Challenge Wanaka
Ussher Claims First Long Distance Tri Win and a Record
Richard Ussher / 22.01.2010
For me it was almost like going home as I’ve spent over 10 years down around Wanaka and Queenstown and so it was great to catch up with lots of good friends who are still down that way. We had a bit of an epic drive down from Nelson, electing to waste only one day we set off with the intention of getting to the BBQ slated for that evening. With a minimum of stops and only several hundred campervans hindering the progress we got there less than an hour late – which often for me is quite close to on time!
We’d been warned to expect some chilly temperatures but it was the promise of a 14 degree lake temperature which had me shivering. Having completed the St. Arnuard tri the week prior where the lake was a supposedly similar temperature I was unsure if I would actually be able to swim 3.8km without the need for a hot water bottle tucked down the wetsuit.
Luckily a bit of warm water down the wetsuit before hand took the initial chill off and it was evident the St. Arnaurd lake temperature hand been taken in the first 5cm of water as Wanaka was significantly warmer much to my relief.
Race day dawned clear and calm with the promise of at least a reasonable temperature which was great, I’ve developed an aversion to cold temperatures it seems and I would’ve hated to receive any more flack from the tri community for wearing poly pro or some multisport styled warming outer wear during the race.
The swim start was a rather less turbulent affair than I think I’ve seen in a tri race so far, with only 20 pros and far less gun age group swimmers it was great to be able to swim normally from the start. I was swimming alongside Gina Crawford for the first few hundred metres and feeling really comfortable but either the pace went up or I started doing something wrong (most likely) and I slowly started to drop off the pace. The most infuriating thing I find about swimming is the more effort I put in the slower I seem to go and little by little the front pack disappeared into the early morning sun.
The rest of the swim I tried to keep a reasonable pace and I appeared to be swimming alone until about 500m from the finish I felt a tap on my feet and I was swept up in a small chase group.
Out of the water and it was a very unflattering time, although everyone’s times seemed very slow in comparison to other courses, maybe the cold water had an impact I’m not sure.
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