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Race Report:
The FILA New Zealand Swim/Run Championships for 1999 were held at St Heliers Bay, Auckland starting at 8.00 am on Saturday morning in near perfect conditions for fast racing. A slight offshore breeze left the sea flat and smooth for the 2000 metre swim. The incoming tide may have even helped swimmers along down the back of the two lap triangular course. The half way point was a buoy just 10 metres in front of the transition area giving spectators an excellent view of the mid point of the swim.
Skies were overcast with the late summer sun burning off the cloud cover just as the first athletes crossed the finish line so heat was not a factor during the race. The 8 kilometre run followed the curve of the Auckland waterfront and was totally flat apart from a 200 metre climb leading up to the turnaround at the 4 kilometre point.
Reigning New Zealand Swim/Run Champion Brent Foster's toughest competition was expected to come from last season's runner up, Kris Gemmell from Christchurch.
Adding competition and an international flavour to the Men's field was the World Champion athlete Olivier Bernhard from Switzerland. Two time New Zealand Champion Heidi Alexander faced a stern challenge this year from a handful of the countries best athletes. Evelyn Williamson from Wellington, Shanelle Barrett and Fiona Docherty from Taupo and the 1994 Swim/Run Champion, the recently married Marisa Carter (nee Pentecost) were all looking to prevent Alexander from winning another title.
At the halfway point of the swim Brent Foster had opened up a commanding lead on the chasing pack of swimmers. Marisa Carter was leading the woman and in the top 10 overall at this stage. Brent Foster applied further pressure over the later portion of the swim leg and started the run over a minute and a half clear of the next man. The next man just happened to be his twin brother Dean Foster who had Kris Gemmell in tow at the end of the swim. Peter Clode was only a further 10 seconds down at this point but was still feeling the effects of his Ironman competition two weeks earlier and withdrew half way through the run. A further minute down on Gemmell after the swim was Olivier Bernhard whose smooth running style looked ominous for the lead men.
Gemmell passed Dean Foster in transition and set off after the leading Foster like a speeding bullet. Unfortunately bullets have trouble going around corners and this problem would also prove to be Gemmell's downfall later in the day. With every passing metre Gemmell proceeded to take large chunks from Brent Foster's rapidly evaporating lead and in the final kilometres Gemmell took the lead and crossed the line in first place ahead of Brent Foster. Olivier Bernhard was all class as he made quick work of the 8 kilometres but couldn't catch the two leaders and finished third ahead of Silas Cullen who also had a tremendous run leg. Dean Foster backed up his superb swim with a strong run to round out the top five.
Unfortunately for Gemmell his elation turned to disappointment as he was given a two minute time penalty for running on the road instead of the footpath which relegated him to third place.
Marisa Carter finished the swim in front of all but a handful of the men and started the run 45 seconds clear of the second woman Evelyn Williamson. Carter was having her best season in recent years and eager to regain her title but Williamson's run has improved markedly over recent seasons and she quickly passed Carter and moved to the head of the woman's field.
Starting the run a couple of minutes behind these leading woman was Shanelle Barrett who was on her way to recording the fastest run split of the day. Barrett's run was good enough to get her up into second but Evelyn Williamson was not to be denied her victory as she took the title of Swim/Run Champion for 1999 in a time of 55 minutes and 35 seconds. Carter held out last season's Champion Heidi Alexander and took third while Fiona Docherty missed a turn near the finish to allow Megan Dalton to snatch back fifth place.
