Tin Man titleholders hang on

The 30th annual Tin Man triathlon was held on Saturday and the lagoon could only be described as tumultuous and similar to what it looks like in the harbour after a tsunami has happened in the Pacific region!

Despite this, 14 individuals and seven teams tackled the 1200m swim, 31km cycle and 10km run course.

The swim saw Vanessa Palmer taking the lead and emerging from the water first, followed closely by Kelly Pick, Gareth Clayton and Roland Neururer.

The cycle course had to be changed at the last minute due to tree trimming on some parts of the island, and re-sealing of the seawall road. So for the first time in history, instead of a round-the-island cycle, there was no choice but to cycle 7.9km toward Aroa and back twice. Roland Neururer came out with the fastest bike time of the day in 49.49, followed closely by Geoff Stoddart and Brendan Sutherland in 50.08 and 53.57 respectively.

The 10km run then followed and it was very hot and muggy with all runners extremely happy to use the water stops and sponges!

After the final 10km, Neururer held on to his Tin Man title to finish in a time of 1.55.45, followed by Kelly Pick, also retaining her title, in 1.58.36.

Race records were hard to beat this year, with the tough swim and the different cycle course which meant having to turn three times.

Either way, these are fantastic times.

Second male and third over the line was Geoff Stoddart in 2.02.46 followed by debut racer Brendan Sutherland in an excellent time of 2.11.04, taking out third male.

Fourth male and fifth overall went to another debut racer, Bryn Parry, who had zipped in at 2.14.56.

Mark Worthington came in sixth place, another great debut race after he has mastered swimming, clocking up 2.16.46.

Seventh went to Rhys Woodger in 2.22.41, followed by Jennie George as second female over the line in 2.23.59.

Ninth place went to stalwart Mike Carr showing he’s still got it, in 2.26.1 2 with yet another debut racer, Del Bewg, rounding up the top 10 to come in at 2.29.56. Fantastic effort considering he was on a mountain bike!

Third female went to Annie Sutherland, who was also on her debut race and came in at a respectable 2.43.44.

First team home was made up of Apii Napa (swim and cycle) and Raniera Ellison (run) who clocked up a great time of 2.16.49.

Also to our time keepers and organisers Terai Hill and Len Edwards and all the committee, meitaki maata! Overall it was a fabulous day with many smiles and much laughter. Trophies were then awarded and bottles of wine received once again! Now with just three weeks until the big Air NZ Rarotonga International Triathlon on May 12, many athletes are glad to have this race under their belt and continue to train for the big one!