Aptos resident and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes placed sixth in the Canary Wharf Super Sprint triathlon after progressing to the final from his qualifying heat in London over the weekend.
Zaferes clocked a time of 25 minutes, 26 seconds — just eight seconds behind winner Aaron Royle of Australia [25:18].
For a full, first-person race recap, check out Zaferes’ blog.
Results in this report are from the British Triatlon Super-Series website.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets
Aptos’ Becky Lavelle finishes as the sixth fastest woman; Santa Cruz’s Eric Clarkson breaks into the top 20
Santa Cruz resident and native New Zealander Bevan Docherty, a two-time Olympic medalist, placed third in the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco over the weekend.
Docherty, who will again represent New Zealand in the London Games, crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 32 seconds. Colorado’s Andy Potts won the race in 2:03:17 and Australia’s Courtney Atkinson placed second [2:03:53].
Docherty completed the 1.5-mile swim in 27:37, the 18-mile bike in 46:14 and the 8-mile run in 46:06. He finished the sand ladder in 1:51.
England’s Leanda Cave was the first finisher among women, coming in 17th overall [2:18:17].
Santa Cruz had one other triathlete in the top 20: Eric Clarkson placed 16th in 2:16:03.
The top female finisher from Santa Cruz County was Aptos’ Becky Lavelle, 38, who was sixth among women and 37th overall [2:27:09]. Lavelle finished the swim in 30:04, the bike in 54:24 and the run in 56:58. She did the sand ladder in 2:33.
Results in this report are from the Escape from Alcatraz website.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets
Aptos resident Tommy Zaferes placed fifth in the Cremona ITU Sprint Triathlon European Cup in Italy on Sunday.
Zaferes finished the race in 55 minutes, 47 seconds, coming in 50 seconds behind winner Thomas Bishop of Great Britain [54:57]. Russia’s Igor Polyanskiy was second [55:26], Switzerland’s Florin Salvisberg was third [55:32] and Australia’s Ryan Fisher was fourth [55:40].
“Racing a sprint triathlon on legs that aren’t fully rested is a challenge, so I’m very happy with that result and being able to see first-hand the benefits of getting back into my own personal training groove,” Zaferes wrote in the race recap on his blog.
Zaferes, who is training in Europe this summer, completed the 750-meter swim in 9:01, the 20-kilometer run in 29:42 and the 8k run in 16:29.
Zaferes will next compete in the French Grand Prix in Toulouse this Saturday, according to the schedule on his website, before he does double duty with a World Cup race in Spain on Sunday.
The results in this report are from the International Triathlon Union website.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 14: In this handout photo provided by the International Triathlon Union, New Zealand's Kris Gemmell celebrates his seventh-place finish at the opening round of the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series on April 14, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (ITU/Contributed)
Santa Cruz resident and two-time Olympic medalist Bevan Docherty, who is hoping to represent his home country of New Zealand in triathlon at the Olympic Games this summer, missed out on a qualifying spot Saturday in Australia.
Docherty needed to finish in the top eight as the top New Zealander at the Dextro Energy World Triathlon in Sydney, but he ended up placing 12th as the second Kiwi. He crossed the finish line in 1:52:03 while fellow countryman Kris Gemmell was seventh in 1:51:42, according to results on the International Triathlon Union website.
Docherty — who told the New Zealand Herald he purposefully did not plan his training to peak now, but instead is keeping his focus on the Games — completed the Olympic-distance swim in 18:02, the bike in 1:00:28 and the run in 31:43.
There is still a chance he will make the New Zealand team for the Games. The selections are based on race finishes as well as discretionary picks, and are also dependent upon how many athletes the country can send (right now, New Zealand is on pace to be able to send three).
Germany’s Steffen Justus won in Sydney in 1:51:04.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets
Santa Cruz pro surfer Nat Young was ousted in the quarterfinals of the Burton Toyota Pro today — but not before he eliminated Australia’s Taj Burrow, the No. 1 surfer in the world according to the Association of Surfing Professionals rankings.
Young had a dominant performance early on in the competition at Merewether Beach in Australia, winning all of his heats outright to advance to the Round of 24. Brazil’s Filipe Toledo [13.77 points] won that three-man heat, and Young barely finished second with 10.27 points. Krystian Kymerson was eliminated with a two-wave total of 10.20 points — just .07 of a point off Young.
That narrow finish may have been just the incentive Young, who is ranked No. 37 in the world, needed to stay focused as he took on Burrow in the Round of 16. Out of seven waves, Young’s top two scores were 6.67 and 5.33, respectively. Burrow, who caught eight waves in the two-man heat, had scores of 6.60 and 4.50 count, putting Young up 12-11.10.
Young’s run came to an end in the quarterfinals, though, as Toledo again bested the Santa Cruz native. The Brazilian scored 16.34 to Young’s 14.86.
Toledo went on to earn a place in the final, where he lost to champion Willian Cardoso 10.60-9.50. Cardoso is ranked No. 8 in the world. Toledo is ranked No. 26.
The Burton Toyota Pro was run in conjunction with the Surfest Newcastle Australia.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets
Santa Cruz native Nat Young scored a 14-point wave total to advance to the Round of 48 in the Burton Toyota Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals six-star and world qualifying series event, at Merewether Beach in Newcastle, Australia, on Thursday.
Young’s top scoring waves were of 7.33 and 6.67 points, respectively, according to the live feed of results. Fellow American Evan Geiselman scored a 13.17 total for second place, Australia’s Jay Thompson scored 12.30 and Japan’s Teppei Tajima scored 11.83 in their Round of 96 heat. The contest is part of the Surfest Newcastle Australia event.
Young advanced to the Round of 48, where he will go up against Australians Adam Melling and Heath Joske as well as Japan’s Masatoshi Ohno.
– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets
MANLY, AUSTRALIA - FEB. 16: Nat Young of the United States competes in the Round of 96 during the 2012 Australian Surfing Open. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
It came down to a fraction of a point. Santa Cruz’s Nat Young was eliminated from the Australian Open of Surfing in the Round of 24 after scoring a combined two-wave total of 13.03 points at Manly Beach in Sydney on Friday.
Young, who earlier in the smoke- and alcohol-free contest scored a perfect 10-point wave, was edged out by fellow American Evan Geiselman, who scored 13.87 points, and Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro, who scored 13.64 points. Young’s top scoring waves were a 7.83 and a 5.20.
Young earlier advanced from the Round of 48, where he earned 12.33 points. Australian Shaun Cansdell won that heat with 12.37 points.
Geiselman continued on to the final, where he lost to champion Matt Banting of Australia 16.83-15.53.
–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.