Results:
Place Name Swim Run Finish Male 1 108 Brent Foster 22.30 28.16 50.46 2 99 Olivier Bernhard 25.16 26.19 51.35 (Switzerland) 3 32 Kris Gemmell 23.59 28.15* 52.14 * includes 2 minute time penalty 4 30 Silas Cullen 25.44 28.09 53.53 5 109 Dean Foster 24.10 29.46 53.56 6 39 Dean Jagusch 24.55 29.07 54.02 7 161 Stuart Blake 25.33 28.49 54.22 8 4 Chris Williams 24.41 29.43 54.24 9 36 Dennis Wakefield 24.20 30.20 54.40 10 129 Darragh Walshe 25.29 29.28 54.57 11 166 Simon Geach 25.42 28.31 55.13 12 33 Steve Nicholls 24.43 31.03 55.46 13 238 Rick Faulding 25.44 30.15 55.59 14 177 Jean-Luc Boulange 28.24 29.14 57.38 15 112 Tony Hawkes 25.37 32.17 57.54 16 163 Peter Craig 26.50 31.34 58.24 17 130 Chris Weeks 28.50 29.52 58.42 18 103 Adrian Butcher 28.44 30.49 59.33 19 214 Steven Howell 27.41 32.02 59.43 20 132 Craig Tulloch 24.21 35.36 59.57 21 73 Wayne Oxenham 27.34 32.44 60.18 22 175 Nicholas Wedde 28.36 31.46 60.22 23 216 Mike Murray 26.22 34.23 60.45 24 120 Tony Meehan 30.38 30.23 61.01 25 242 David Peirce 28.58 32.09 61.07 26 71 Richard Trass 25.14 36.08 61.18 27 172 Terry Robinson 29.57 31.43 61.40 28 38 Ashley Honey 25.45 36.17 62.02 29 63 Jack Butland 29.10 33.25 62.35 30 106 Jon Dalton 29.04 33.37 62.41 31 203 Paul David 28.03 34.46 62.49 32 101 Linton Burns 31.49 31.08 62.57 33 264 Murray Glen 31.17 31.47 63.04 34 239 John Moyes 27.22 35.49 63.11 35 126 Peter Skurr 29.02 35.00 64.02 36 164 Peter Eising 29.55 34.49 64.44 37 291 Keith Pearce 31.08 33.54 65.02 38 31 Mark Fullerton 29.53 35.15 65.08 39 171 Shane Lye 31.04 34.34 65.38 40 67 Bevan Fleming 30.45 35.11 65.56 41 68 Geoff O'Brien 31.56 34.21 66.17 42 124 Mennolt Regtien 31.02 35.41 66.43 43 212 Mark Foley 33.35 33.09 66.44 44 69 Dave Rhodes 32.05 35.03 67.08 45 100 Craig Blackmore 30.50 36.20 67.10 46 274 Ash Harding 30.38 36.43 67.21 47 265 Gary Gotlieb 31.18 36.18 67.36 48 176 Nigel Clarke 30.46 36.58 67.44 49 37 Simon Phelps 35.58 31.48 67.46 50 113 Rich Kerr 31.50 36.12 68.02 51 204 Paul Doesburg 34.03 34.00 68.03 52 245 Ron Campbell 33.50 34.35 68.25 53 277 Alex Shaw 31.44 36.48 68.32 54 131 Steve Harris 34.31 34.21 68.52 55 70 Lane Stephens 34.14 34.44 68.58 56 244 Robert Wilshire 35.44 33.18 69.02 57 114 Toby Lerew 35.11 33.58 69.09 58 76 Peter Dennis 38.32 31.08 69.40 59 127 Gavin Tasker 31.25 38.28 69.53 60 206 Marty Finch 34.58 35.10 70.08 61 213 Kevin Loft 34.54 36.42 71.36 62 111 Russ Hamilton 31.16 41.02 72.18 63 237 Roger Donald 34.45 38.01 72.46 64 118 Damon McCarthy 35.27 37.32 72.59 65 208 Ray Pitch 36.45 36.14 72.59 66 241 Glynn Owens 37.40 35.27 73.07 67 243 Rob Wills 35.11 38.14 73.25 68 123 Ian Parker 37.28 36.55 74.23 69 117 Andrew Martin 33.45 40.43 74.28 70 122 Andrew Morton 40.07 34.31 74.38 71 292 Laurie Wesley 39.50 35.03 74.53 72 276 Michael Meekings 38.17 37.39 75.56 73 173 Edward Smith 35.27 40.32 75.59 74 74 Carrick Whitney 39.37 36.41 76.18 75 290 Joseph McCallum 38.30 38.08 76.38 76 15 Richard O'Brien 36.27 40.11 76.38 77 72 Chris Holmes 37.19 39.47 77.06 78 66 Hamish Firth 43.29 33.51 77.20 79 160 Christopher Bisho 34.17 43.53 78.10 80 64 Kerry Delaney 37.23 41.09 78.32 81 240 Peter Munro 43.33 35.01 78.34 82 299 Alec Hill 