Race Report:

Race #8 was the final and deciding race in this season's Stroke & Stride Series. The Series had commenced in November and over the summer months competitors had enjoyed some fine racing on Auckland's waterfront. On more than the odd occasion competitors had to contend with a bumpy ride courtesy of the easterly that seems to have blown all summer long. But not for the season finale. It was hard to believe that summer was at an end with the spectacular day that was laid on for our final event. So bright sunshine was the only prevailing weather condition as the big field toed the sand at the start of the 750 metre swim.

William Green was on his own at the head of the men's field as they returned to the beach. The women's field started their swim as the leading contenders in the men's field were racing through transition. Jared Letica had announced his return to Stroke & Stride racing the previous fortnight with a great second placing after his four year absence. This time out the 1995 New Zealand Swim/Run Champ went one better and claimed first place combining a excellent swim with his always fine run. Rodney Gordon can catch just about anybody over 5 kilometres of running. Except for Jared that is, Rodney had to settle for second. Clark Ellice performances have certainly lifted a notch over the later part of this season and he again grabbed another top five finish and more valuable points in this race ahead of legendary Dean Foster. Liam Scopes dramatic finish in fifth spot was above and beyond the call of duty and a good indication of how hard you have to go, to go that fast.

Meanwhile the women's field were being towed around the buoys by the 1996/97 Series Champion Debbie Tanner who hit the beach in 10 minutes and 33 seconds with Kirsty Whiting and Katie Bennett not to far behind. Nicole Cope had her best swim of the season and when this was combined with her always swift run it wasn't looking good for the other women as they headed out to the first turnaround at Kohimarama. When they came back into view at St Heliers Bay and with a kilometre to the finish Nicole had snatched the lead and went on to win her first ever Stroke & Stride. Debbie Tanner had been caught by Kirsty Whiting by this stage but wasn't giving up second without a fight and it wasn't until the last few hundred metres that Kirsty gained the upper hand and claimed second which was also her best ever finish. Young Katie Bennett may not have been able to match strides with our top three but she too was having the race of her life finishing in fourth just ahead of our best finishing international, Sione Jongstra.

So that was all she wrote for the 1998/99 Stroke & Stride Series and when the final points were tallied in the Series Grand Prix there were no real gasps of surprise when it was Brent Foster and Heidi Alexander who were crowned Series Champions. Brent just happens to be collecting his unprecedented sixth Series Championship while Heidi was backing up last season's Series Championship with another title and it's been quite a few years since that's happened in the women's field. Points were accumulated over the eight race Series with an athlete's best six races to count.

This season Brent Foster (1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st &1st) was competing in his own little universe and was simply all class, all season. Things were a lot closer for the rest of the men's field and after the eight events it was the slightly better record of Rodney Gordon (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 2nd, 1st & 2nd) that enabled him to hold out William Green (5th, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd & 3rd) for overall second in the Series. Clark Ellice (10th, 11th, 5th, 2nd, 4th & 3rd) got better with every race and just edged out his compatriot Chris Williams (4th, 4th, 10th, 3rd, 5th & 10th) for fourth position.

Heidi Alexander (1st, 1st, 3rd, 1st, 1st & 2nd) was also in brilliant form all season long but she was matched on occasion by another previous Series Champion, Marisa Pentecost (4th, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd & 1st) who was having her best season since1993/94. Victory in Race #8 was crucial to Nicole Cope (2nd, 2nd,6th, 3rd, 3rd & 1st) edging out Debbie Tanner (3rd, 5th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd & 3rd) by the closest of margins in the Series Grand Prix while Kirsty Whiting's (3rd, 5th, 5th, 6th, 4th & 2nd) future looks very bright indeed after her debut season. We must also mention Nicola de Lautour who joins Debbie Tanner and Kirsty Whiting as being one of only three athletes to record points in all eight races of the Series.

