PHILIPSBURG--Triathletes from St. Barths stamped their authority on the Boardwalk Triathlon on Sunday, with the glory and silverware going to the Individual category winners, Fabien Husson for the Olympic distance (in 2:12:21) and Jean-Marc Outil (1:06:28) in the Sprint distance, both from St. Barths.
It was an excellent turnout of athletes for the event held in perfect conditions for swim, bike and run in that order. Forty took on the Individual Sprint category and 20 tackled the longer Olympic distance. As predicted there were fewer relay teams; just six for the Olympic distance and five for the Sprint distance.
“I managed to pass Gregoire on the second lap of the bike segment. I knew that he was better on the climbs but when it came to the flat I pushed really hard to overtake him,” said Husson who finished third in the Olympic distance last year. “The bike is my best discipline. Then I had the advantage over him on the run even though my legs were hurting but I kept on drinking.”
Despite taking the lead early on Gregoire Pigeon was left to rue another second-place finish.
“Last year I was second behind Stephane Lenoir and several times I’ve been second,” said a disappointed Pigeon. “I thought today I could break that jinx but it was not to be. So, my goal is still to win this triathlon.”
Lenoir, who was bumped up to first last year after the disqualification of Olivier Noglotte, finished third in the Olympic distance on Sunday. Clearly there’s a lot more to sailmaker Ernst Looser than meets the eye as he appears to be going from strength to strength after finishing 18th in the Individual Olympic event (3:04:27).
Outil won the Individual Sprint distance in 1:06:28 with Boris Villenin second (1:09:33) and Pierre Chassaigne third (1:09:59).
Local athlete Mark Maidwell turned in a very impressive performance for his first shot at doing the Individual, finishing in sixth place in 1:12:34. And veteran triathlete Mary Wrigley continues to blow away the younger pretenders, finishing in 20th place (1:23:23).
Triple Threat won the Olympic relay in 2:21:11, Tri-Sport for life was second 2:21:19 and Team SX Treme third in 2:29:34. Les Filles SBH Tri won the Sprint Relay in 1:23:00, second went to Noble Avergers in 1:26:12 and third The Winners in 1:30:32.
Complete results are on the Tri-Sport website.
