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Swims, Sand and Saddles

11.05.2006

Stage 3 - Day 17; With the Stage Start in Rio taken care of, the time had come for the competitors to settle back into the familiar rhythm of the Challenge: The metronome-like beat of camping and competing that is set to continue almost uninterrupted until the end. And for most of them it was a welcome return to the cockpit of their orange vehicles – almost as welcome as the about-face in the climate, which has changed the fashion of the Challenge from T-shirts and shorts to long trousers and the occasional fleece.

But shortly after sunrise it was fleeces off and bathing suits on for the opening competition in Bolivia. Competitions Director Simon Day had cooked up a sadistic brain teaser for the teams’ Strategy Pit competition, combining a swim across a lake together with a memory test. Competitors had to swim across the frigid water to a board with a list of places they had either already visited on the Challenge, or will visit in the next couple of weeks. They had to memorise the list, swim back across the lake and write them all down in the correct order from North to South.

It was team Ireland/Japan that emerged with the correct answers first, and with bands of cloud lit in yellow across the sky, Takashi Sugiyama recorded his second victory in Strategy Pit competitions. ‘It is great for me, and for our team,’ said Tak of their result, ‘I was lucky to win it with Claribett Vega (Costa Rica) on the first Stage, and I am very glad we’ll be leaving first again each morning on this Stage.’

Next to crack the tough mental and physical nut was Spain/Taiwan, followed by Costa Rica/ France and South Africa/Brazil. For South Africa’s Martin Dreyer, their result this morning was encouraging: ‘School was never my strong point, so I’m surprised we didn’t come last. But being in the middle of the pack suits us – it gives us some time to sort out our plans and navigation in the mornings.’

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