The World Triathlon Para Series kicked off in style in Devonport with the Aussies dominating the podiums, taking home 5 golds.
Jack Howell (PTS5) managed to keep off current World Champion, Chris Hammer thanks to a strong start in the water and consistent efforts across the course.
“With the World and Paralympic champion coming around to say g’day in Devonport I hit it pretty hard from the start. Me and Jack Gibson had a pretty good swim, the young fella. We worked pretty hard from the start,” Howell explained.
“I had a solid bike but it was definitely hard work in the wind. I just had to keep the power on the whole time.”
“I had a pretty smooth transition all round, got off the bike and just sent it.”
“I had a consistent run which was what I was aiming for, I didn’t want to die too much in the back end of the run. I finished pretty strong and managed to beat the world champion on home soil which was pretty cool.”
Anu Francis (PTS2) kept her undefeated streak running while, Grace Brimelow (PTS5) and Maggie Sandles (PTVI) and guide Lauren Sprague also celebrated wins in their respective fields.
“It was a good, hot crack that we had today,” Sandles said.
“We had a couple of goals to really work hard in the swim and bike. I think we managed to pull off a pretty good performance so we’re pretty happy with ourselves.”
Devonport proved to be a happy stomping ground for fellow, Aussie Sam Harding (PTVI) guided by Aaron Royle who also secured gold making it back-to-back titles at this event.
“It was great to go around and see how our training has been going so far this year. The swim I’ve been working on a lot with Yuri Vdovychenko, my coach and Aaron as well has stepped on board for more of an overarching role,” said Harding.
“You know it’s great to have someone racing next to me, to know how things are going.”
The racing continues tomorrow, Saturday 14 March from 9:30am as the Oceania Triathlon Championships and Oceania Triathlon Junior Championships hits Devonport bringing more elite and next gen athletes to the Apple Isle.
Catch up on all the results from today’s World Triathlon Para Series races here.
