The largest ever contingent of triathletes descended on One Mile last Saturday for the return of the Port Stephens Triathlon Festival.
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Triathlon organisers, Elite Energy, said 1500 triathletes contested four races across the May 8 festival - the largest ever attendance by 11 per cent, numbers not seen since 2015.
"2020 was a tough year for many. We have found that a staggering number of people used this time to turn to fitness and this is certainly reflective in the number of new athletes entering in our events," Seb Gallery, marketing manager at Elite Energy, said.
"On the weekend we had a free race for first-time triathletes. This race attracted three times as many first-time triathletes that we have had in previous years, indicating strong growth in the sport of triathlon for future years."
Twin brothers Luke and Jayden Schofield, aged 22, gave spectators plenty to watch as they battled - literally - to be the first over the line in the standard triathlon.
The brothers from Sydney seemingly broke the barrier at the same time but it was Luke who gained the first place finish a mere breath in front of his brother, Jayden.
Luke completed the triathlon in a time of 1:51:17 while Jayden completed it in a time of 1:51:20.
It is not the first time the brothers have raced to the finish line together - they're known in the triathlon world for their healthy rivalry. Third behind them was Josh Woolbridge in a time of 1:53:03.
Due to the dangerous surf conditions, Saturday's triathlon was changed to a run, ride, run.
The standard triathlon is typically a 1.5km ocean swim, 37km bike ride and 10km run.
Instead of the swim on Saturday, standard triathlon participants completed a 4km sand run. In the sprint (typically 750m ocean swim, 20km bike, 5km run), participants completed a 2km sand run and in the super sprint (for beginners and is usually 200m swim, 10km bike, 2km run), triathletes completed a 500m sand run.
"Although the swell gods were not working in our favour, with the cancellation of the swim leg due to dangerous surf conditions, the event was a huge success. One of the unique things about the Port Stephens tri is the atmosphere that we get here each year," Mr Gallery said.
Winner in the standard triathlon for the women was Lisa Marangon, in the 40-44 age category, in a time of 2:12:51, followed closely by Kristie Caplikas (15-19 age) in a time of 2:15:59 and Aimee Carlin (20-24 age) 2:19:45.
In the sprint, Ryan Marsh (25-29 age) was first over the line for the men in a time of 58:42 followed by Mick Chapman (30-34 age) in 58:48 and Joe Sulis (25-29 age) in 59:52.
For the women, it was Nicky Western (50-54 age) over the line first in a time of 1:05:41 followed by Angharad Llewellyn (25-29 age) in 1:06:52 and Erin Hargrave (35-39 age) in 1:08:33.
In the super sprint, Sean Williams (14-15 age) completed the course in 28:40 followed by Thomas O'Callaghan (16-19 age) in 29:12 and Kyle Mason (12-13 age) in 31:29.
For the women, first over the line was Allegra McGivern (14-15 age) in a time of 32:27 followed by Sarah McConnell (20-29 age) in 33:43 and Ginevra Lota (12-13 age) in 34:39.
The Elite Energy event was primarily staged at One Mile, in the beach car park, but utilised Gan Gan Road to the Nelson Bay Road intersection for the biking and Eucalyptus Drive for the runs.
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