CWTC

It was looking good for the race at Steyning with 10 athletes from Chichester Westgate Triathlon Club (CWTC)  taking part in the standard race (800m swim, 36km bike and 8km run) and 6 taking part in the sprint event (400m swim, 20km bike and 4km run),  The sun was shining at the temperature was above freezing for once.

CWTC was the best represented club in the standard race and managed to perform well in near perfect race conditions. The earliest starter was Sam Roberts at 6am but she still had a smile on her face even though it was only her second triathlon.

In the men’s race Andrew Soppitt came a very commendable 2nd in the male vet’s category narrowly pipping Mike Cooper by under 30 seconds (even having got a puncture before he started the race, lost his bike space in transition and being stopped on the bike course by traffic) and even managed to bag 10 points for himself in the club series event.

Other male finishers included Steve Hasler (his first race since 2010 – welcome back Steve!!) Patrick Glynn, Steve Redman, John Kelly.

Keith Everley – who has not raced for 3 years due to injury did exceptionally well by winning his age group.

John Kelly has clearly started enjoying his swimming more as after getting out of the pool, decided he needed to get back in again before getting onto his bike! a bit of transition training for you!!

In the female race, Mary Campbell continued her winning streak by winning the female event overall, knocking 7 minutes off her PB on this course, and smashing the course records of the past couple of years.  Trudi Cunningham also collected a prize as 2nd fastest women’s vet, even though she was heard complaining what a rubbish swim she had!

The sprint race saw Harry Leleu come 3rd male senior even though he technically is still a junior – fantastic race – well done! Other sprinters were Neil, Simon and Paul – all enjoying the sunshine that came out later on in the morning.

It was nice to have some good weather for once and it was agreed by all that it was an enjoyable well organised event that we would all recommend in the future.

It was even better when analysed in depth over recovery drinks at the social evening in the pub in the evening, the first of hopefully many to come, with the discussion of the upcoming events in the next few weeks.

Standard race results:

Sprint race results:

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Seven CWTC members decided to enter the IOW Randonnee, which is a annual cycle around the Isle of Wight.

The ride is 70 miles around the island but with the distance from Chichester, Southbourne  & Emsworth to the ferry port added on it ended up to be around 90-100 miles, no mean feat, however the sun was out and the wind was calm, so the day was very enjoyable albeit very hard work.

Considering the distance covered we only had 1 puncture, which must be a record as last year we had about 4.  The ride took approximately 6 hours to complete, however we did stop for lunch and at 6 check points so the times were very good.

Del was using a web app to log the ride but did not ensure he had enough charge on his phone so it seems that he is still in East Cowes, which is where his phone died.

The day was capped off with a bit of misunderstanding as Nigel, Matt, Joe & Andy were waiting at the last check point for Giles who had decided to miss the check point and get straight on the ferry, needless to say they missed the ferry! Giles did text them to say he was enjoying a drink with the rest of the Chi riders on the ferry but this was not welcomed for some reason!!

A good day was had by all, even though the legs were a bit tender the next day.

Report by Del

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Last weekend saw the first of the seasons international meetings with the European sprint duathlon championships in Horst. Chichester Westgate Triathlon Club was represented by 3 of the clubs junior members Jake and Sam Pillans and Harry Pink, at only 15 they were taking park in their first international event competing against some very big lads in the under 20 age group.

The race was a mass start of over 250 competitors from all age groups for a 5k run around the town centre of Horst which was very much like the corporate challenge, fast tight corners and very crowded. All three boys came into T1 together in very respectable times and Sam was first out onto the bike course with a very speedy transition. The bike course was two dead flat laps around the town centre with many sharp corners, fortunately for the boys it was on closed roads so they did not have to worry about which side of the road to cycle on, the course was very crowded and everyone was struggling not to draft. The bike leg saw the boys spread out and Harry pulled away on the second run to come home as third under 20 to collect a bronze medal, Sam and Jake finished shortly after in 4th and 5th respectively. All three did very well and finished in the top 25% overall, a fantastic result for their first outing at this level. Hopefully this is a good omen for the European Triathlon Champs in Turkey and the Worlds in London later in the year where many more club members will be representing GB.

Well done Sam, Jake and Harry.

