Frosty Aquathlon, race report.
Following a very successful 28th staging of our annual Frosty Aquathlon, our website has been updated with all the results, photos and videos from the morning. The committee have been delighted with the very positive feedback. Thank you everyone who attended.
Instrumental within this success, there was a fantastic level of support from Tuff Fitty members, either racing or marshalling and it is appropriate to have this separate article homing in on our own Tuff Fitty achievements.
We had Fifty Five club members spread across the whole event; at registration, poolside, run course, or timing. Feedback included how welcoming all the marshals were and we have had three enquiries so far to join our club. Apologies for not listing every marshal’s name here, but it is ALWAYS appreciated and never taken for granted. The Frosty Aquathlon not only fulfils our constitution in promoting multisport, but brings in much needed revenue to ensure our club can continue to subsidise training and stage a full range of Tuff activities.
For the last two years we have had a separate Frosty committee to ensure everything is covered. Whilst regular Monday meetings were held, the organisation stretches back to the summer when permission from The Wave, Arun Council and British Triathlon were first sought. Thanks go to Adrian and Jenny Oliver, Colin and Sue Simpson and Clive Harvey the committee members, who were all up before dawn with headtorches on the Frosty morning. Extra special thanks go the Oliver’s, particularly Adrian who has steadily been assuming much of the lead role, wearing the Race Director tabard so well, and Jenny for permitting her lounge to be used as a ‘race store’ for weeks before the event with event signage.
The above performances were equally matched by some great Tuff performances out on the course with an incredible Thirty Tuffs racing.
l to r: Jon Cassell, Alex Webb, Gareth Coombes & Simon Thistlethwaite
The first race off at 7am was the Frosty (800m swim and 10K run) and we had 17 racing this event. First Tuff home was Jon Cassell who had told people “don’t participate, race!”. Jon certainly lived up to his mantra as he finished 5th overall and in the process secured the 1st vet trophy. Next was Alex Webb who used his rapid run pace to finish 8th overall and 3rd Vet. Just 9 seconds behind, securing 9th place overall was Gareth Coombes. Three Tuffs in the top ten; impressive!. The good news didn’t end there as Simon Thistlethwaite was pulling himself up the ranking on the run to finish as 3rd supervet in 18th position overall.
l to r : Dom Amey, Clare Worgan, Danny Cunnett, Tiff Orton & Olivia Morey
Dom Amey has been training very well which translated into race form finishing just 1 minute behind Simon in 19th position overall and 4th supervet. Clare Worgan was our first female Tuff to help in the team position as she finished 3rd female Vet. Great to see Danny Cunnett undertake the Frosty for the first time finishing less than a minute behind Clare. Tiff Orton was also in the mix as she crossed the line as 4th in her category. It’s great to see our Tuff ladies racing strongly with Olivia Morey finishing 4th in her very competitive senior category.
Our next finisher was Leah Simms, taking a break from her long marathon run training and then Sophie Garbo finished 2nd in the female supervet category. Callum Kalbfell did well shaving 3 minutes off his time from last year. Next up , 4th and 5th in their age grouping was Susan Douglas and Janet Shepherd.
l to r :- Steve Bridgeman, Claire Moyle & Jess Coombes
And still Tuffs continued to stream across the finish line as Steve Bridgeman reported he was happier with his swim time this year. Claire Moyle who has kept busy following her epic LeJog crossed the line with her usual broad smile. It was very unfortunate that Jess Coombes had a difficult swim and exited the pool prematurely, but determined to finish Jess managed to match last year’s run split.
Having won the team event last year, despite improving our team’s time by 11 minutes through Jon Cassell, Alex Webb, Gareth Coombes and Clare Worgan’s efforts, Southampton University prevailed this year with Tuff Fitty 2nd ahead of Chichester Tri Club & Horsham Amphibians.
l to r: Mark Walford, Andy Tester, Katie Young & Fraser Kidd
The second race was the Frostbite (400m swim and 5K run) which has now become the most popular race. Our first athlete home was Mark Walford in 5th position overall. Also achieving the morning’s 5th fastest run split, Mark earnt a trophy as 1st Vet. Andy Tester was next and used his rapid swim to take the 5th fastest swim split, in the process securing a trophy for 1st supervet. It was fabulous to see a third trophy awarded in the Frostbite as Katie Young secured a victory as 1st female supervet. Next there was a strong performance from Fraser Kidd, finishing just behind Katie for our top four finishers. It was these four swift Tuffs who collated a team.
l to r : Carey Woods, Andy Gomm, Wendy Frost & Will King
The good news continued as Carey Woods pounded out equally good swim and run splits to finish 2nd female supervet. Andy Gomm continues his return to form and was tucked in behind Carey to finish just 12 seconds later. Wendy Frost was one of several competing after being on the marshal team previously and tucked in behind; Will King had punched out almost identical placed splits across the swim and run.
l to r : Karl Halom, Nina Tully, Kate Evans, Alistair Evans & Bob Rogers
And the steady stream of Tuffs continued apace. There was a strong result from Karl Halom after his debut as a Tuff last weekend at Brighton Hal Marathon. Nina Tully was next who despite slowing to help a junior in pain with a stitch, she still managed to achieve a Frostbite PB. Alistair Evans had got soaked at parkrun the day before but that didn’t stop him gaining 3rd vintage. Kate Evans was next stating she had a good swim and brilliant to see Bob Rogers at his first Frostbite racing home 4th vintage.
With the growth of the Frostbite, it was appropriate to run a team prize for this event alongside the Frosty – same format of four in a team. Southampton University were out in force depriving Tuff Fitty of this inaugural team award, but it was still a strong performance with Tuff Fitty 2nd team ahead of Horsham Amphibians and Chichester Tri, so well done to Mark Walford, Andy Tester, Katie Young & Fraser Kidd.
THANK YOU EVERYONE
Video
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BTF Race Report
