On Saturday the Cook Island Triathlon club hosted the legendary BSP Women’s Tri.
A regular feature in the triathlon calendar to highlight our amazing female athletes on the island. This is a great lead-in race to the Maori Auri Tinman (Sat 15th April) and the Air New Zealand Rarotonga International Triathlon (Saturday 6th May).
The day started out looking like rain would be a feature but in typical Cook Islands fashion it left as quick as it came, and was replaced with the warm, sunny and humid weather we expect this time of year.
Fantastic turnout for the event with 11 individuals and 7 teams. A great representation of ages with our youngest competitors, Nikita McDonald competing as an individual, and Pipi Wyatt competing as part of a team (both girls 11 years old).
Great to see the Mangaian Maidens attending this year proudly supporting their island and looking rather smart in their matching Mangaia race gear. Also great to have two Ariki Adventures teams taking part.
The race started at 2:00 pm from the Tikioki Tri site with a first-up swim of 400m. A strong swimming field with five athletes completing the swim leg in a sub-eight minute time. Maya Postrzygacz was the fastest at 7:00min closely followed by Tash Brown (Ariki Adventure Angels) at 7:11.
The bike leg has the benefit this year of a smoother road surface which resulted in some excellent ride times. Tarina Moorfield was the fastest in the field at a time of 28:24 only one second ahead of Adrianna Postrzygacz.
The run is always a tough leg after the swim, and ride, and made especially more difficult in the hot and humid conditions. Our fastest runner was Maya Postrzygacz with a time of 18:11 closely followed by Pip Hansen at 18:21 (competing as part of the Ariki Angels team).
Our first individual across the finish-line this year was Maya Postrzygacz with a time of 56:17. At only 15 years old this was a really impressive performance. Our second individual was Maya’s mother Adrianna Skurosz with a time of 58:04. Whilst Adrianna will be disappointed to not be first this year, she was especially proud of Maya for her fantastic achievement. Our third individual was Tarina Moorfield, a regular achiever across the tri season. Tarina sealed her third place with a great effort on the bike.
What makes these three individual performances extra special this year is that they were all faster than the top three teams.
Our first team across the line was Ariki Angels (Jules Tamaariki and Pip Hansen) with a time of 1:02, followed by Chicks that Crank (Heidi Gustafson, Mandi Fitz-Gustafson and Lauren Turner) with a time of 1:06, and Round Raro Radicals (Sally Wyatt and Naomi Fenwick) at 1:07.
The day concluded with an award ceremony, lots of prizes and few cold drinks.
Many thanks to the Raina family for allowing the club to use their land.
Big thanks also to our dedicated marshalls and BSP, our key sponsor for the race. Special mention also to the Bond Store who contributed fantastic prizes for our winners.
Regards
Matt Wyatt
Cook Island Triathlon Association
