ABOVE: Warrnambool Triathlon Club duathlon open winner was Travis Greening, of Warrnambool.
A STRONG turnout for yesterday’s season opening event has the Warrnambool Triathlon Club on a high.
More than 120 people competed in yesterday’s duathlon event.
Club vice-president Claire Farrer said it provided a good base for growth across the season.
“Being the first event of the season, and on a busy weekend, you can never really gauge how many people will come out,” Farrer said
“We are feeling confident for the rest of the season — it’s a good base for us to start at.”
The open section included two 2.5-kilometre running legs, with an 8.5-kilometre cycling leg in-between.
Travis Greening took won the open men’s division ahead of James Neville and Luke Taylor, while Kim Dutkowski was the first overall female with Lisa Worrell second and Ange Cook third.
Juniors competed across varying distances depending on age groups, with overall junior male honours going to Sam Worden with Keegan Picken coming in second and Jed Henderson in third.
The overall junior female was Ashleigh Hocking, with Daniella Hill second.
Ferrer said weather conditions made the cycling leg of the race interesting.
“They had a strong headwind heading out on the rail trail, which broke them up a bit, but then obviously had a tailwind coming back,” she said.
“The rain held off until the last 10 minutes of the open race though.”
Junior competitors made up half of yesterday’s field, which Farrer said augered well for the future of the club
“We have the junior development squad going and this was a chance for those kids to put what they have been learning into real race situations,” she said.
“Our membership numbers are already up to around 80, which is great this early in the season.
“It’s a strong base for us to build on for the rest of the year and into the future.”
The club’s next event will be the Killarney Triathlon on October 28, which will include long and short distances.
jwoolley@standard.fairfax.com.au