Harry with his bronze medal:

Sam and Jake:

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It was a chilly start to the Tri season for some of CWTC’s members in the form of the Ringwood Triathlon.

The Triathletes were certainly up against the elements with many struggling to get shoes and helmets on and off, not being used to racing with gloves and hats on!

The Swim was 24 lengths of the 25m pool (600m) followed by a 45k bike and finishing off with a 10k run.

The sun was shining but it was bitterly cold on the cycle, even with socks on, although cycling through the New Forest was idyllic. Our feet felt like blocks of ice on the run for the first two miles but then we got into our pace.

It always seems a mad thing to do at this time of the year to be running out of the swimming pool wet through to then jump on the bike and then freeze, but I can say I enjoyed the race for the second year and with chip timing it was a very well organized race. It was a good start to the season with Mike Cooper coming 5th overall and second vet, he was wearing his new super duper bike in, which is his excuse for being a few minutes slower than last year!!!

Mary Campbell won the woman’s overall and Kurt Gunby winning the under 20s and just beating Patrick by 30sec.

A total of 168 Triathletes took part in the race so getting a podium position is a very good achievement and good practice for the next race which will be Steyning where hopefully we will see more members competing for the club series

Report by Mary Campbell

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It was a chilly start to the race season for some of CWTC’s triathletes in the form of the Goodwood Duathlon, hosted by local rivals Portsmouth Triathletes.  There was a brilliant turn out with 6 competing in the short race (4km run, 24km bike, 4km run and 6 competing the long race (4km run, 40km bike, 8 km run).  With temperatures not really getting above freezing and a fierce Siberian wind along the exposed areas of the Goodwood Race Circuit, the triathletes were certainly up against the elements as well as each other.  Many struggled to get shoes and helmets on and off, not being used to racing with gloves and hats on!

Some club members had only returned 3 days prior to the race from a week long training camp in Lanzarote at Club La Santa, where temperatures had been mid to high 20s and the sun had been a welcome break from the British Winter.  However Patrick Glynn seemed to use this to his advantage, gaining a 3rd place male supervet in the short race.

Harry Leleu was the male senior winner in a respectable time of 1.09, which was good practice for his forthcoming European Champ Qualifers to race in Turkey later in the summer. Stuart Wilson was not far behind, as was Harry Pink (another talented junior), Kurt Gunby (another European GB Age Grouper) and Shaun Dowling.  In fact there were 5 CWTC triathletes in the top 14!! Fantastic opening race effort.

In the long race John Bullard showed he had been a busy boy over the winter, working on his bike and run as he managed to knock 2 minutes off his previous bike split and came in quickest out of the club in 1.57!.  The girls also did well in this race with 3 prizes – Mary Campbell as 3rd female senior, and Emma Gueterbock and Persephone Hagen as 1st and 2nd female vets accordingly.  All three are racing in the Age Group Great Britain Triathlon Team in Turkey in June, so such a good start to the racing season bodes well for them!  Go Girls!  Alex Rice also performed well, keeping under the 2 hour mark and Steve Long did well to finish after injuring himself on the run, but valiantly carrying on to finish.

Unfortunately it was too cold to take any photos, but hopefully the sun will come out for the Ringwood Triathlon on Sunday 14th April which is the next club event for CWTC.

Short race:
Harry Leleu 1:09
Stuart Wilson 1:13
Harry Pink 1:14
Kurt Gunby 1:16
Patrick Glynn 1:17
Shaun Dowling 1:21

Long race:
John Bullard 1:57
Alex Rice 1:59
Mary Campbell 2:03
Emma Gueterbock 2:05
Persephone Hagan 2:14
Steve Long 2:34

Mary Campbell

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This year’s training trip to La Santa (Lanzarote) started in the early hours of Thursday morning, some starting the run to Gatwick at 0300hrs whilst others started at a  more reasonable 0400hrs,  18 club members in all met up at Gatwick for the 3 ½ hour flight.

We arrived mid afternoon got settled in and went for a short run. The temperature varied throughout the week between 23-28 Degrees

On Friday we started by going to the morning stretch class, something akin to carry on camping,  we then split up and went for an organised run of 3,5 or 8k.  Following the run we then went for a 40k bike ride and once back in the complex we did a swim session, so pretty much a staggered Triathlon, the bike was a bit traumatic for JK who experienced the dreaded puncture, but not once oh no JK managed 3 punctures.

