In its fifth year running, the Bintan Triathlon delivered an exciting competition and a vibrant atmosphere. As if the gods were aware of this special occasion, they presented the athletes with a bright blue sky and kept the rain clouds at bay, which resulted in beautiful, but hot race conditions.
Sprint Triathlon
As per its tradition the Bintan Triathlon 2009 kicked off with the Sprint Distance.
The conditions for the swim could not be better: high tide, great visibility and absence of swell . A picture-perfect swim start that you would expect from a tropical island. Hong Kong based Australian James Shortis led out of the 750m swim (13:17), followed at a respectable distance by compatriot Evan Gallagher (14:04) and American Christoper Zieber (14:16). Seasoned triathlete Gallagher, however, clocked the fastest transition split, and started the bike leg in the lead. In the women’s category, started 15 minutes behind the men’s, it was Briton Sheena Ashford-Tait (15:04) and Singaporean youngster Emma Boatman (15:27), who had a one minute lead on the pack.
With hardly a flat bit in it, the bike course of the Bintan Triathlon is not to be underestimated. Richard Waddington did not have a problem with it, though, moving his way up the ranks with the fastest bike split (35:06). It was still Evan Gallagher who finished the bike first, having extended his lead on his pursuers James Shortis and now Stephen Duerden to 3 minutes. The women’s race was ruled by Australians. Rowena Scott-du Val and Kim Douglas stormed to the front with Sheena Ashford-Tait trailing at that point by 1 minute in third place. A special mention for Henrietta Lund, as she recorded the 4th fastest bike split overall (38:01), leaving all but 3 men behind her.
 Evan Gallagher was not going to give his lead away on the unique run course of the Bintan Triathlon and maintained his 3-minute lead for a grand finish at the festive finish area in 1:15:29. Swiss Mark Waddington took the fastest split on the run and finished 2nd overall (1:18:22), followed by Stephen Duerden taking 3rd (1:19:10). Both Waddington and “Double” Duerden would start again in the Olympic Distance Triathlon that afternoon!
The women’s race saw another change in the lead. Australian Tonya Prendiville charged forward, coming from fifth after the bike to take the win in 1:25:26. Rowena Scott-du Val (1:26:14) and Kim Douglas (1:26:41) completed the Australian podium in this very exciting women’s race.
Olympic Distance Triathlon
The Olympic Distance Triathlon promised more spectacle with the best age-group athletes from the region on the start line.
A big spectator crowd had turned up on the beach of Nirwana Beach Club to watch the 700 athletes dive into the South China Sea for the 1.5km swim. Already from turn one, marked by the Lloyd Marine catamaran, a small group of swimmers had distanced themselves from the pack. Training buddies Kevin Timmons and Dan Plews teamed up to take an early lead in the race, with only Singapore’s hopeful Wille Loo being able to stay on their tail. American James Driscoll exited the water 4th and 20 seconds behind the leaders, followed by Swede Fredrik Croneborg and Australian Paul Scott at 30 seconds.
The women’s competition started off with no surprise: Australian Rachael Gaudry quickly opened up a gap of over two minutes to her nearest pursuers Grace Wong and Gemma Keogh-Peters, and three minutes to Elizabeth Crichton and another race favorite, Trudy Fawcett.
 The men in the meantime had reached the far end of the bike course at Ria Bintan, attacking the hills around this beautiful golf course. Ex-national triathlete Daniel Plews was putting distance in the rest of the field on his favorite discipline. With a thumping bike split of 1:01:36 - only professional triathletes Courtney Atkinson and Richie Cunningham have been faster in the past – he finished the bike section almost five minutes ahead of the competition. Leading the chase was Plews’ compatriot, Timmons, and Swedish Cronenborg. Another 1min30 down the road Patrick Poetsch, Wille Loo and Doughal Aitken finished the bike phase in respectively 4th, 5th and 6th spot.
30km in the bike phase of the women’s competition Britons Crichton and Fawcett had bridged the 3-minute gap with Gaudry. It was Crichton who dismounted the bike first with a 15-second lead on Fawcett and another minute on Gaudry. The rest of the women’s field was five minutes off the pace and headed by American Bliss Pak, who recorded the fastest bike split of the women in 1:08:34.
