Perfect conditions for season opener

You couldn’t have asked for better conditions at Mullaloo Beach as nearly 130 athletes converged on the sand this morning for race 1 of the new WA Ironman Series – The Enduro.

Kicking off the morning were the U17’s and Youth and it was fantastic to see such a huge field line up to tackle the 3.8km course, likely the most challenging race any of them would have experienced to date, and all are to be commended on their outstanding efforts.

Demonstrating that the future of our sport is looking bright, we saw some familiar faces return to the beach for the first event of the season and it was strong performances from Mikaela Innocent (Trigg Island) and Johan Szymanski (North Cottesloe) which saw them take the wins in the U17’s, with Jenna Stummer (Mullaloo) and Sophie Baron-Hay (City of Perth) rounding out the women’s top three, and Archie Davis (Fremantle) and Harper Davies (Trigg Island) the men’s.

With more than 50 athletes lining up for the Youth category, there was bound to be some serious competition, but it was Rubie Turner (North Cottesloe) and Jules Fredonnet (City of Perth) first across the line with Lexi Menin (North Cottesloe) and Harriet Chin (Sorrento) rounding out the top 3 for the girls, and Jackson Anderson (North Cottesloe) and Tex Cross (North Cottesloe) for the boys. We look forward to seeing how they will all perform come race 2 of the series, the Triple Sprint.

As the Open field took to the water, the southerly winds picked up creating some challenging conditions. In the men’s field, Trigg Island’s Will Savage set himself up early, taking the lead in the first ski leg which he maintained throughout to bring home the win. His win wasn’t without some serious pressure though, as the battle played out behind him with a number of athletes jostling for position through the early legs.

Ultimately, it was City of Perth’s Matt Colliss and Max Anderson Loake who separated themselves from the field and, while it was Collis who entered the water for the final swim leg slightly in front, by the first swim transition Anderson-Loake had edged him out to come home 2^nd with Colliss in 3rd.

In the women’s field, it was hard to separate the pack as Soraya Lee (Mullaloo), Nikita Fredonnet (City of Perth), Macarah Mallis (Trigg Island) and Sophie Lloyd (City of Perth) battled it out with the lead switching numerous times. While it was Fredonnet first off the board and into the final swim leg ahead of Mallis and Lee, Mallis soon pounced and, with a strong final swim leg, took the lead and the win ahead of Fredonnet in 2^nd and Lee in 3rd.

Fantastic to see was a number of U17 athletes racing up in the Open division and showing how competitive they can be, including Phoebe Ashworth (Fremantle) who finished in 5^th, while Kai Marchetto (Trigg Island) took 8^th, Ben Snook (Sorrento) 9^th, and Oliver Brehaut (Trigg Island) 11^th.

Race 2 of the Series, the Triple Sprint, will be held on Saturday 17^th October at Trigg Beach.

Download the event results here: Open / Youth & U17

See photo gallery here