
Lachlan Hallet

Steven Melhuish

Anthea Feavor
The “Sprint the Bay” competition is presently being held in New Zealand – from Jan 15-17th.
Based in the Hawkes Bay area, this year the event involves 6 races, with 2 being held each day.
The fields have been buoyed by the presence of quite a few of the elite internationals who have chosen to stay on in sunny New Zealand following the World Cups. The men’s elite has 75 starters and the women 42.
The addition of age classes also has meant that many junior and veteran Aussies have decided to stay on as well for the extra competition. Overall there are 333 entrants – quite a big sprint!
Day 1 included an amazing venue – Splash Planet, as the afternoon event site. This is NZ’s biggest water park and there was even a control in the middle of the toddler’s pool! This venue also saw a lot of mispunches – in fact 8 of the elite women’s field suffered that fate, including NZ favourite, Lizzie Ingham and Aussie Heather Muir, who had been our leading elite in race 1.
Swiss Matthais Muller leads the men after day 1, but only by a 6 second margin. Julian Dent is sitting nicely in 4th, just 80 seconds down, while Olle Poland’s 14th in race 2 was our next best result. Another Swis, in Judith Wyder has a big 2 minute lead, while Felicity Brown ‘s 8th in the afternoon moved her up to 9th overall, after an 18th place in race 1.
The morning race at “Woodford” was a World Ranking Event, so some of the internationals decided to just compete on day 1 of Sprint the Bay. More detailed results are below.
The Australian veteran women have been outstanding.
Su Yan Tay (W40), Anthea Feavor (W50) and Jan Hardy (W60) all lead their class after having won both races.
Tasmanian Debbie Gale (W60) has taken 2nd place in both races while ACT’s Toni Brown (W50) has been 3rd in both events.
Jemery Day has been our stand-out veteran man with two wins in M50, while Grant McDonald sits in second in that class. Steve Doyle has been Mr consistent with two 4ths in M40 and sits in 4th overall too. Nick Dent leads M60 with one win and a second.
In the junior classes Asha Steer is placed 3rd overall and Noah Poland is the best Aussie in 7th. Jarrah Day is 4th and Lanita Steer 8th in the senior class.
Men’s Elite – 2 event result summary
1 Matthias Müller SUI 18:17 2 16:17 2 34:34
2 Tim Robertson NZL 17:34 1 17:06 5 34:40 +0:06
3 Matt Ogden t NZL 18:42 6 17:02 4 35:44 +1:10
4 Julian Dent 18:30 3 17:24 7 35:54 +1:20
16 Oliver Poland 19:53 16 18:18 14 38:11 +3:37
17 Ian Lawford 19:47 15 18:28 18 38:15 +3:41
19 Oscar McNulty 20:14 19 18:33 19 38:47 +4:13
21 Bruce Arthur 20:30 22 18:50 22 39:20 +4:46
24 Henry McNulty 22:01 30 18:49 21 40:50 +6:16
25 Christopher Naunton 21:54 29 18:59 24 40:53 +6:19
27 Kasimir Gregory 22:24 34 18:50 22 41:14 +6:40
32 Matthew Parton 23:07 47 19:30 29 42:37 +8:03
Womens Elite – 2 event result summary
1 Judith Wyder SUI 17:35 1 14:18 1 31:53
2 Venla Niemi FIN 18:47 7 15:01 2 33:48 +1:55
3 Lena Eliasson SWE 18:14 2 15:54 5 34:08 +2:15
9 Felicity Brown 21:54 18 16:59 8 38:53 +7:00
10 Bridget Anderson 22:06 19 16:49 7 38:55 +7:02
11 Aislinn Prendergast 22:10 20 17:50 12 40:00 +8:07
14 Belinda Lawford 23:11 28 17:44 10 40:55 +9:02
16 Susanne Casanova 21:40 17 19:34 22 41:14 +9:21
17 Mary Fleming 22:42 24 18:45 15 41:27 +9:34
21 Lauren Gillis 23:08 27 18:46 16 41:54 +10:01
Day 1 – all classes – main Aussie results
Mens Elite
1 Tim Robertson NZL 17:34
2 Matthias Müller SUI 18:17
3 Julian Dent AUS 18:30
15 Ian Lawford AUS 19:47
16 Oliver Poland AUS 19:53
19 Oscar McNulty AUS 20:14
22 Bruce Arthur AUS 20:30
29 Christopher Naunton AUS 21:54
30 Henry McNulty AUS 22:01
31 Joshua Blatchford AUS 22:21
32 Lachlan Hallett AUS 22:22
34 Kasimir Gregory AUS 22:24
Womens Elite
1 Judith Wyder SUI 17:35
2 Lena Eliasson SWE 18:14
3 Lizzie Ingham NZL 18:15 3
16 Heather Muir AUS 21:36
17 Susanne Casanova AUS 21:40
18 Felicity Brown AUS 21:54
19 Bridget Anderson AUS 22:06
20 Aislinn Prendergast AUS 22:10
24 Mary Fleming AUS 22:42
25 Clare Brownridge AUS 22:44
27 Lauren Gillis AUS 23:08
28 Belinda Lawford AUS 23:11
Senior Boys
1 Devon Beckman NZL 16:31
7 Jarrah Day 20:18
8 Kelly Bertei 20:25
9 Stephen Melhuish 20:59
Senior Girls
1 Alice Tilley NZL 16:27
5 Anna Dowling 18:59
10 Lanita Steer 21:08
14 Lucy Fleming 22:33
Junior Boys
1 Stephen Harding NZL 13:56
8 Aidan Tay 19:07
9 Noah Poland 19:24
Junior Girls
1 Lara Molloy NZL 13:42 1
3 Asha Steer 15:48