Plews’ concerns about an old calf injury before the race seemed unjustified as he sped through the 10km run course to win the 5th Bintan Triathlon in a superb time of 2:03:35. Only Shanghai-based triathlete, Fredrik Cronenborg, completed the undulating run course faster (37:47) to finish 2nd Overall in 2:06:36. Behind Plews and Cronenborg an interesting battle had unfolded for 3rd spot, as German Poetsch and Singaporean Loo had caught up with ‘veteran’ Kevin Timmons halfway the run course. On the finish line it was Singapore’s Wille Loo who prevailed and took bronze in 2:13:12.
Trudy Fawcett, a sub 3-hour marathon runner, had overtaken Crichton early in the run and started to build a lead to an incredible 11 minutes at the finish line. With the fastest run split she took the Bintan Triathlon crown in 2:20:56. The achievement is even more admirable considering that Trudy raced with a fractured rib from a bike accident two weeks before! Elizabeth Crichton finished solidly in 2nd (2:32:17) ahead of Rachael Gaudry (2:34:01), who, thanks to second wind on the latter part of the run, just managed to hold off strong runner Itsuko Lewness (2:34:25).
Youth Triathlon, Kids Triathlon & Fun Race: some stellar performances
 For more inspiration it is highly recommended to watch possibly the greatest spectacle of the weekend; the Youth and Kids Triathlon on Sunday morning. The smallest-size kid’s bikes with the occasional basket shared the transition area with some very flash small-size carbon frames completed with aero-wheels. No matter what bike they were riding, they were all roaring to go and sprint to the water edge.
This year’s Youth and Kids Triathlon saw some stellar performances.
The Youth Triathlon was dominated by Singapore’s Scott Ang. He led from start to finish to claim the overall win and 1st spot in the 14-15 year old category, finishing the 300m swim, 12km bike and 3km run in 44:05. Singaporean Scott Ho, still 2nd after the swim, had to let silver and bronze go to respectively Ryan Chan and Andrew Milne. Also Jordan Hendey managed to pip Ho to the finish line and take first in the 12-13 year old male category.
Samantha Ho also led from start to finish, but was closely trailed by Isabella Fisher throughout the race. Samantha took first overall and of the 14-15 year old female category in 58:11. Isabella finished on top in the 12-13 year old female category (59:08).
Samantha Ho and Scott Ang won a free one-year club membership withTribob, in preparation for the Olympic Youth Games 2010 in Singapore.
The Kids race saw a lot more changes in the lead. Bryce Chong exited the swim first, but was soon overtaken by Sean Chan and Zen Sperry. Sean Chan expanded his lead on the run to take the overall win and finish the 150m swim, 6km bike and 1.5km run in 27:46. Zen Sperry held on to 2nd place, while Lorcan Little clocked the fastest run to come in 3rd. In the 8-9 year old male category it was Garth Reynolds (30:32), Mark Chan (30:48) and Harrison Hay (31:04) who divided gold, silver and bronze pretty much from the start of the race.
 First girl out of the water was Alana Rogers followed by Carley Haydon and Tayla Baker. Alana Rogers would hold onto the lead and win in 33:29, even though she was almost caught by Caroline Lund on the bike. Caroline put in a strong cycling performance following her mother’s example in the Sprint the day before. On the run she had to give her all to hold onto 2nd spot overall (36:11) and stay ahead of Jazmin Zastera (36:15). Caroline, Jazmine and Tayla Baker took top spots in the 8-9 year old category, while Alana was joined by Lauren Burke and Emily Baker on the podium for the 10-11-year old category.
The grand finale of the Bintan Triathlon is the Fun Duo Challenge. This fun race consists of a 1.5km run, a 150m swim and a hilarious piggy back beach finish. Teams of two start from the finish line with the run, and finish at the start line after completing the swim, reversing the course of the kids triathlon. An event for young and old, fit and not so fit, with only prizes to be won by the most creative performances. ‘Beatle Babes’ Megan Burton and Olivia Lewis were the undisputed winners, completing the course in a self-made cardboard vehicle, and giving the Bintan Triathlon a typical carnivalesque closing act. |
