A still, dry but fresh morning greeted the competitors as they plunged into the clear 15C lake. 

 

In the Elite Race, which was non-drafting, but a special wave for those wanting to race for Prize money instead of age group prizes, there was strong competition in the swim between Christine Hine of Loughbourgh Tri and Geoff Twinning of Tri Team Glos, but once on the bike Bath’s Will Crudgington (Athlos) and Wiltshire’s Max Hazell (Jackpot Racing) made their way to the fore, with seconds between the top three off the bike it was Hazell that proved the strongest on the run to take victory for the third year in a row, followed by Hine and Crudgington.  After Max Hazell thanked organizer TriFerris Promotions said it is always his favorite race of the Year.

 

In the female Elite wave Bath’s Nicole Walters (BW Cycling) had it all her own way from start to finish and was never challenged.  Nicole came third in this event in 2012 and has improved each year, finishing over a minute quicker than last year.   It was great to see Junior Tabitha Rogers (West Country Tri) coming through to take second Elite, ahead of Ellie Dominey.

 

In the South West Age Group Championships, Chris Maxwell (40-44) of Chippenham Tri and Somerset’s Shirley Yarde (55-59) were the fastest overall, but the strongest competiton came in the youngest and categorie with Benjamin Sommerville (17-19) of Frome Tri finishing just 15 seconds ahead of Marlborough’s Felix Wernham. Whilst the 50-54 category had the most South West members taking part and was won by Bob Pearce, Army Tri in 1:01:13 and Somerset’s Helen Wainwright.   Amazingly Shirley Yarde and Helen Wainwright were faster than the seond and third Elite female but elected to race for the age group prizes before the event.

 

Everyone seemed to thuroughly enjoy the morning and the sun came out just in time for Prize Giving and a picnic in the park.