Race Report by Tri Northumberland
All competitors should be congratulated on completing what proved to be a tough swim on a grey and windy day. The weather was against us (unusual for a British summer!) but the water temperature of over 18 deg. C helped to offset that and made the swim relatively pleasant! There were, however, some amazing times and the competition was incredibly close.
Firstly, we must give a special mention to Neil Bowers (MVsport.co.uk) who’s Open Water swim coaching has been enjoyed by many of the competiors over the past few seasons. Neil not only won the 3000m event in 36 minutes 15 seconds, but did so at an average speed that was faster than the winner of the 1500m event! We are all booking onto your coaching course immediately! Well done Neil. You were Awesome!
In the Male category, the 1500m event was won by 16 year old Mathew Bell, who posted a fantastic time of 18 minutes 54 seconds. Only 3 seconds separated the 2nd and 3rd males Mark Duffy and Liam Bosomworth and in the 3000m event there was just 23 seconds separating 2nd and 3rd, Michael Downes (43.14) and Anthony Greener (43.37).
The female category was also hotly contested. There was 45 seconds covering the 4 top places on the 3000m event and 30 seconds covering top 4 females in the 1500m event. Great racing!
Sunderland ASC brought a very strong team and it was Alexandra Robinson who came out top, covering the 1500m in 19 minutes 36 seconds, with Danielle Huskinson (19.40) only 4 seconds behind. British Triathlon’s own Georgie Rutherford (and current half-Ironman Age Group World Champion) followed 19 seconds later (19.59) taking 3rd place.
The women's 3000m event was also incredibly close but it was NE31’s Lisa Tweddle who came out first, in an excellent 43.02, followed 9 seconds later followed by City of Newcastle swimmer, Sarah Murray (43.11) and Alison Nitsch of Tynemouth ASC a further 28 seconds behind (43.39).
What a great day was had by all. For alot of people this was a first time open water swim event and they thoroughly enjoyed the occaison. They should all receive special congratulations for completing this challenge. Well done to you all.
Provisional results are available and will be uploaded onto the event website very soon http://trinorthumberland.sweat365.com/northumberland-swim-challenge-19-june-2010/.
Finally, we have to offer our sincere thanks to all the marshals, medic team and Blyth Canoe Club who provided excellent cover for the event. There would be no events without this support. All the event crew hope you all enjoyed the race and would appreciate your feedback so we can improve the next one. Please leave you feedback on our event blog http://trinorthumberland.sweat365.com/northumberland-swim-challenge-19-june-2010/.