Devonport Triathlon

Devonport; the word that has been on everyone’s lips from the beginning of the season and with so much riding on this race for everyone including age-group world championship points, junior elite world championship positions, Olympic positions, world series spots and even New Zealand national championships it was always going to be a big weekend of racing and it certainly didn’t disappoint. 

It was the first time this season that the entire DAT Racing high performance group got the opportunity to travel together and we were also joined by age-group stars Robbie and Courtney and all kept in line by none other than Dan ‘the headmaster’ Atkins, Craig Buerckner and Jillian Grice.  And with what has been labeled as possible the greatest road-trip CD to keep us entertained for our trip from Launceston to Devonport, who couldn’t be excited!

There isn’t much to report on before the big day except for the standard pre-race rituals that everyone undertakes so rather than drag that on and with a heavy race day schedule to get through I’ll get straight to the important information.  But with my race not kicking off until 3:30 Saturday afternoon I’ve had to rely on a few well documented race reports and in this case co-editors and photographers to construct this blog from the entire high performance crew including Tom, Angus, Corey, Luke, Holly, Emily, Anna, Sarah, Brayden, Courtney and Robbie while I was locked away in the confines of my room for most of the day. 

With the first race of the day scheduled for 7:00am and the final race scheduled for 3:30pm, it was going to be a long day of racing for those few dedicated DAT supporters that stayed strong all day.  Robbie and Courtney were our first DAThletes to hit the chilly waters of Devonport for their Olympic distance race and having both come of very good performances down in Geelong in their first selection race for worlds later this year, confidence was high to get the job down and move one step closer to that illustrious green and gold tri-suit.  Courtney’s result in Geelong was nothing short of impressive, finishing in 4^th position so it comes as no surprise that she surpassed expectations to not only top her age-group by more than 6minutes to her nearest rival but also finish as the 3^rd fastest female for the day.  Moving up in an age category this season, Robbie was lining up as the baby of the age-group and this was perhaps the difference between his very impressive 4^th place finish and what could have been a podium finish, with only one second separating him from 3^rd and the fact that all of the guys around him looked much older!

As the temperature continued to increase so did the intensity of the racing and next up were the junior girls.  Unfortunately our presence in this field took a heavy hit in the lead up with Emily Bevan being ruled out with a stress fracture in her lower back forcing her to watch from the sidelines.  But coming off her 2^nd place finish in the junior elite national titles earlier in the year and the determination and commitment she shows in all of her training and racing, she will only learn from this experience and be back better and stronger than ever in the near future.  This left both Holly Grice and Anna Coldham representing DAT in a small yet highly competitive field that included last years world junior champion from New Zealand and this years junior elite national champion.  And it wouldn’t be fair to go on before going into what both these girls and our junior boys were about to tackle.  With this race offering the only certain position on the world championship team, the course was designed to simulate Auckland which while it may have included a flat 5km run, both the girls and boys were made to tackle one of the most brutal 20km cycle courses in recent times.  For those DAT athletes accustomed to our regular training venues, this hill made Chelford St look like a breeze and not only did they have to tackle it four times, there was also a second hill on the 5km loop that immediately followed the steep accent and decent.  Both girls were well positioned near the front of the field coming out of the water but unfortunately with the steepness of the hill it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Holly who suffered a pedal malfunction and was forced to run up the final meters up the hill before remounting and lost contact with the front group.  True to her cycling prowess she was quickly back in the game and fought her way up to the front pack again before the run.  It wasn’t long before New Zealand’s world junior champion stamped her authority on the run course to record herself another victory but Anna was never far behind finishing in a very impressive and perhaps one of the best performing DATletes for the day in 7^th position while Holly wasn’t far behind in 11^th place.  And with both girls still having another season in the junior elite category I’d be more than willing to wager a significant amount that both of their names will be at the top of the leader board and in contention for junior elite world championship selection in 2013.

The junior boys were next to hit the water and wasting no time in stamping his authority on the race, Angus Gibson again led the 60+ boys out of the water and onto the bike.  The boys were tackling the same challenging course that the girls had just finished but with the size of the field the packs were a lot bigger and more difficult to separate but from all reports the field was well and truly dictated by Tom Ryan who has shown blistering form on any hill we have ridden in the lead up to this race.  With all of the boys coming off the bike and heading out onto the run in close proximately of each other it wasn’t long before this seasons top performers, Marcel Walkington, Kenji Nener and Joel Tobin White cemented the podium positions.  The highest place DAThlete was Luke Farrell, who along with Anna was the most impressive result of the day finishing 7^th in the junior elite category.  Tom wasn’t far behind in 15^th place with Angus in 26^th and Corey St John in 49^th.

With a course change for the elite races to simulate the London Olympic games, we were to tackle a two lap 1500m swim, a completely flat eight lap 40km bike course and a four lap 10km run.  The women were first to begin and representing DAT in her first professional race was Sarah Deuble.  As I’m sure we can all imagine, lining up for your first time in a professional race is daunting but add in Olympic hopeful Emma Jackson among a host of other Australian and New Zealand’s best women her nerves must have been through the roof.  Unfortunately today was not to be her day and Sarah was unable to complete the course, being lapped out by a very fast moving and efficient front pack.  But having recently being only the second male or female in Australia to gain selection in the National Talent Academy, the future is certainly bright.

The final race of the day had perhaps the most on the line with Australia in a position to either retain or lose their 3^rd Olympic position depending on final positioning to the kiwis.  Tactics were rife prerace and it almost felt like the way in which the race would pan out had already been decided and it was up to the athletes to finish off the job.  The racing was always going to be fast with Australia’s entire Olympic shadow squad, including Ryan Fisher among a host of other Australian’s including myself and Brayden Tucker and the best that New Zealand has to offer with their National Championship also being awarded today.  As expected and predicted all the main players were in the front group on the bike but unfortunately after what we have both described as sub-par swimming performances, both Brayden and myself were in a group that began the bike about one minute down on this group.  While some solid group dynamics and commitment from all members of our group we could have closed this deficit, unfortunately this didn’t occur and by the end of the bike, much to mine, Brayden’s and one or two other Australian’s disappointment but not lack of trying we found ourselves just over three minutes down on this front group that contained Ryan.  Unfortunately his bike crash at Raby Bay is still playing havoc with his leg and once on the run was in noticeable pain and although personally disappointed finished in a very impressive 10^th position and with two weeks before he tackles the ITU World Cup at Mooloolaba will be out for redemption.  Brendan Sexton was quick to hit the front on the run course and posted a very slick sub-31:00 10km to win in impressive fashion.  Unfortunately the deficit off the bike was too large to close down and Brayden finished in 9^th place in the U23 category and 31^st overall and I finished in 36^th position.  There is now two weeks before we both tackle the ITU Oceania Cup at Mooloolaba.

Following the event and upon returning to our hotel we was ushered straight from the street (still in our race outfits!) into the on-site bar where a round of drinks was quickly ordered and a debriefing of the days events occurred.  Following an evening of debriefing and with a late flight on the Sunday there was plenty of time for some much needed relaxation with a visit to the local chocolate factory and go-karting track before still having time to kill at the Launceston airport where Holly made the most of the opportunity to get in some extra core training while waiting to board our flight!

With all of us now preparing to race over the Mooloolaba triathlon weekend in either the World Cup, Oceania Cup, age-group event or the national youth championships, rest and recovery will be on the cards for a few days to freshen up before fine tuning our preparations again to perform at our best.

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