Finally we must thank and remind you to support the sponsors who make this series of events possible: Asics, Bonita Bananas, Griffins, Horleys, Leader Sports, More FM, Orca, Performance Lab, Phase Pulse Systems, Shoe Science and Wattie's 99.6% Fat Free Creamed Race. We look forward to seeing you and them back on November 4, 1999 for another summer of racing.

Race Results:

Female
1 Nicole Cope       30m 08s
2 Kirsty Whiting    30 34
3 Debbie Tanner     30 40
4 Katie Bennett     32 01
5 Sione Jongstra    32 16
6 Leanne Johnston   32 56
7 Nicola de Lautour 33 09
8 Jade Gilbertson   33 23
9 Hayley Swaving    33 28
10 Vanessa Palmer   33 59
11 Jenny Rix Trott  34 35
12 Elen Clarke      34 41
13 Shena Heath      34 48
14 Margie Peat      34 55
15 Melissa Chambers 35 09

Male
1 Jared Letica     26m 43s
2 Rodney Gordon    27 08
3 Clark Ellice     27 14
4 Dean Foster      27 42
5 Liam Scopes      27 54
6 Stuart Blake     28 09
7 Paul Angland     28 23
8 Steven Nicholls  28 31
9 Malcolm McGregor 28 54
10 Chris Williams  28 58
11 Ian Horsburgh   28 59
12 Simon Geach     29 08
13 Glen Tasker     29 30
14 Greg Weatherall 29 33
15 David Bowden    29 49

Stroke & Stride Grand Prix
Final Points after Race #8

Female                Points
1 Heidi Alexander      112
2 Marisa Pentecost     104
3 Nicole Cope           94
4 Debbie Tanner         93
5 Kirsty Whiting        77
6T Naomi Calder         59
6T Nicola de Lautour    59
8 Sue Clark             47
9 Sione Jongstra        36
10T Leanne Johnston     30
10T Katie Bennett       30
12 Rebecca Nesbit       14
13T Shantelle Bliss     13
13T Tracey Fromow       13
13T Jade Gilbertson     13
13T Leanne Matchett     13
13T Vanessa Palmer      13
18 Gayle Clark          12
19T Elen Clarke         11
19T Brooke Pattle       11
19T Koumagawa Yukie     11
22T Louise Boulanger    10
22T Hayley Swaving      10
24T Jennifer Cooper      9
24T Udi-Ann Delport      9
24T Josie Sinclair       9
27 Yoko Hori             8
28 Elizabeth Orchard     7
29 Philippa Reed         6
30 Jenny Rix Trott       5
31 Desiree McCarthy      4
32T Shena Heath          3
32T Kathleen Pearce      3
32T Cindy Taylor         3
35 Margie Peat           2
36T Melissa Chambers     1
36T Julia Cree           1
36T Kelly O'Donnell      1
36T Janet Tyler          1

Male                                 
1 Brent Foster         120
2 Rodney Gordon         99
3 William Green         90
4 Clark Ellice          67
5 Chris Williams        64
6 Stuart Blake          50
7 Paul Angland          45
8 Jonathon Counsell     44
9 Steven Nicholls       43
10 Jared Letica         37
11 James Elvery         34
12T Dean Foster         26
12T Chris Ritchie       26
14 Simon Geach          24
15 Dean Jagusch         21
16 Marty Birch          20
17 Oliver Tompkins      19
18T Malcolm McGregor    17
18T Dennis Wakefield    17
18T Haydn Woolley       17
21 Richard Harding      16
22 Craig Tulloch        15
23T Ian Horsburgh       13
23T Taku Obara          13
25T Jochen Cals         11
25T Ken Hight           11
25T Dylan Mordaunt      11
25T Liam Scopes         11
29T Craig Johns          9
29T Bruce Odams          9
31T Jean Luc Boulanger   8
31T Shingo Tani          8
33T Tony Hawkes          6
33T Quentin Smith        6
35 Kirk Trigance         5
36 Lewis Prebble         4
37 Glen Tasker           3
38T Tom Forch            2
38T Greg Weatherall      2
40T David Bowden         1
40T Dave Chambers        1
40T Nicholas Wedde       1