Reesby & Company Stroke & Stride Race #3
RACE REPORT
Nobody wants to miss the final Stroke & Stride of 2007 and that includes the low-pressure system that rushed down from the tropics to join the fun at Mission
Bay. So while hundreds of Stroke & Stride competitors lined up on the beach for the start they faced head on into a very brisk breeze and stared into the
teeth of the advancing squall who¹s arrival coincided precisely with the blast of the start horn.
The four hundred metres out to the first can was plain hard work punching through the one to two metre chop with
navigation crucial, as straying off course in these conditions would be very costly. Nicky Samuels was having her first
start for the season however she happily went to the front of the women¹s field and led the way recording the time of 14
minutes 15 seconds for the undulating 1000 metre swim.
With the thick low cloud, persistent precipitation, sea spray and failing light the visibility wasn¹t optimum however
all the faster male and female swimmers held good lines around the swim course. The master of these punishing conditions
is always Brent Foster and he didn¹t appear to be slowed much at all recording 11 minutes and 47 seconds for his swim
and most importantly gaining more than ten seconds of lead over the closest of his pursuers.
The first half of the run was over in no time with the breeze propelling all towards the turn cone, the price was paid
in the second half as it was a hard slog into the wind and horizontal rain all the way back. There¹s only 3 kilometres
of running in this event and even if it was longer it may not have made any difference as Nicky Samuels backed up her
lead from the water with the day¹s fastest run split to record a resounding victory, her first first in nearly three
years. Defending Series Champion Carmel Hanly won a fortnight ago but this time had to settle for second place. Kirsty
Wannan is having her best season ever and confirmed that with her best place ever finishing in third just ahead of
Nicola McKay and Teresa Adam.
It¹s déjà vu time. This event is our traditional pre-Christmas outing and while Santa visits every 12 months without
fail there is one other occurrence that can be relied on at this time of year. We¹re talking about Brent Foster winning
the December Stroke & Stride, something he has done every year since 1992. So while we may have been amazed to see Fozzie running down the
beach to victory this time, we were not surprised to see him bank his second win of the season. At race number one it
was South Island based Tony Dodds triumphant and here he was returning to the Stroke & Stride for a fine second place. James Elvery¹s flying run got him onto the podium heading home Will Green and James
Upton.
Currently leading the overall Series Grand Prix are Kirsty Wannan and Brent Foster. Brent has been in this position on
countless occasions, over many, many years. Possibly more years than young Kirsty has been alive.
We now break for seven weeks and when we resume we¹ll see if the experience of Brent Foster can hold off the agile Liam
Scopes, James Elvery, Tony Dodds, Will Green, Lee Greer and James Upton in their charge for the top spot.
Can the youthful exuberance of Kirsty Wannan keep the talent of Carmel Hanly, Sophie Corbidge, Julia Scopes, Jacqui
Seebold and Teresa Adam in her rear vision mirror over five more races?
The next event is on Tuesday, January 22nd 2008. Further details including full results are at swimrun.org
RESULTS
Female 1 Nicky Samuels 25m 47s 2 Carmel Hanly 26m 20s 3 Kirsty Wannan 26m 42s 4 Nicola McKay 26m 53s 5 Teresa Adam 27m
16s 6 Anna Elvery 27m 31s 7 Belinda Harper 27m 49s 8 Nicole Silver 27m 53s 9 Tracey Steens 28m 05s 10 Marisa Carter 28m
28s
Male 1 Brent Foster 22m 16s 2 Tony Dodds 22m 44s 3 James Elvery 23m 06s 4 Will Green 23m 15s 5 James Upton 23m 45s 6
Stephen Sheldrake 23m 23s 7 Lee Greer 23m 28s 8 William Curtayne 23m 32s 9 Liam Scopes 23m 42s 10 Blair Jordan 23m 48s
GRAND PRIX POINTS after Race #3
Female 1 Kirsty Wannan 39 2 Carmel Hanly 37 3 Sophie Corbidge 35 4 Julia Scopes 30 5 Jacqui Seebold 25 6 Teresa Adam 21
7 Nicky Samuels 20 8 Nicole Silver 19 9 Anna Elvery 18 10 Simone Ackermann 17
Male 1 Brent Foster 55 2 Liam Scopes 41 3 James Elvery 39 4 Tony Dodds 37 5 Will Green 33 6 Lee Greer 27 7 James Upton
26 8 Michael Poole 15 9 Dylan McNeice 14 10 Ryan Sissons 13