The Cook Island Triathlon Association hosted the legendary BSP Women’s Triathlon event at the Tikioki Tri site on Saturday.

A regular feature in the triathlon calendar to highlight our amazing female athletes on the island, the event was a great lead-in race to the Maori Auri Tinman (April 15) and the Air New Zealand Rarotonga International Triathlon (May 6).

The day started out looking like rain would be a feature but in typical Cook Islands fashion it left as quick as it came, and was replaced with the warm, sunny and humid weather expected this time of year.

The event had a fantastic turnout with 11 individuals and seven teams participating. It also had a great representation of ages with the youngest competitors, 11-year-olds Nikita McDonald, competing as an individual, and Pipi Wyatt, competing as part of a team.

It was also great to see the Mangaian Maidens attending this year proudly supporting their island and looking rather smart in their matching Mangaia race gear. Also great to have two Ariki Adventures teams taking part.

The race started at 2pm from the Tikioki Tri site with a first-up swim of 400 metres. A strong swimming field with five athletes completing the swim leg in a sub-eight minute time. Maya Postrzygacz was the fastest at 7 minutes closely followed by Tash Brown (Ariki Adventure Angels) at 7:1 min.

The bike leg has the benefit this year of a smoother road surface which resulted in some excellent ride times. Tarina Moorfield was the fastest in the field – 16-kilometre bike – at a time of 28:24 min only one second ahead of Adrianna Skurosz.

The run is always a tough leg after the swim, and ride, and made especially more difficult in the hot and humid conditions. The fastest runner in the 4km marathon was Maya Postrzygacz with a time of 18:11 min closely followed by Pip Hansen, competing as part of the Ariki Angels team, at 18:21 min.

The first individual across the finish-line this year was Maya Postrzygacz with a time of 56:17 min. At only 15 years old this was a really impressive performance.

The second individual to cross the finish line was Maya’s mother Adrianna Skurosz with a time of 58:04 min. Whilst Adrianna will be disappointed to not be first this year, she was especially proud of Maya for her fantastic achievement.

The third individual was Tarina Moorfield, a regular achiever across the triathlon season. Tarina sealed her third place with a great effort on the bike.

What makes these three individual performances extra special this year is that they were all faster than the top three teams.

The first team across the line was Ariki Angels (Jules Tamaariki and Pip Hansen) with a time of 1:02 hour, followed by Chicks that Crank (Heidi Gustafson, Mandi Fitz-Gustafson and Lauren Turner) with a time of 1:06 hr, and Round Raro Radicals (Sally Wyatt and Naomi Fenwick) at 1:07 hr.

The day concluded with an award ceremony, lots of prizes and few cold drinks.

Many thanks to the Raina family for allowing the club to use their land, and big thanks also to the dedicated marshalls and BSP, the key sponsor for the race. Special mention also to The Bond Store who contributed fantastic prizes for the winners.

• Matt Wyatt/Cook Island Triathlon Association