2XU Compression Stroke And Stride

2XU Compression Stroke And Stride

The weather forecast told us to expect a delicious summer’s afternoon and they got that exactly correct for our first event of 2009.  The fourth race in the 2XU Compression Stroke & Stride was a repeat of the distances from the previous race six weeks earlier, the conditions were once again very favourable and a couple of athletes were endeavouring to repeat their wins.

The 1000 metre swim was around the big triangle with the final leg parallel to the beach giving the spectators a ringside seat for the aquatic action. The indomitable Brent Foster was as usual leading the way but what wasn’t usual was that he had company for the entire swim.  At the half way point there was a large group steaming towards the second can with this pack progressively disintegrating the further they got into the swim.  Hitting the beach in a time of 11 minutes 50 seconds Brent Foster had the lead but his advantage over William Curtayne was only a body length.  On the other side of 12 minutes followed the remnants of the aforementioned group with the likes of Andrew Curtayne, Mark Bowstead, Cameron Todd, Alex Smith, Ryan Sissons, James Upton, Sam Franklin and Stefan Talbot prominent.

Ten minutes after the guys started some very fast women were away and chasing them down.  Once again there was to be no one going off on their own and breaking clear of the field. Teresa Adam, Samantha Warriner and Simone Ackermann made up the flying trio that were setting the pace and these three raced into transition with a time of 13 minutes and change.  The clock had ticked over 14 minutes before the pursuers including Rebecca Clarke and Jacqui Seebold made the beach.

The twenty-one year old Curtayne brothers have been doing Stroke & Stride races for most of their teenage years.  This season it appeared they were coming of age as they were getting closer and closer to winning one of these things or as a kiwi would say ‘knocking the buggar off’.  Setting out on the 3 kilometre run to Kohimarama and return William Curtayne was the best placed he’d ever been and it was just the small matter of slipping clear of Brent Foster before the real estate ran out.  With 400 metres to run William had achieved that magic 10 second advantage and he defended this to the line as he crossed for a delighted first ever Stroke & Stride victory.  Not often Brent Foster has to settle for the silver but this was one of those occasions and he also had Ryan Sissons breathing down his neck just three seconds back.  Cameron Todd and Daniel Halksworth both had fine races and were rewarded with a top five finish.

Simone Ackermann had gone three for three at the start of the season and was showing no sign of weakness.  However for this race she was up against Samantha Warriner and Samantha is one of only two female athletes to have recorded more than 20 Stroke & Stride wins.  We were even having trouble remembering the last time she had raced and didn’t run home the victor. At the end of swim heading off onto the run there was nothing in it with just metres separating Simone, Samantha and Teresa Adam.  A couple of kilometres of running changed all that as Samantha Warriner demonstrated exactly why she is one of the world’s premier swimrun athletes on any stage with another comprehensive victory on the Auckland waterfront. Simone Ackermann was certainly not disgraced being bumped into second in this company and likewise Teresa Adam would be well pleased with how close she was in third place.  Jacqui Seebold had one of the faster runs of the day grabbing fourth ahead of the dynamic Maddie Dillon.

At the half way point in the Series the Grand Prix points could be described as interesting, anyone placing bets on the final outcome might chose a different adjective.  Four races and four different guys have scored a win  As of now the raw talent of Ryan Sissons olds a one point advantage over the seasoned Brent Foster with consistent James Upton 5 points adrift and the noteworthy William Curtayne only another point behind.  On the other side of the ledger it’s a little bit easier to decipher with Simone Ackermann and Teresa Adam breaking clear of the pack but there is still plenty of races to come and a number of athletes threatening for a podium finish.

The next event is on Tuesday, February 10th and all the details are at swimrun.org
 
  
RESULTS
 
Male
1         William Curtayne                                       22m  25s
2       Brent Foster                                               22m  32s
3       Ryan Sissons                                             22m  36s
4         Andrew Curtayne                                        23m  00s
5         Cameron Todd                                           23m  07s
6         Daniel Halksworth      GBR   23m                              10s
7       Sam Franklin              AUS   23m                             18s
8       James Upton                                                23m  36s
9       Mark Bowstead                                           23m  42s
10     Alex Smith                                                23m  50s
 
 
Female
1         Samantha Warriner                                    24m  30s
2         Simone Ackermann                                    25m  25s
3         Teresa Adam                                          25m  35s
4         Jacqui Seebold                                       26m  17s
5         Maddie Dillon                                        28m  08s
6       Sarah Jack  28m                                20s
7         Rebecca Clarke                                  28m  39s
8       Emily Roper                                     29m  01s
9         Megan Roper                                     29m  19s
10     Jo Carrel                                        29m  31s
 

    
GRAND PRIX POINTS
 
Female
1           Simone Ackermann                                            77
2         Teresa Adam                                                  64
3         Maddie Dillon                                                 45
4       Sarah Jack                                                       44
5         Carmel Hanly                                                 32
6       Jo Carrel                                                     30
7         Rebecca Clarke                                                28
8         Megan Blackett                                               26
9       Emily Roper                                                     24
10         Michaela Guy                                                   23

Male
1       Ryan Sissons                                                  55
2       Brent Foster                                                    54
3       James Upton                                                     49
4         William Curtayne                                            48
5       Sam Franklin              AUS                                   35
6         Andrew Curtayne                                             33
7T     Glen Gore                   RSA                                  29
7T     Liam Scopes                                                   29
9       Ben Pattle                                                     26
10T         Michael Poole                                             25
10T   Alex Smith                                                     25

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