Aptos’ Tommy Zaferes settles for 5th in Pacific Grove triathlon

Tommy Zaferes leads on the draft-legal bike. (Photo courtesy of the Triathlon at Pacific Grove)

Just done recovering from being sick, Aptos native Tommy Zaferes failed to defend his title at the Triathlon at Pacific Grove earlier today, coming in about five minutes behind winner Dustin Mclarty of Irvine.

Zaferes, who won the Olympic-distance event last year, crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 48 seconds to take fifth among the pros, while Mclarty won in 2:00:49.

“No sign of breathing issues today! Solid swim, rode hard, and survived on the run for 5th. Zero fitness, but it was an awesome training day!” Zaferes tweeted afterwards.

Zaferes was out of the water four seconds faster than Mclarty, and Mclarty was only five seconds faster in the bike — but Zaferes lost a lot of time on the run.

The pro men’s wave start at the Triathlon at Pacific Grove in California on Sept. 9, 2012. (Photo courtesy of the Triathlon at Pacific Grove)

South San Francisco’s John Dahlz finished runner-up [2:02:44], Allen Gardner of Boulder, Colo., took third [2:03:13], and Nicholas Thompson of Danville took fourth [2:05:05].

Eric Clarkson, who is from Walnut Creek but lives in Santa Cruz, took sixth in the event [2:06:13].

Results in this report are from Tricalifornia.com.

Aptos’ Matt Chrabot, Soquel’s Tommy Zaferes head back to World Tri Series this weekend

Aptos resident Matt Chrabot and Soquel resident Tommy Zaferes, both pro triathletes, will represent the Santa Cruz County area on the world stage at the ITU World Triathlon Series sprint event in Stockholm on Saturday.

Chrabot is ranked No. 3 in the WTS and Zaferes has recently had several local successes, including winning the Sandman Triathlon for the third year in a row.

They will also be joined by American Jarrod Shoemaker, ranked No. 1 in the WTS.

This inaugural sprint-distance event features a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5k run, according to a press release from USA Triathlon. It is an International Triathlon Union-sanctioned event and will stream live starting at 5:50 a.m. Pacific Time at triathlonlive.tv.

Aptos’ Tommy Zaferes wins Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon

Aptos resident and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes won the Santa Cruz Sprint Triathlon on Saturday.

Zaferes, who also won the Sandman Triathlon in Aptos a couple weeks ago, beat runner-up Dylan McNeice of New Zealand by a minute and change. Zaferes crossed the finish line in 54 minutes, 11.5 seconds. McNeice finished in 55:35.9 and  and Eric Clarkson of Santa Cruz took third in 57:50.7.

Zaferes finished the 750-meter swim in 8:57.3, the 12.5-mile bike in 27:52.8, and the 5-kilometer run in 16:51.2, clocking in as the fastest competitor in all events.

Australia’s Annabel Luxford won the women’s race in the USA Triathlon-sanctioned event, taking fourth overall. She finished in 59:21.4. Los Gatos resident Becky Lavelle was second [1:00:07.1], and American Kathy Rakel was third [1:01:25.2].

Results included in this report are from the Finish Line Productions website.

Video: Interview with Tommy Zaferes after his 3rd straight Sandman Triathlon win

Aptos resident and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes, who is just back from training and competing in Europe this summer, won his third-straight Sandman Triathlon at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos on Sunday.

Here’s a quick clip of the interview I did afterwards.

Results from the race will be posted as soon as possible here.

Aptos’ Tommy Zaferes places 6th in Canary Wharf Super Sprint tri

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’ Tommy Zaferes does two triathlons in one weekend, passes out at finish line

Aptos native and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes did double duty over the weekend, and it caught up with him as he passed out at the finish line of the Banyoles World Cup, an ITU-sanctioned event, in Spain on Sunday.

“I passed out from heat and exhaustion right across the line and spent 20 min in the medical tent,” Zaferes tweeted after the race. “All better now. My next blog should be fun.”

