The business end of summer is when the going gets tough as competitors strive to gain an advantage over their opponents. For the penultimate event of the season in the Stroke & Stride Series that toughness was upped a further notch with the shifty little onshore breeze that came out to play in Auckland for the afternoon.
The first leg of the swim course was a slog out to the first can head on into the small chop followed by a quick zip across the back and then what should have been a relatively easy ride home so long as you pointed yourself in the right direction. There's nothing wrong with Molly Swanson's navigation and no one can match her speed in the water so the result was a handy lead for herself when she touched the beach recording 10 minutes and 17 seconds for the 750 metre swim course. It was close to a minute later when the quartet of chasers arrived consisting of Claire Macky, Rose Dillon, Katherine Badham and Amelia Watkinson. Then a further three-quarters of a minute passed before another bunch hit the beach with names such as Julia Cree and Shelley King to the fore.
 Molly Swanson(Photo: Jo McCarthy; click to enlarge) |
Reigning Series champion Brent Foster couldn't help but smile when he looked over the swim course as these conditions were made to order for someone with his open water mastery. He was still smiling 9 minutes and 20 seconds later as he sprang from waves and ran up to the transition with a healthy half minute lead now in the bank. In fact his closest pursuers were the Franklin brothers: Matt and Sam. Then a full minute behind the flying Fozzie came more chasers including Leo Roper and Quinn Wallwork while Liam Scopes was staring down a 90 second deficit as he sprinted up the beach and through transition before he could unleash his prodigious run.
There was 5 kilometres of real estate between the end of the swim and the race finish. The out and back run goes as far as St Heliers and just about all of that was exposed to the breeze, some of it at your back, some of it on the nose. Isn't it great the way a tailwind can be hardly noticeable whereas a headwind can make you feel you're trying to run with the handbrake on. Amelia Watkinson used all this to her advantage as she steadily moved towards the head of the women's field and then left them in her dust as she accelerated to her second ever Stroke & Stride win repeating the victory from this race a season ago. Molly Swanson couldn't match Amelia's speed on the run however for her fine performance she was rewarded with her best ever finish crossing the line in second. Claire Macky's steady progression through the summer claimed her best ever Stroke & Stride result and up onto the podium this time holding out Catherine Badham and Rose Dillon who rounded out the top 5 and also notched up best ever results.
 Amelia Watkinson(Photo: Phillip Wong; click to enlarge) |
 Brent Foster(Photo: Jo McCarthy; click to enlarge) |
In Brent Foster we have one of the best swimrun athletes the world has seen and through the years he has beaten EVERYONE and won a third of all the Stroke & Stride events ever held. However the last of his victories was back in 2011 so he was overdue another win and with the conditions at this event we might just see it. After his dominant swim he hit the pavement for the long 5 kilometre run and held his composure to stay clear of some very classy runners so that he could indeed cross the line at the head of the field. Leo Roper has raced well all summer but this time he took it to another level coming home in second place for his very own personal best result. Then came Liam Scopes who enjoyed himself so much at Race #6 he repeated his third placing from a fortnight ago and followed in very quick succession across the line by Matthew McQueen and Quinn Wallwork both recording their very own best ever results.
The Series Grand Prix will be decided in a fortnight at Race #8, the season finale with points from this event added to the best five other results of the season. Defending Series Champion Brent Foster has made a determined defence of his title to date however he is eight points in arrears of the in form athlete and current Series Leader Cooper Rand. Scoring a great third place today has moved Liam Scopes up into fourth place and into a position to challenge Jay Wallwork for the podium. Michael Perree holds fifth but only just with Dan Hoy, Matty McCullough and Leo Roper poised to pounce.
Meanwhile Rebecca Clarke goes into the closing round with a minuscule two point lead over her perpetual sparring partner Penny Hayes so we can't wait to see how this one will play out in the decisive final round. Our dynamic duo will also be wary of the threat posed by Amelia Watkinson not too far behind in third place after today's perfect result. The top five will be completed by Ashleigh Williams, Molly Swanson, Claire Macky and/or Katherine Badham with one more race to tidy up the final order.
The last chance for scoring a high placing result or to accrue those valuable points at the Stroke & Stride comes in a fortnight's time on Wednesday, March 12th. Full results are available at swimrun.org.
Results: Stroke & Stride Series, Race #7
Female
1. Amelia Watkinson 30m 10s
2. Molly Swanson 30m 49s
3. Claire Macky 31m 50s
4. Katherine Badham 32m 06s
5. Rose Dillon 33m 04s
6. Rachel Penney 33m 53s
7. Pip Meo 33m 58s
8. Julia Cree 34m 39s
9. Caroline Gray 35m 01s
10. Millie Anderson 35m 14s
11. Jennifer Sweny 35m 16s
12. Jo Carrel 35m 29s
13. Estafana Fowler 35m 30s
14. Suzie Clark 36m 03s
15. Bea Schuster-Lewis 36m 04s
Male
1. Brent Foster 27m 13s
2. Leo Roper 27m 58s
3. Liam Scopes 28m 35s
4. Matthew McQueen 28m 39s
5. Quinn Wallwork 28m 41s
6. Trent Dodds 29m 05s
7. Sam Franklin 29m 06s
8. Matthew Roets 29m 36s
9. Hayden Shearman 29m 57s
10. Todd Rowan 30m 15s
11. Andrew McQueen 30m 24s
12. Sam Coombes 30m 54s
13. Darragh Walshe 31m 07s
14. Shane Smith 31m 36s
15. Jared Bowden 31m 48s
Grand Prix Points After Race #7
Female
1. Rebecca Clarke 91
2. Penny Hayes 89
3. Amelia Watkinson 82
4. Ashleigh Williams 57
5. Molly Swanson 54
6. Claire Macky 51
7. Katherine Badham 48
8. Rose Dillon 33
9T Pip Meo 31
9T Elise Salt 31
11T Rachel Penney 28
11T Samantha Warriner 28
13. Natasha Bowyer 26
14. Jacey Cropp 22
15T Sophie Corbidge 20
15T Alana Sherman 20
Male
1. Cooper Rand 94
2. Brent Foster 86
3. Jay Wallwork 67
4. Liam Scopes 59
5. Michael Perree 51
6T Dan Hoy 46
6T Matty McCullough 46
8. Leo Roper 45
9. Quinn Wallwork 33
10. Trent Dodds 30
11. Matthew Roets 26
12. Matthew McQueen 25
13. Sam Franklin 23
14. Liam Ward 22
15. Jackson Cropp 21
