Super Sunday's Triathlon...

By Volunteer Kat Cassidy

The three words that sum up this triathlon were 'to the line' which will become clear later! The sun was out and the crowds were gathered on mass in front of the big fish around Belfast Harbour. All were awaiting the Belfast Titanic Triathlon and the international WPFG Triathlon to start.

The transition area was a cacophony of international chatter, clanking of chains, hum of tyres and whirring wheel sets. Then the call over the PA system came and everyone crossed the harbour bridge to the steps that took them into the Lagan by the odyssey. The seamless stream of wetsuits paraded across like despicable me minions and descended the steps into the brisk water. A horn sounded and wave one was off.

Wave one consisted of all the WPFG International triathletes who completed a 1500 metre swim along the shores of the titanic - luckily there were no SOS calls. The second wave were those doing a sprint triathlon as part of the Belfast Titanic organised event.

In a matter of around 15mins the first sprint athlete emerged from the water into the transition area and shot of on his bike. Then the shouting from the officials began as more athletes came out of transition one. 'To the line!' ' to the line!' echoed from the officials mouths as athletes were reminded not to mount their bikes until across the white line. Soon it wasn't just the officials yelling this but the Spanish team and supporters were yelling this to all those who weren't complying with the rules - so they would avoid penalty points. One Spanish team member took over as he ran up and down doing an impression of the local official - and to some extent a little better!!

The athletes are certainly skilled in sport but also in the art of wardrobe changing as they managed to squirm out of their wetsuits with some sort of decorum and prepare for their bike ride in a matter of seconds. Some did transitions in their bare feet and shoved them into fixed pedal shoes with talc in them, others changed into trainers before leaving with their bikes and some even stopped to put socks on! 

For the second transition the verbal advice changed to sign language as everyone started waving their arms up and down to get the cyclists to slow down as they approached the all important looming white line. The speed in which these individuals came in after 40k and dismounted their bikes was incredible and to also find their 'spot' to deposit their bike and begin the gruelling 10k run.

The run consisted of four laps of a 2.5k route around the city. When the first WPFG athlete started his 10k run the first lot of the sprint triathlon had already finished - Tommy Evans taking first place.

Canadian Robert Ross was first across the line in an awe inspiring time off 1.53.45 followed swiftly by John Worcester from the Met 1.55.13 and hot on his heels was Spanish Albert Tottent 1.58.24

The triathlon was a spectacular day with throngs of people supporting all the athletes whilst enjoying the hot sunshine. One of the toughest sports when athletes have to excel in three sports in order to come out on top where it's more inner strength than inner tube!

Congratulations to all those who completed the triathlon and full results can be found here.