Whitsunday athletes in top form for Airlie Beach Triathlon

It’s goodbye sailors and hello to the triathletes as the focus for Airlie Beach turns towards the 2012 staging of the Sportspower Airlie Beach Triathlon.

Tantalising clashes, new races and course changes herald in a new era for the 14th annual event, and the future looks bright.
Once again, the event has been able to attract a quality field headlined by former winner Sam Betten who showed he’s in good form with a fighting second place at the Capricorn Half Ironman in Yeppoon last weekend.
His main competition will come from another rising star Ryan Fisher who has recently returned from Europe where he spent time with the Australian Olympic team as they prepared for London. Fisher has a win in the Fujifilm Hamilton Island Triathlon on his resume and would love to add this esteemed Airlie Beach title to his list!
The battle for supremacy should make things very interesting for spectators.
A new race has been added to the program with an Enticer distance race now an option for those interested in giving it a ‘tri’ and also to provide a bridge between the highly successful Ergon Energy Junior Tri and the Sprint Distance event.
The shorter distances make the event more achievable for those starting out;with a 350m swim, 10km bike ride and 2.5km run evidently popular with beginners, with a number of hearty locals already entered.
In an attempt to make the event more spectator friendly, even if it’s a little tougher for the athletes, is to introduce a two-loop bike course.
The bike leg will now see athletes turn right from Broadwater Avenue and head out along Shute Harbour Road to the William Murray Drive intersection before returning to transition via Summit Avenue, with Enticer athletes heading in for their run, while the sprint distance athletes head back out for a second lap. Spectators will have a good idea of whether the fast swimmers have been able to stay away or whether their lead has evaporated on the testing cycle!
Local bragging rights are always important but no-one looks likely to get close to emerging star Luke Henry of Proserpine, a member of the Triathlon Queensland Development Squad, more interested to see if he’s starting to bridge the gap on the established stars of the sport.
Online entries close on Thursday night, whilst late entries for the Sportspower Sprint and Enticer triathlons will be possible only on Saturday between 1pm and 5pm at the Airlie Beach Lagoon.
Entering online at www.whitsundaytriclub.com makes the whole process easier for athletes and organizers and the take-up online has increased remarkably over the last few years.
Organisers will however be at the Lagoon on Saturday afternoon for Race Number and kit collections as well as the Ergon Junior Triathlon. Strong support from Hamilton Island and Cannonvale Primary should ensure a fun afternoon, with races for all ages of kids and fantastic race packs including race singlets, McDonalds vouchers and goodies just for participating!
Starting out with an Enticer, throwing together a team or pressing your claims for future stardom, the Sportspower Airlie Beach Triathlon has it all in town this weekend.