THEY were crowned the Central West Inter-Club Triathlon champions and placed fifth in their division at the Triathlon NSW Club Championships, but Bathurst Wallabies president James Kelly rates the season a success for another reason.
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For Kelly the 2017-18 season was a success due to the large number of athletes of all ages and abilities who participated in the sport.
It was that strong participation at both their home inter-club event and others at Dubbo, Cowra, Mudgee and Orange which led to the Wallabies being named the champion Central West club for the first time.
“We didn’t set out to win it, that wasn’t our goal. Our goal for the year was to get more actively involved in inter-club and to get more people going away,” Kelly said of the inter-club success.
“To win the title, it was literally a by-product of that.
“The points in the series are weighted, so the reason we did so well was that we increased our participation.
“Everybody that gets to a race earns points for the the club … that’s the idea of it.
“Triathlon New South Wales is now looking at replicating that series on a state level. They’ve identified that it increases participation.”
Orange Piranhas president David Hunter passed the inter-club shield to Kelly on Saturday when he attended the Triathlon NSW Club Championships.
He was one of 20 Wallabies who competed at the Gosling Creek event.
As well as the Bathurst club ranking fifth in division three, Mark Windsor, Tom Hanrahan and Steve Jackson all ranked in the top 10 in their age divisions for the one kilometre swim, 30km cycle and 8km run course.
Windsor clocked a time of one hour, 34 minutes and 18 seconds to be the first male home in the 55-59 years division, while his effort was also good enough for 20th outright.
Tom Hanrahan was 33rd outright and 10th in the highly competitive 25-29 years males division after stopping the clock in 1:36.46.
The other Wallabies member to rank top 10 in his age group was Steve Jackson, his 1:46.32 being the fourth quickest effort in the 60-64 male division.
“We had three competitors in the top 10 of their age groups for the event, Steve would have finished even higher but unfortunately got a bike penalty which cost him three minutes,” Kelly said.
“The other nine of us seniors just went over to have a go and represent the club.
“For Jane Bennett, Chris Jones, Katie Prior and the Blackies [Richard and Anna], that’s the furthest they’ve ever raced. It was a big step up not just in distance, but also the atmosphere of the day, there were over 1,000 people there competing.
“I think the club has got a reputation now as a friendly and helpful club that goes out of its way to help others.”
Kelly thanked club sponsor King Cain for its support this season and Westfund who backed the Wallabies in the inter-club rounds.
The club will stage a presentation on April 7 after the conclusion of that day’s parkrun.
