Nicholas Free and Lotte Wilms claim victory at Mooloolaba Triathlon 2023

Nicholas Free and Lotte Wilms emerged victorious at the 31st Mooloolaba Triathlon in the men's and women's open races respectively. Thousands of athletes participated in the event, which involved a 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride, and a 10km run.

In the men's race, Free crossed the finish line in 1:46:45, 30 seconds ahead of Caleb Noble, while Kurt McDonald came third. In the women's race, Wilms won with a time of 2:03:06, almost a minute ahead of Madi Roberts.

The humidity made the race challenging, but both athletes managed to overcome the tough conditions. In the end, Wilms and Free's victories put them in excellent positions to tackle their upcoming busy schedules of training and racing.

What they are saying:

• "It was good, the swim was really fast, Josh Amberger always makes it a fast swim, that's his race plan to get out quick and get rid of as many people as possible" - Nicholas Free on his victory.
• "It was so humid, Brisbane at the moment is just brutal and this is just another one of those brutal days where you're grabbing waters at every aid station and it just doesn't seem to make any difference, you're still hot, it was hard" - Nicholas Free on the race conditions.
• "It was tough, I'm full in training at the moment, I did a full swim, bike, and run yesterday so I could definitely feel it in my legs from the first step into the water, so I was just pushing, pushing, pushing and that was the plan and it's great to win" - Lotte Wilms on her victory.

The numbers:

• Nicholas Free won the men's race with a time of 1:46:45, while Lotte Wilms won the women's race with a time of 2:03:06.

Mooloolaba Triathlon – Open Standard Men’s Race

1. Nicholas Free – 1:46:45
2. Caleb Noble – 1:47:23
3. Kurt McDonald – 1:47:50
4. Josh Amberger – 1:48:12
5. Kurt Fryer – 1:49:36
6. Kieran Storch – 1:51:56
7. Fraser Walsh – 1:56:13
8. Jye Spriggs – 1:58:31
9. Blair Fullarton-Loggie – 1:59:20
10. Jack Smith – 1:58:21

Mooloolaba Triathlon – Open Standard Women’s Race

1. Lotte Wilms – 2:03:06
2. Madi Roberts – 2:03:58
3. Richelle Hill – 2:06:59
4. Emily Donker – 2:07:53
5. Paige Cranage – 2:12:45
6. Briarna Silk – 2:13:43
7. Alise Silk – 2:13:43
8. Belinda Murray – 2:15:25
9. Kristie Caplikas – 2:16:39
10. Rachael Dols – 2:16:43