Hair on the Promenade and Quality Accounting Race Report #4 - 3 December 2023

It goes without saying how good the conditions were this morning starting with the warm glassy swim!  Very blessed to be able to race and compete on this course on Gumbaynggirr country.   
It was our first race based out of the new community building with the essential race gear now located in the second cage in the building.  You may have noticed that all gear is now loaded on movable trolleys to reduce manual handling and make it easier to move around. Thanks to Maria Wood and Phil and Tina Benoit for helping move and set up the cages over the last couple of days! That effort was recognised with volunteer prizes from our sponsors the Fisherman's Coop. And thanks to all of Sunday’s volunteers, especially Annette Lee for stepping in at the last minute.   
35 athletes competed in the Enticer, Sprint, and Aquathon. And it was a Masterclass return with Peter Woods, Pete Giddens, Cec Tempone, Judy Chesney and Leeanne Lloyd gracing the course with their wit and great spirit. To all first timers, and new participants Daniel Freeman, welcome to the 2023-24 season.  
Like a fish to water, Hudson Barry clocked the fastest swim of the Sprint course in a time of 10:47 leaving in his wake Adrian Hawke and a trailing band chasing Wave 3 men and women. That was after Mark Kirstein and Adam Cox tussled their way into the water on the back of some learnings that obviously stuck from club coach Annette Lee on how to enter the water and ensure no one gets in your way!   
Wasn’t long though before Adrian set the pace on the bike with the fastest bike leg of 30:57 while Mel Sylvester led the women in a bike leg time of 34:53. There were some impressive run times too with fastest male on course being Ben Rose in 19:02 followed by Mark Garner powering along after some good recent training in 20:34.  
In the men’s Sprint event, Adrian Hawke finished 1st in a time of 1:03:42 followed by Ben Rose in 1:05.35 and Daniel Freeman from Woolgoolga in 1:07:19. In the women’s division first finisher was Mel Sylvester in 1:11:31 followed by Andrea Burth in 1:19:07 and third was Kathryn Gibney on 1:23:28.  
In the Enticer, Ian Nash come home first in 46:23 with Peter Wood second in 54:05 and Pete Roberts rounding our 3rd in 54:49 while in the women’s first female was Leeanne Lloyd in 57:07 followed by Krystal Sylvester in 1:00:46.  Elize Strydom took on the Aquathon today following mid week bike illness in a great time of 37:37. 
Our race today was made possible with the support of our sponsors Hair on the Promenade and Quality Accounting. Michelle Clarke has happily and generously sponsored the Club for over 10 years and is located within Garden Mania. Call for an appointment on 6651 4228 or visit the website. Hair at The Promenade is a boutique salon specialising in all things hair! Looks like a troupe will be going in for their wash, cut and blow dry shortly thanks to Michelle’s generous prizes today. And if you’re in need of some financial and accounting help or advice check out Fiona and the team at Quality Accounting on 6658 1655 or visit the website.   
And we also acknowledge and thank the Toormina, Moonee and Sawtell Hotels for their ongoing support. Meal vouchers were made available to category winners. 
Full results can be found on the website at http://www.coffstri.com/results.html. For those using Strava, the race report can also be found there.
For Club supported coaching sessions for members and TA members check out Facebook and Instagram posts.
The next race on 17 December is our Teams event so please get your Chrissy outfit out for a bit of fun and be prepared to share the glory with a team mate. Often some of the fastest lap times are recorded during this event. We need to know in advance who is competing to make life easier for Kathryn and the timing handicap team before the event.  So we will need everyone to let us know HERE if you’re able to come along and take part. 

And straight after the Teams race it’s the Christmas party to be held at the Moonee Tavern from 11am.  Live music is included in the lunch session and $20 a ticket through Sticky Tickets: GET YOUR TICKETS HERE. 
We look forward to seeing you at the next Club Teams Race #5 on 17 December with a 6.15am start to  close out 2023.  
Peter Birch
Race Director