Busso 70.3

So, Busso. What to say...

Pretty good day of triathloning all around, some good racing in the men's, some great solid performances in the women, some very challenging conditions for everyone, some very relived and happy people at the finish. Sort of a bit of everything. Where to start? How about that swim.

It is no real secret that the event needed the race to go well this year. There are genuine concerns for the future of Busso 70.3 after the last couple of years of bad weather, cancelled swims etc have really reduced participation numbers. This year it was was still a big event for sure, but a long way from its 1500 or so max (I think there was about 800 entries this year). From what I have been told they lost money on the event this year and there is all sorts of talk of moving the event to March or something similar to ensure survival. For a race with such a long history it is not a good place to be.

So given all this it was the worst kept secret of the event was that the swim was going ahead this year almost no matter what. 9 out of 10 races I have been to around the world would have canned that swim, okay yes sure the event definitely would have cancelled it if there was risk to people, but unpleasant, tough choppiness, nope, that wasn't going to do it.  The event simply needed a good race too much for that. Still, that swim looked horrible, as an indication of toughness the swim times were at least 5 minutes slower than we would normally expect. 50 plus people being pulled out of the swim and having their days end with DNF is also not good. Blech.

The very tough swim aside though, how was the rest of the day.

Well the men's race was pretty fun to watch. At this stage I would just like to say that I totally called it with my race prediction on Thursday with Mike Phillips, Crowie and Matt Burton indeed being the pace. Watching Crowie run down Mike was something else. Mike is a phenomenal athlete in very good form and so after the bike I wasn't expecting him to be run down, even by somebody of the caliber of Crowie, in the end Crowie got the win pretty comfortably though.Pretty impressive at 46 years of age. Good to see Matt there with a very convincing third too, great for him to continue this amazing season he is having. Really after those three there was quite a gap, so they were operating at a slightly different level.

For the men the race more or less panned out as you would expect, Crowie and Phillips were together with a few others through the swim, just behind McKenna and Eric Watson. Matt lost quite a bit of time, not helped I am sure by the super tough swim conditions. However, once they got on the bike things starting settling down much as you would expect. With a lead group forming and Matt making his way up to the lead group as he usually does. By the time the guys got off the bike the final three were pretty well established and so it was just a case of sitting back and watching the fireworks. Very cool.

About the only blemish on the men's race was afterwards heard some grumbles about a bit of drafting at the front group, and not everybody pulling their weight, but most races have those complaints. It is disappointing that that sort of race behavior still goes on at the pointy end of the pros, but also not all that surprising, there is quite a bit on the line for them after all. Not that that makes it okay.

With the women things were a bit more open and while the result of Felicity Sheedy-Ryan winning was not that surprising, the manner of the victory perhaps was.

Without Sarah Crowley at the race, the field suddenly looked much more open and I was quietly hoping it might be a special day for Emily Loughnan. However, those tough swim conditions didn't seem to work in Emily's favour and she ended up losing quite a bit of time to Flick and the rest of the front runners. The unexpected and surprising part of the swim was actually from Felicity who came out of the swim 2nd, given it isn't usually a strong leg for the former duathlon world champion.

With the women not much really happened on the bike. A couple of positions changed and some of the margins increased a little, but there was a sense that the race was going to come down to the run. One thing was for sure too, that if Flick was near the front when the run started, then it was unlikely that anyone was going to stop her. That was pretty much what happened as she hit the run and then just opened up the gap more and more.

For me, once Flick hit the front my attention turned to Emily. She came off the bike in 5th and I was really hoping she would be able to move up the field as I suspected she wouldn't be happy with 5th. In one of the more compelling bits of the day she did indeed move up and first Laura Armstrong and Renee Kiley both faded a little during the run. Still the pass on Renee didn't come until the final 3km and so it made for a few nervous moments. Great to see Emily on the podium after last year though. I am sure she would have liked to be further up the podium, but hopefully this gives her a bit of peace after 2018 and gives her somewhere positive from which to start the 2019/2020 season.

While the pro races weren't nail biting classics that will be remembered through triathlon history they were fun races to watch and both had their compelling moments. Pretty okay all around.

On a personal note the race was also pretty okay. I had four athletes competing and of those 3 had good days and one unfortunately did not. I had my concerns for all the Front Runner athletes heading into the swim, not because I thought they were in danger, but just because I knew it wouldn't be fun and I was concerned their nerves might get the better of them. To their credit everyone took the challenge head on and most overcame. My one athlete who didn't complete the race did unfortunately come to grief on the swim, but ironically it wasn't the conditions that defeated them. They copped a foot to the face and exited the swim with a bleeding nose. The nose combined with the conditions was a bit much for them and that was the day. Very frustrating way for a race to finish, but also one of those unfortunate things that happens at races and nothing to be ashamed of. Hopefully in a week or two, with a bit of distance they can regroup and come back renewed and refreshed for the next challenge.

Of my remaining athletes I had two first timers and one who was very keen on a 70.3 Worlds slot. Both of the first timers crossed the line ecstatic with the day. I was worried they would be a bit down after such a tough day, but they were both very pleased with their days out, which they well should have been. My final athlete also had a very hard day and was annoyed with her time (everyone was, it was a slow day), but managed to secure her slot to worlds, so I think that made all the annoyance melt away. Actually of my athletes two of them ended up qualifying for worlds, so that means a pretty exciting second half of 2019 for them.

That pretty much wraps up my day. Not a perfect day, far from it, but one where I think most ended up pleased to have met the challenge and overcome. Certainly an event that nearly everyone will remember, perhaps not fondly, but remember it all the same.