Reesby & Company Stroke & Stride Race #2
21 November 2007
Mission Bay – Auckland – New Zealand
RACE REPORT
In the previous season Brent Foster and Carmel Hanly rode roughshod over their competition on their way to their Series
titles. Now twelve months later at Race #2 in the Reesby & Company sponsored Stroke & Stride Series our reigning champions look to be as ruthless as ever in the defence of their titles. Brent Foster showed
his hand early on as he lead the guys out around the swim course recording a scintillating 8 minutes and 32 seconds for
the slightly chopped up 750 metres. A few seconds later Dylan McNeice hit the shore closely followed by Lee Greer. These
three held a good buffer over the rest of the men who all clocked nine minutes plus.
Getting to observe loads of the men career off course paid dividends for the women as they held a much straighter line
out to the first buoy. However by the time the first of them reached the beach there wasn’t much separation at all.
Kirsty Wannan dipped under the 10 minute mark but only just for her swim and then a large blanket would have covered the
rest of the contenders as they were all just seconds apart.
The languid little onshore breeze that had made the swim interesting couldn’t be bothered getting up past the sea wall
so the run leg was unaffected and the only hindrance might have been the bright sunshine in your eyes as you strode out
to the turn cone at Okahu Bay. Add on another couple of kilometres on your return to Mission Bay and the four kilometre
run was complete. We were enjoying the hottest day Auckland had basked under for a long time so we’ll blame that for the
red faces worn by some of the runners.
Turning up the heat was also Brent Foster and he was soon putting some more distance into those guys that had hung with
him on the swim. He then romped home to take the victory with ease with the closest challenger being Liam Scopes on the
back of his blindingly fast run – the fastest of the day. James Upton got up and secured that valuable third place ahead
of James Elvery with Dylan McNeice holding on for fifth place.
The women’s field leaders headed out onto the run in a tight group knowing that this race was going to be decided on the
road as no one had got away during the swim leg. This week the fastest legs belonged to Carmel Hanly. When that was
added to the wealth of experience she has gained in winning the Series for the past two seasons it was an inimitable
combination as Carmel opens her account for this season with an impressive victory. Not too far off the pace Simone
Ackermann ran home in second place recording her best result ever and her own fine start to the season. Sophie Corbidge
backed up her win at Race #1 with another podium this time holding off Julia Scopes and Kirsty Wannan.
In the Series Grand Prix competition we have Sophie Corbidge leading Julia Scopes, Jacqui Seebold and Kirsty Wannan but
you can bet they’ve all cast an eye behind them to see how close Carmel Hanly is going into the third round. Couldn’t be
much closer in the men’s competition with Brent Foster having squeaked a solitary point lead over Liam Scopes, both of
these guys are on fire early in the season.
The next event is on Wednesday, December 5th, more information and full results can be viewed on the swimrun.org website
RESULTS
Male
1 Brent Foster 22m 11s
2 Liam Scopes 22m 36s
3 James Upton 22m 45s
4 James Elvery 22m 57s
5 Dylan McNeice 23m 17s
6 Will Green 23m 24s
7 Lee Greer 23m 31s
8 Michael Poole 24m 16s
9 Akimasa Kawai JAP 24m 17s
10 Mark Bowstead 24m 30s
Female
1 Carmel Hanly 25m 19s
2 Simone Ackermann 25m 40s
3 Sophie Corbidge 26m 19s
4 Julia Scopes 26m 32s
5 Kirsty Wannan 26m 42s
6 Jacqui Seebold 26m 52s
7 Teresa Adam 27m 27s
8 Anna Elvery 27m 37s
9 Jennifer Cooper 27m 45s
10 Nicole Silver 28m 00s
GRAND PRIX POINTS
Female
1 Sophie Corbidge 35
2 Julia Scopes 30
3 Jacqui Seebold 25
4 Kirsty Wannan 24
5 Carmel Hanly 20
6 Simone Ackermann 17
7 Renee Holtom 14
8 Nicole Silver 11
9T Teresa Adam 10
9T Gayle Clark 10
9T Julia Cree 10
Male
1 Brent Foster 35
2 Liam Scopes 34
3 James Elvery 24
4T Tony Dodds 20
4T Will Green 20
6 Lee Greer 18
7T Michael Poole 15
7T James Upton 15
9 Ryan Sissons 13
10 Mark Bowstead 12
Ends