BATHURST triathletes Dennis and Jodie Martin plus Mark Windsor all posted top 10 age category finishes in Sunday’s Jackie Fairweather Memorial Triathlon, but it could have been even better if it had been 0.2 degrees cooler.
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If that was the case for the water of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin, the trio would have been allowed to wear wetsuits in the 750 metre swim leg of the draft legal sprint event.
Instead they had to do without and Jodie Martin said it made a significant difference to their final time.
“It was a great course, but obviously it did not benefit us being a non-wetsuit swim, that was a complete game-changer,” she said.
“It was the first time Dennis and I had raced a draft legal format, so it was a shame we weren’t closer to the front after the swim.
“My time was three minutes slower than what I did at Kurnell over the same distance, that is the difference it makes to a non-swimmer like myself.
“It was apparently 0.2 degrees too warm for a wetsuit – I was thinking ‘Can’t they do the reading somewhere else? It’s going to be cold when we get out into the middle of the lake.”
Jodie Martin was the 19th competitor in her female 45-49 years category to emerge from the water with a 17 minutes split.
However, she improved to 10th after the 20km cycle (37 minutes, 46 second) and caught six more rivals in the 5km run (21.59) to eventually place fourth in her age group with a 1:20.10.
“That swim meant I had to chase on the bike, but I also had to make sure that I wasn’t using too much energy and had something left for the run,” she said.
“But when you do these shorter races you don’t have to think as much, you can just go. It’s not like a Half Ironman where you have to think about things like nutrition and hydration.
“No-one passed me on the bike or the run, I was really happy with that, I was happy to come fourth after the swim I had.
“Dennis too, I know he was happy that he ended up in ninth after that swim.”
Dennis Martin also found himself having to chase after a 15.28 swim split left him 18th in his 50-54 years category.
But he made up three spots on the bike (36.17) and by the time he finished the run (19.32), he was in ninth. He clocked an overall time of 1:14.29.
Windsor placed second in his 55-59 years age group as he covered the distance in 1:12.01.
He was the eighth quickest competitor in his division for the 750m swim, but like the Martins, made up ground in the cycle and run.
Windsor averaged 35.02km/hr on the bike to move up into third with a 34.16 split and caught one more rival on the run, which he covered in 19.39.