Saturday saw the long ride of 100k Andrew Soppitt managed 3 punctures before we had got 20k away and had to return and exchange his wheel and get more inner tubes, being a good group we did not wait for him and he met back up with us at the half way point which was a local viewing spot (Mirador Del Rio), it’s also at the top of a rather long hill climb….

On Sunday we had a fairly relaxed day some of us going on the 3,5 or 8k run.   Steve Winter whilst doing a long ride broke his chain and had to do an SOS call for assistance, George and Del luckily managed to get a hire car from the centre and were on the way to pick him up when Steve phoned to say that some other cyclists had stopped and helped fix the chain, after costing 25 Euro’s for the hire car George was not happy!!   Later in the afternoon JK ran a track session which was quite an experience, especially as some of the session was barefoot.

Monday saw a ride to El Golfo, if anyone thought we were going to play golf they were sorely disappointed, However it was a very good cycle and we had a rather weird lunch with Del having the Lizard soup and Patrick having a fish burger but  without the burger.        In the morning Trycha had gone for a run and was practising what JK had taught us the previous day only for a random stranger to stop and ask if she was injured.

On Tuesday we decided to go for a short 40k ride to Masdache, however the roads were more suitable for mountain bikes than road bikes, This was a birthday ride for Diana who marked the occasion by coming off her bike and getting road rash on her chin, arms and legs!!   Patrick had a swim lesson and paul and Hannah went snorkelling.   Diana braved her injuries and hosted a birthday meal in the village.

Day 7 Wednesday started with a mini Triathlon, last year none of the club entered which was quite embarrassing, however this year 7 club members entered, The distance was a 400m  swim, followed by a 16k bike 50% of which was uphill then a 5k run which was an out and back run.   Results as follows:

Andrew Soppitt – 00:55:59  – 3^rd place overall 1^st age group

Gary Williams – 01:00:06 – 6^th place overall 1^st age group

Patrick Glynn – 01:02:36 – 10^th place overall 1^st age group

Del Morton – 01:08:25 – 16^th place overall 3^rd age group

Phil Poyner – 01:17:12 – 20^th place overall 2^nd age group

Trycha Darling – 01:18:19 – 21^st place overall 1^st age group

Sam Redman – 01:19:36 – 23^rd place overall 2^nd age group

In the afternoon there was an awards ceremony in which Andrew was awarded 3^rd place in the Triathlon and Paul awarded 3^rd place in the rowing competition.

The final day on Thursday was busy packing and getting the last sun rays before returning to blighty and the very cold weather, Phil and Trycha did manage to get a small bike ride in though and while out saw James Nesbitt who was filming in a nearby village.  All in all it was a very enjoyable training/holiday and hopefully will be repeated next year.

Del Morton

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As heavy rain is forecast for the morning we have had to cut the session today as we have limited indoor facilities at the college.

We have 11 spinning bikes and a small gym area so the session will run for 10yr olds and over only as some of the younger ones struggle on the spinners because of the size of the bikes.

1000 – 1100- 10-12yrs only

1100 – 1200 over 12′s only.

One group will spin whilst one either run outdoors or do a circuit indoors if the weathers too bad.

Please bring wet weather clothing and two pairs of trainers if you have them.

We will meet at Chichester College behind Westgate.

We will try to run a transition practice next Saturday morning .

Thanks

Nicky

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Some rather belated pictures of the Awards Dinner held this year at the Chichester Watersports Centre at Westhampnett.

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We were deliberating whether or not to run the session tomorrow but have just heard that due to the poor weather the University Campus is now closed so unfortunately we have to cancel tomorrows session.

Apologies for this hopefully we will be back on track next week when we will be back at the Uni.

Have a good weekend

Nicky

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Due to the poor weather we have had to change today’s session.

This session is usually a mix of indoor and outdoor training unfortunately unlike the university there is not enough room at the college to do the whole session with 50 children indoors.
We have decided rather than just cancelling the whole session we will do the following:

The session will be run 1000-1130 at the college but it will be for 12yrs and over only. We will be doing a mixture of spinning and circuit training.

If this happens again whilst we are at the college then we will run it for under 12s.

I hope this sounds fair.

Nicky

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