Bryce McMaster and Brittany Forster take round two wins at Gatorade Queensland Triathlon Series

Brisbane's Bryce McMaster claimed his second successive win of the series in commanding style, while 16-year-old Brittany Forster claimed her first win of the series over the sprint distance format, 400m swim, 15km cycle, 4km run. McMaster led from start to finish beating home another talented

Brisbane’s Bryce McMaster claimed his second successive win of the series in commanding style among a talented junior field at Robina this morning, while 16-year-old Brittany Forster claimed her first win of the series after finished third in round one over the sprint distance format, 400m swim, 15km cycle, 4km run.

McMaster led from start to finish beating home another talented youngster Luke Farrell who took out the All Schools Triathlon last weekend, and a welcome return to the podium for Chris Rawling to claim third. Rawling suffered horrific injuries two years ago when stuck by a mountain bike during the Airlie Beach Triathlon and fought his way back from injury. Rawling is currently living in Brisbane but under the guidance of legendary coach Col Stewart on the Gold Coast.   “It’s just so good to be back racing, it’s taken a long time but I’m slowly getting back to my best,” said Rawling.   He will relocate to the Gold Coast this week and is now focussed on improving his times across all disciplines and likely to target some of the big events in Geelong and Mooloolaba in 2011.

McMaster held a commanding lead out of the swim from the chase group that included Farrell, Rawling, Charlie Boyle, Sam Volkers and Darren Carnell. He extended his lead on the bike with Farrell making his move on the second lap to move into outright second place and Boyle holding third. A veteran of the sport 39-year-old Carnell was driving the next group through that included Rawling and Volkers.  Heading out onto the run he held a 40 second lead over the chasers and over 4km in the steamy conditions Farrell couldn’t bridge the gap. Rawling had a great run to move through and claim third, Brad Eastwood moved through to take fourth from Boyle who faded on the run to finish fifth.

 “I could not be happier with the way my season is going, I’ve found good form and last year to finish 8th at Noosa, 12 places better than 2009 and 7 minutes faster I couldn’t ask for anything better. I’m only young, I’m just 20 so to mix it with the likes of Courtney (Atkinson) and Kris (Gemmell) who have been to Olympics and raced at elite level for so long, so to be among them is a pretty good effort,” said McMaster.

He puts his improved times down to his new coach, Chris Lang based at Southport and in good company with Brad Kahlefeldt.  “This time last year I stated training with Chris and I’ve just got stronger and more confident, my swim has always been my strength, the run and bike has come along in leaps and bounds, so it was good to put it all together today.”  He also puts his improvement down to chasing Kahlefeldt on the run in training.  “He is just so strong on the run; it is such a good squad and good juniors, so really competitive.”

McMaster will now focus on making the Under 23 Australian team to compete at the world championships in Beijing 2011, and will target Geelong Sprint Championships, Mooloolaba ITU World Cup and Oceania Championships as his main races.

The women’s race was a similar scenario with Series leader Brittany Forster leading out of the swim from Kendall Arundel from Maroochydore and Bonnie Atherton.  With Arundel suffering the effects of a broken toe she was unable to bridge the gap on the three lap bike leg, while Atherton held down third comfortably.  Heading into the final transition Forster had extended her lead to over a minute and was unchallenged on the run leg to record a convincing win.

“It was pretty good, it was really hard in the swim, I just tried to get away from everyone as my run isn’t my strongest leg, but I tried really hard on the bike to keep working and save as much energy as I could for the run,” said Forster.

Forster will now focus on the three race ITU Junior Series, the first race to be held at Runaway Bay in December. Points accumulated from this series go towards ITU Series Points in Beijing.  Forster is based at Miami with the Surfers Paradise Triathlon club and coached by Jenny Alcorn.

The event attracted just over 1500 competitors taking part across the three distances.

The day also included the Enticer Triathlon which continues to be a popular choice those just keen on keeping fit and having some fun. Just for the kids The Courier-Mail Kool Kids Triathlon, again recording good numbers covering short distances that any child could manage making it a fun experience “100m swim, 2km cycle and 400m run.

The third and final race for 2010 will return to Raby Bay for the special Christmas edition, 12 December. Raby Bay has become another sell out event and this race is always a great way to wind down the year.

Overall Results “Male

1.               Bryce McMaster                                                     Daisy Hill                                                                   43:55

2.               Luke Farrell                                                                         Bokarina                                                                   44:45

3.               Chris Rawling                                                                 Chermside                                                           44:55

4.               Brad Eastwood                                                           Urunga                                                                         44:59

5.               Charlie Boyle                                                                   Mermaid Waters                                   45:04

Overall Results “Female                                                                                                                                      

1.               Brittany Forster                                                       Miami                                                                             50:38

2.               Kendal Arundel                                                         Maroochydore                                           51:35

3.               Bonnie Atherton                                                   Taigum                                                                         52:08

4.               Emily Bevan                                                                       Burpengary                                                       53:41

5.               Jenna Fulton                                                                   Robina                                                                           54:24