36.33 42.03 78.36 83 275 Ken Kelsey 40.12 38.25 78.37 84 105 Michael Culpan 38.13 40.54 79.07 85 210 Garth Pointon 39.29 41.09 80.38 86 266 Michael Ure 43.16 38.44 82.00 87 207 Trevor Longbottom 38.05 44.45 82.50 88 263 Wayne Dillon 45.20 45.16 90.36 89 35 Brendon Tannion 50.10 40.31 90.41 90 289 Ian Bradley 46.17 52.16 98.33 91 121 Richard Morron 99.03 Female 1 89 Evelyn Williamson 25.07 30.28 55.35 2 48 Shanelle Barrett 27.01 28.50 55.51 3 84 Marisa Carter 24.23 32.40 57.03 4 82 Heidi Alexander 27.18 30.27 57.45 5 86 Megan Dalton 25.32 33.39 59.11 6 50 Fiona Docherty 28.27 31.22 59.49 7 51 Sione Jongstra 30.27 31.39 62.06 (Holland) 8 10 Kirsty Whiting 26.26 36.38 63.04 9 187 Leanne Johnston 31.17 32.10 63.27 10 194 Josie Sinclair 32.20 31.45 64.05 11 87 Shena Heath 31.13 34.04 65.17 11 23 Vanessa Palmer 27.25 37.56 65.21 12 90 Claire Barry 30.02 35.26 65.28 13 52 Raelene Keown 27.52 37.43 65.35 14 83 Liz Carr 28.34 37.48 66.22 15 49 Anna Cheyne 30.09 36.37 66.48 16 256 Lorene Smith 30.54 35.59 66.53 17 141 Melissa Chambers 67.06 18 226 Margie Peat 31.53 35.25 67.18 19 148 Tania Woodbury 30.32 40.21 70.53 20 143 Leann Geach 31.22 39.51 71.13 21 225 Terri Moyes 30.28 41.00 71.28 22 54 Shannon Colligan 34.09 37.38 71.47 23 85 Teresa Coston 38.51 33.30 72.21 24 144 Shelley King 28.07 44.52 72.59 25 142 Cynthia Forbes 34.45 39.24 74.09 26 255 Isla Nixon 38.08 39.08 77.16 27 88 Andrea Palmer 42.53 34.29 77.22 28 91 Helen Turner 32.54 45.59 78.53 29 147 Kim Stuart 41.34 37.36 79.10 30 223 Liz Hardley 42.10 37.21 79.31 31 284 Jacky Tasker 38.29 41.19 79.48 32 254 Margaret Henley 35.49 45.02 80.51 33 190 Gerda Kuschel 36.45 44.46 81.31 34 282 Glenis King 35.20 46.14 81.34 35 288 Jo Crooks 44.46 36.58 81.44 36 146 Lynne McLean 40.30 42.59 83.29 37 186 Carleen Gibbons 45.20 39.17 84.37 38 193 Fujine Wolken 40.28 45.41 86.09 39 192 Catherine Marriot 38.20 48.05 86.25 40 297 Judy Barfoot 40.23 48.15 88.38 41 227 Joanna Perry 40.25 48.41 89.06 Age Group Results Under 18 1 Chris Williams 54 24 Kirsty Whiting 63 04 18 – 19 1 Richard O'Brien 76 38 Vanessa Palmer 65 21 20 – 24 1 Dean Jagusch 54 02 Fiona Docherty 59 49 2 Dennis Wakefield 54 40 Sione Jongstra 62 06 3 Steve Nicholls 55 46 Raelene Keown 65 35 25 – 29 1 Wayne Oxenham 60 18 Shena Heath 65 17 2 Richard Trass 61 18 Claire Barry 65 28 3 Jack Butland 62 35 Liz Carr 66 22 30 – 34 1 Darragh Walshe 54 57 Melissa Chamber67 06 2 Tony Hawkes 57 54 Tania Woodbury 70 53 3 Chris Weeks 58 42 Leanne Geach 71 13 35 – 39 1 Stuart Blake 54 22 Leanne Johnston63 27 2 Simon Geach 55 13 Josie Sinclair 64 05 3 Jean-Luc Boulang 57 38 Gerda Kuschel 81 31 40 – 44 1 Steven Howell 59 43 Margie Peat 67 18 2 Mike Murray 60 45 Terri Moyes 71 28 3 Paul David 62 49 Liz Hardley 79 31 45 – 49 1 Rick Faulding 55 59 Lorene Smith 66 53 2 David Peirce 61 07 Isla Nixon 77 16 3 John Moyes 63 11 Margaret Henley80 51 50 – 54 1 Murray Glen 63 04 2 Gary Gotlieb 67 36 3 Michael Ure 82 00 55 – 59 1 Ash Harding 67 21 Jacky Tasker 79 48 2 Alex Shaw 68 32 Glenis King 81 34 3 Michael Meekings 75 56 Jo Crooks 81 44 60 – 65 1 Keith Pearce 65 02 Judy Barfoot 88 38 2 Laurie Wesley 74 53 3 Joseph McCallum 76 38 65 Plus 1 Alec Hill 78 36