Race #146

When the Series moves into the March events it is very much the business end of the season.  These are the money races where every second saved, every point gained is critical for those hunting the rich purse to be had in the Reesby & Company sponsored Stroke & Stride Series.  Race #7 is the penultimate Stroke & Stride for the summer and is contested over a 750 metre swim and then a 5 kilometre run.  Auckland City was honored with a fine day and the obligatory wind was at least this time considerate enough to blow in an offshore direction so couldn’t do too much upset the swim leg.  The women’s field lead off with a trio of swimmers gaining a small separation at the front of the field hitting the shore in 11 minutes flat.  A quick transition from Teresa Adam had her first out onto the run with Jennifer Cooper hot on her heels.  Around 20 seconds further back lurked the fleet-of-foot Simone Ackermann and Carmel Hanly.

The men’s field started second and perhaps benefited from observing the earlier wave as they swam a much straighter course.  Swim times recorded for the high flyers in the men’s field were:

Brent Foster 9 minutes 17 seconds

Lee Greer 9 minutes 25 seconds

Terenzo Bozzone 9 minutes 48 seconds

Will Green 9 minutes 50 seconds

Akimasa Kawai 10 minutes 6 seconds

Liam Scopes 10 minutes 18 seconds

Ryan Sissons 10 minutes 19 seconds

Thomas Hahn 10 minutes 32 seconds

The swim course may have been sheltered however exposed sections of the 5 kilometre run course to Mission Bay and back to St Heliers certainly were not.  Parts of the run on the way out faced into the teeth of what wind was still blowing and the only consolation was you may get the advantage of a tailwind on the return journey.

A fortnight earlier Carmel Hanly had stamped her domination on all her contenders with a strong display ending with a convincing victory.  This week the two times Series Champion was even more convincing in the defense of her title ending the race a full minute in front of those who dare to challenge her.  Another enjoying the race was Simone Ackermann running herself in to second place on the day.  The smiles continued with Teresa Adam having her best result ever hanging on in the run and finishing in third ahead of Renee Holtom and Jennifer Cooper.

If Carmel Hanly dominated her opposition then Brent Foster must have annihilated his.  His slender lead at swim’s end was extended to a rotund one minute plus by the completion of the 4 kilometre run leg.  It’s been a few years since Terenzo Bozzone has done the swimrun thing and he doesn’t appear to have slowed down one iota as his strong showing in the swim was backed with an expeditious run to claim second place.  Liam Scopes regained his early season form recording his best result since November running himself onto the remaining podium position and in the process getting ahead of Will Green and Lee Greer.

The Series Grand Prix has one more points scoring race to go.  Brent Foster has had a vintage season and we can’t see how he can be beaten.  Any excitement is going to have to come from the next eight men as they jostle for final placings in this crucial event.  Presently wallowing in Fozzie’s sizeable wake are Tony Dodds and James Elvery tied up on 74 points with Liam Scopes a further 6 points adrift.  Will Green is on 55 points three ahead of Ryan Sissons and then Dylan McNeice, Lee Greer and James Upton have all racked up more than 40 points to date.

Meanwhile Carmel Hanly goes into the closing round with a massive 18 point lead as she defends her title.  One change for Carmel from the two previous seasons is that her challengers are getting younger with four teenagers chasing her down.  They are lead by Simone Ackermann and Kirsty Wannan.  The resurgent Julia Scopes has garnered a 6 point advantage over Teresa Adam and Sophie Corbidge.  Renee Holtom, Belinda Harper, Jacqui Seebold and Jennifer Cooper each have accumulated more than 30 points with one more race to tidy up the final order.