Latest News

August 8th 2008
Check out new photos in the Gallery. July 2008.

August 7th 2008
Not exactly 'news' but it needs to be reported. The World Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships held in Vancouver on June 7th were attended by Jane Yovich (45 - 49 years), Katrina Burnett (25 - 29 years) and Dannielle Cousins (25 - 29 years). The event itself was, perhaps, one of the worst conducted international triathlons in memory. Apart from the organisation, the difficult weather conditions only made the situation less palatable for all athletes. The water temperature was below 12 degrees on race day. It was expected to be between 16 and 18 degrees. To add to this, the winds increased during the morning with the associated chop being described as similar to those we have experienced at Meelup. The race organising committee decided, for reasons of safety, to cut out the swim but not until most of the womens' waves had set off. The last swim wave being the 45 - 49 year women. None of the men got to swim. For them, the race became a 3 km run: 40 km cycle : 10 km run.
The air temperature was in the low teens for the duration of the race. Needless to say it was extremely difficult to get warm after coming out of the water.
In the 25 to 29 year age-group Dannielle and Katrina were out of the water in the first few. Kat matched it with the leaders on the bike and in the end found herself in a sprint finish for 3rd, 4th and 5th! She was placed fifth at this stage....my fault for not putting more sprint work in her programme! This place has been amended to 4th as the gold medal winner was subsequently disqualified.
Dannielle had a strong cycle and ran to form on the the 10km. She finished in 26th place. A pleasing result.
Jane Yovich was affected significantly by the cold and chop of the water. Jane's swim time was below her best and she then was unable to ride to her best because of being so cold. The pleasing thing about Jane's race was her 40:20 run time which took her from thirty something off the bike to 18th overall.
All three of these girls are determined to improve on their performance at next year's wolrd championship race to be held on the Gold Coast next September.

Perth Marathon July 6th 2008
Congratulations to Shauna Giles and Donna West on completing their first marathons in fine style.
Shauna finished in 4:19 and Donna 4:56. Both girls looked solid throughout the day but admitted to feeling pretty 'tuckered out' by about 32 km.
There is no doubting that to run a marathon is an enormous achievement. Both Shauna and Donna had trained really well over an 18 week period.
Nothing ever goes quite to plan and Shauna was struck down by a nasty bout of bronchitis only a month out from the marathon. And Donna made a strategic decision to travel to Mauritius for 2 1/2 weeks for a resort style holiday arriving home only days before the run. Both girls were very courageous, particularly over the last 10 km. As they say, 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going'. I have nothing but admiration for these two gorgeous women.

Some pictures from our July activities.

May 22nd 2008

The triathlon season certainly finished with a bang at the recent Busselton Half IronMan event. Apart from the wonderful performances by our old timers and first timers, this race will be remembered for Selma taking a tumble from her bike whilst taking part in a team.
Pictured here with Carol (left) and Donna West (right), Selma, for reasons as yet unknown blacked out during the early stages of the 90 km bike leg. With no warning of the impending fall Selma was unable to protect herself on impact. As a consequence she fractured her top jaw, nasal septum and has broken or lost four teeth. All of this is fixable and we are just grateful that it wasn't worse than it was. When you think of what might have been...........

Our team results:

City Of Perth Olympic Distance Triathlon, February 3rd...

Saw the group take out two National Titles and a second place.

Janet Ferguson took out her first National Championship by winning the 45 – 49 year women’s category to finish ahead of Robyn Scott. This was an appropriate result for an athlete with a third place in the World Championships last September. Jane Yovich, finished in fifth place giving her enough points to represent Australia in Vancouver this coming June.

In the 50 – 54 years women we had another winner in Andree Carr, a fantastic result after struggling with a calf injury for months. Andree showed incredible resolve by water running and continuing with strength work to ensure she could get through the City of Perth Triathlon. It was Andree’s renowned strength on the bike that put her into an unassailable position. Despite limited land running and the tough conditions she held on to win.

In the very competitive 25 to 29 year age group Katrina Burnett had a strong race to finish second behind local girl, Claire Goldsmith. This has ensured her place in the Australian team for Vancouver. Dannielle Cousins finished 5th in the same age group securing a trip to the World’s.