Sunday saw Stage 6 of the Welsh Super Series and what an ending to the series it was.
Llandudno welcomed athletes and supporters from across Wales with grey skies and a chilly wind but that didn’t stop it from being one of the most exciting days of the 2022 Welsh event season, drawing one of the biggest crowds of spectators of the series who enjoyed a spectacle of sport, delivered by Always Aim High Events.
Our youngest athletes put in outstanding performances with 17 year old Deri McCluskey winning the race overall and 15 year old Ifan Bowen coming in second place. Twenty One year old Dafyd Jay followed closely behind in third with 18 year old Archie Dilks in fourth overall. Their results made the overall men’s series an even closer affair with Guto Morgans needing to finish in the top seven and beat Luke Richards to take the overall title.
Deri McCluskey had the fastest swim of the day with a time of 10:37, only 3 seconds ahead of Jack Southam who has had consistently fast swims throughout the series. Ifan Bowen exited the water in third with Archie Dilks close behind in fourth.
Senior athlete Aidan Mcilroy posted the fastest bike leg of 31:01 but Deri McCluskey was close behind in a time of 32:03 that saw him extend his lead over the rest of the field.
Deri went on to record the fastest run leg of the day in a time of 16:22 which saw him cross the line in first place in a time of 1:00:31 with Ifan just over two minutes behind in a time of 1:03:04. Dafyd Jay completed the Stage 6 podium in a time of 1:04:46
In the female race, local legend, and GOG Triathlon Club member Rhian Roxburgh, exited the water first with a swim time of 11:49 and didn’t relinquish her lead throughout the rest of the race. Junior athlete Medi Lewis was second out of the water in 12:34 with Emma Lalley only two seconds behind.
Madison Shaddick had a storming bike leg of 36:05 that saw her advance through the field with current Series leader Carys Mai Hughes second fastest female on the bike, only twenty seconds slower that Madison, making the female race a close one going into the final leg.
Carys Mai Hughes ran a great leg in 19:25 giving her second place overall with a time of 1:12:48 but she couldn’t quite catch Rhian who took the tape in a time of 1:12:11. Madison Shaddick crossed the line in third in one of the closet female races of the series.
The female race result ensured an overall Series win for Carys Mai Hughes with a total points score of 400. A great race saw Madison Shaddick end the series in second place overall with 355 points, while Port Talbot Harriers’ Claire Walters finished in third on 345 points.
In the male competition, it all came down to this last stage and Guto Morgans managed to snatch the overall Series title from Luke Richards who had led the competition since Stage 1. Guto finished with 330 points, only 5 points ahead of Luke with Dafyd Jay taking third place overall with 270 points.
In the hotly contested Club competition, North Dock Dredgers had a great Series and led throughout but with GOG Triathlon athletes turning out in force for their local race, it finished in favour of GOG with only 55 points eventually separating the two clubs: GOG 2243, Dredgers 2188. Those points saw GOG retain the title for the third consecutive year. Taff Ely Triathlon Club finished in third with 1984 points.
2022 proved to be an exciting year for the Super Series with close races and old and new faces on the podiums. The Series details for 2023 will be announced shortly.
A copy of the Super Series scores can be found HERE
Super series 2023 is back! Find out more HERE
