On Sunday the 20th May, Eton Dorney Lake played host to over a 1000 competitors racing at the Nuffield Health Sprint Triathlon. This was round 3 of the ELT Grand Prix and was the first sprint triathlon of the series. We had 9 athletes in total, with 5 racing in the ITU Qualifier and 4 in the regular age group.
It was to be a warm day with the lake temperature reaching a toasty 18 degrees making for an optional wet-suit swim.
For those who don’t know, ITU qualifier is an opportunity for you to earn a place on the GB Age Group team and represent GB at the World Championships. Furthermore, the qualifier was a draft-legal event meaning you can draft on the bike, working together with other competitors.
The man made rowing lake is the perfect venue for your first open water swim, it is clear, no debris and the course is a rectangle shape making it easy for sighting and seeing where you are going. Tomi Owoborode, one of ELT’s newest members, showed his swimming prowess by completing the 750m course in 10:38 coming out of the water 2nd in his wave and having the 12th quickest swim of the day. Alison Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg led the swim for the ELT’s women competition completing it in 15:42.
The bike course was a flat and fast 4 lap course with a couple of long corners. Going out away from transition there was a nice tail wind but coming on the way back there was a head wind which seemed to sap all strength from your legs, not easy to do 4 times! For those who were doing the draft legal event it was important to get into a good group and start working together to get around quickest and it was Daniel Fish who managed this finishing in 32:33. Once again, Alison put in a solid effort to complete the 21km bike course in 37:58.
The run was a straight out and back which added a mental challenge to the run as you could see all the competitors in front of you and how far you still had to run. The rising heat also played a part making it even more difficult for the competitors particularly in the later waves. Alison took a clean sweep for the women storming home to finish the 5km run in 22:50 whilst it was Daniel Fish who took it for the men in 19:27.
Women’s Results
Alison Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg – 1:19.09
Eva Carrington – 1:33.20
Jessica Frost – 1:34.03
Men’s Results
Liam O’mahoney – 1:06.49
Daniel Fish – 1:07.36
Tomi Owoborode – 1:08.15
Finally, a massive well done to Tomi Owoborode, Andrew Gray, and Eva Carrington who put in some fantastic efforts and completed their first open water triathlon. It’s great to see new people coming into the sport and doing so well.
Full results can be found here and the round 4 of the Grand Prix is on the 17th June at Southend Triathlon.