On Saturday, Zaferes — who is training in Europe over the summer — placed sixth with his St. Rafael team in the French Grand Prix super sprint relay at Toulouse. St. Rafael finished the  400-meter swim, 10-kilometer bike and 2.5k-run triathlon with a time of 1 hour, 27 minutes, 7 seconds.

In Spain, Zaferes ended up placing 17th [1:49:33] and finishing the 1.5k-swim,  40k-bike and 10k-run race with a temperature of about 102 degrees, according to his blog.

Zaferes regularly blogs about his races with an in-depth, blow-by-blow style. For his race report of the Frnach GP, go here, and for a report of the World Cup, go here.

The French GP was won by Les Sables Vendee’s team [1:26:18]. The World Cup race was won by fellow American Lukas Verzbicas [1:47:28].

Results included in this report were from the ITU website and the GP website.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Aptos’ Tommy Zaferes lands in 42nd in ITU World Triathlon Madrid

Aptos native and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes, who is training and competing in Europe this summer, finished in 42nd place in the ITU World Triathlon Madird over the weekend. Zaferes clocked a final time of 1 hour, 57 minutes, 43 seconds.

Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee won the event in 1:51:49.

Zaferes completed the 1,500-meter swim in 17:49, the 40-kilometer bike in 1:04:15, and the 10k run in 34:20.

Gave it everything to stay with that group but couldn’t hang with the big boys. Great experience, but bummed I finished 42nd. #LearningCurve – @tzaferes

Check out his first-person telling of the race here.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Aptos’ Tommy Zaferes takes 7th in Mazatlan triathlon

Aptos native Tommy Zaferes placed seventh in the International Triathlon Union’s Pan American Cup competition in Mazatlan on April 22, according to official results.

Zaferes, a former Cabrillo Thresher swimmer and pro triathlete, had the fastest swim in the Olympic-distance event, finishing that leg in 18:43. His swim was two seconds faster than fellow American Joe Maloy, who finished the race in fourth [1:55:26].

Zaferes finished the bike in 1:02:54 and the run in 33:34 en route to an overall time of 1:56:24.

“…Finished 6th today! Solid swim, fell victim to hectic team tactics by about 20 Mexicans vs 2 americans and 1 canadian on the bike, ran ok.” Zaferes posted to Twitter. He also did a longer recap that included all the details of what he deemed a frustrating race on his blog.

Mexico’s Francisco Serrano won the race in 1:54:48.

Zaferes also did a recent interview with SlowTwitch.com about how to make Chuck Norris cry like a baby among other things. Like his career.

Next up, Zaferes heads to France to compete for the summer. More on that later.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Aptos’ Tommy Zaferes settles for 11th at Ixtapa triathlon

Aptos resident and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes placed 11th in men’s division at the Ixtapa ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup event in Mexico on Saturday.

Zaferes had the second-fastest swim — completing the two-lap, 1.5-kilometer course in 18 minutes, 17 seconds — and the third-fastest bike — completing the two-lap, 40-kilometer course in 1:00:19, according to results on the International Triathlon Union website.

He suffered a setback in the run, where he finished the two-lap, 10-kilometer course in 35:22. His run time was about five minutes off winner Crisanto Grajales.

Grajales, a Mexico native, won with an overall time of 1:52:01. Zaferes’ time, including transitions, was 1:56:47.

Zaferes next races in Mazatlan in April.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets

Aptos’ Tommy Zaferes secures bronze in Pan American Cup tri

Aptos resident and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes placed third in the pro men’s field of the Clermont ITU Sprint Triathlon Pan American Cup in Florida on Saturday.

Zaferes completed the 750-meter swim in 9 minutes, 41 seconds, completed the 20-kilometer bike in 28:40, and completed the 5-kilometer run in 16:10 en route to a 56:15 overall time.

He was 11 seconds off winner and fellow American Joel Shoemaker [56:04] and five seconds off runner-up Kyle Jones [56:10], who is from Canada.

Prize money for third place was $1,000. Check out the course here.

–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.