Clayton Fettell and Gillian Backhouse the Triathlon Queensland Olympic Distance Triathlon

Clayton Fettell and Gillian Backhouse celebrated victory at Triathlon Queensland’s first ever Olympic Distance race at Pelican Park, Redcliffe on the 10th April.

After weeks of rain, the weather changed for the better and allowed a perfect race day attracting crowds of over 700 people. This event acted as the State Championships finale for TQ Members in the following categories; Cool Ridge Olympic distance (16+), Scody Sprint (14+), Tri-it-out (12-13 yrs), Fit2BKids (10-11) and In2Tri mini-kids (7-9).

Fettell finished 1st in the Cool Ridge Triathlon with a time of 1:56:37 closely followed by Tim Berkel 1:58:40 and Mitch Kealy 2:00:42.  The women’s race was dominated by Gillian Backhouse finishing with a time of 2:12:26 finishing ahead of Liz Fancutt 2:18:18 and Angela Clarke 2:19:38.

“I loved the course, the water temperature was beautiful, the bike course was flat and fast and the run was really nice along the water’s edge”, explained Fettell.  Fettell, who is heading over to America to compete on the international circuit, said he used the Cool Ridge Triathlon as a hit out to his up-coming triathlons in America.

Tim Berkel believed “that his chance of catching Fettell was slim due to Fettell’s strong swim and bike leg”.  However Berkel thought that his race went well as he is a long course athlete, he was relaxed and the dynamics of the course made it fast paced and good to race in a friendly, non-pressure environment.

Backhouse, winner of the female Cool Ridge Tri felt her race went really well. She had the overall best time for the swim and the run but the bike leg wasn’t her best. Staying ahead of the pack, the closest that runner up Liz Fancutt came to her was at the beginning of the run leg. Backhouse wasn’t sure how strong a runner Fancutt was, but put in her best effort and came out on top.

The competitors of the race took well to the race day conditions and the course, the water temperature was 26.4 degrees and the perfect clean sunny day made for optimal race conditions. The competitors said that the cycle was flat and fast and there was a great friendly atmosphere.

The official media partner 220 Triathlon Magazine also had a special vested interest in the race, the editor Marius Van der Nist competed, although having a few technical difficulties, still managed to make it across the finish line.

In addition to the Cool Ridge Triathlon this event also hosted the Scody Sprint Race.  This race doubled up as the Age group selection event for the 2011 Australian ITU World Championship Sprint Team due to the cancellation of the Sprint Championships in February. The Scody Sprint was taken out by Josh Maeder from Cannon Hill and Kaisa Lehtonen from Finland. The overall state champions were awarded at the annual TQ presentation dinner on the 15th April.

The race day ended with Moreton Bay councillor Rae Frawley presenting the medal winners. “The TQ Olympic Tri was a great event for the community, and was good a way to bring money back into the community after the floods”, Frawley announced.

Overall Results