In 2nd place Matt Howden 1:18:49 followed by Bernie Poort 1:19:46. The first female competitor was Amanda Wheatley who is transitioning from being a world-class paddler to being a triathlete 1:26:02 - another big improvement from Race 2.  

“Team Collins (Wolly and his son Tyrese who won the kid's race at our last event) pushed Darren Young to the line in 1:13:50 and were too quick for the very popular Porpoise Club Team in 2nd place.

“Race participants this month enjoyed a supply of race kit donated by World Champion Sarah Crawley who raced in Samoa back in 2015. 

“Sarah has stayed in contact with the Samoa Triathlon Federation and was kind enough to send over a huge box of goggles, swimwear, tri suits, and runners which we handed out to the local athletes competing in Saturday’s race.”

The main event is the sprint race which consists of the 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run.

The Apia Triathlon Club was formed by Poort and Young in early 2021 with the hope of building an inclusive club that is free for families to come and try multi-sport racing for children and parents.

The next race for the Apia Triathlon Club is scheduled for 26 June, and they are welcoming any new members who are willing to participate in the race.

Tags

Triathlon
By Vaelei Von Dincklage 20 June 2021, 2:10PM
Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>