The Fresh Choice Southern Lakes Women’s Triathlon and Duathlon at Lake Hayes attracted 91 individuals and 11 teams with New Zealand Triathlon representative, Tanya Dromgool of Auckland, setting a blistering pace in the open triathlon section to record the fastest time of the day.

Dromgool clocked 53.01 ahead of second placed Josie Cederman (from Queenstown) in 58.27 and Jaime Kruijen (Queenstown) in 100.54.

In its 18th year the event continues to attract both dedicated multisport athletes, rookies and women who like to compete together as a team in an all female environment.

“The camaraderie is a big part of the race and it is also an event where there is no pressure which is a major part of its appeal,” says Race Director Geoff Hunt. “Again this year we have attracted a number of women new to the sport and that’s the exciting part about it.”

Hunt says the race was held in excellent hot conditions and the standard of competition was high.

“The wind stayed away till after the event and there was some good rivalry in all the categories.”

The triathlon course included a 300m swim or 2km kayak on Lake Hayes followed by a 15km bike ride on the Lake Hayes/Arrowtown road into Speargrass Flat road and return, concluding with a 5km run/walk on the Lake Hayes track.

The duathlon which is a non-swimming event began with a 1.5km run on Lake Hayes Track, then followed the triathlon’s 15km biking section and 5km run to the finish.

Twenty four women competed in the individual open triathlon and 24 lined up for the individual veteran triathlon with Fiona Reid (Wanaka) successfully defending her 2009 veteran title to win in 58.53 ahead of Sue Mavor (Arrowtown) in 1.00.02.

The individual open duathlon drew 22 competitors with honours going to Bonnie Gill (Queenstown) in 59.08 just pipping Sally Orr (Queenstown) in 1.00.22.

Ann Scanlan (Wanaka) won the individual veteran’s duathlon title after finishing second last year. She had a fast race to finish in 56.27 ahead of Kirsty Hart (Queenstown) in 1.00.01.

The business team’s section was hotly contested and won by Old Man Rocket represented by Brooke Gardiner, Lisa Murphy and Sarah Russell (Queenstown) in 1.00.28 followed by Naylor Love represented by Kay Calder, Aliison Mitchell and Karen Lockhart of Queenstown in 1.05.58.

The open triathlon team’s event was won by Claire Winsdale, Trudi Higgins and Patricia Ko (from Glenorchy) in 1.10.59 while the open duathlon team honours went to Las ChiChis (Queenstown) in 1.05.00 in a close finish with Hi de Hi (Queenstown) who crossed the line in 1.05.49.

The veteran triathlon team’s title went to Thirsty (Queenstown) in 1.07.35 and the fastest duathlon veteran’s team was Dragonforce in 1.24.36.

The youngest competitors were 12-year-olds Jodie Llewellyn of Arrowtown and Talya Santos of Queenstown.

A draw for a Giant bike, donated by Vertigo Bikes and Fresh Choice, was held during the prizegiving and won by Caroline Lewis of Queenstown.

“It was well deserved because she has never owned her own bike,” says Hunt. “The random draw means everyone, whatever level, has a fair chance of winning and we are delighted to see someone starting out in the sport receive such a fantastic prize.”

Hunt paid tribute to the ongoing strong support of Fresh Choice, under its new ownership, and the many sponsors, representing a cross section of Southern Lakes women’s businesses, who help profile the event’s excellent reputation for its quality prize pool.