Pencoed Tri’s Tuska Sprint Triathlon hosted stage 5 of the 2018 Welsh Super Series, as well as the Welsh National Sprint Championship as Alex Matchett and Carol Bridge crossed first in what were the most testing conditions of the series thus far.

With the race starting on time at 7:00am, sea conditions were difficult, and had the race been scheduled to start an hour later with the impending weather, the event could have changed to a duathlon. Credit to all the swimmers who navigated the choppy waters, and it was Guernsey CWG representative Josh Lewis who exited first, leading the group containing Alex Matchett, Lewys John, Kieran John and Chris Silver. With the group exiting T1 almost simultaneously, the promising youngster Lewys John's race ended having taken a tumble on the bike. With Silver, Matchett and Lewis pulling away from Kieran John, the trio returned within 25 seconds of each other into T2. This is where Matchett comes into his own, and across both T2 and the run made 19 seconds on second place Chris Silver to win by 24 seconds in a time of 1hour and 24 seconds. Silver aptly came second in 1 hour 46 seconds, with Lewis completing the podium in a time of 1:01:38, 52 seconds back from Silver.

It was experience versus youth in the female race, the lead group out of the swim consisted of Hannah Jenkins, Abbie Williams, Bethan Hinett and Eden Schiller, all youth and junior athletes, with Carol Bridge just behind and series contender Vicky Johnston leaving the water in 6^th place a minute behind the lead group.  Experience told on the bike however as Carol soon bridged the gap and extended her lead with a strong bike leg. This is where Johnston came back into the race by overtaking the leading group and entered T2 in second place, with Pembrokeshire’s Abbie Williams coming in 3^rd. Williams though smashed the run in a time of 20:07 and although not enough to claw back winner Bridge, who finished in a time of 1:08:56, was enough to secure second place in a time of 1:10:32, a minute ahead of third placed Johnston in 1:11:32.  Series leader Marks showed her consistency with another top ten finish to lead the series points by 2 ahead of Cardiff’s Katie Greenwood who finished in 6^th place overall. With an additional 4 points separating Emma Palfrey in 3^rd place in the series standings, the Womens results will go to the wire at the Sandman Sprint.

Welsh Triathlon would like to thank the organisers and volunteers from Pencoed Triathlon club for facilitating the event in challenging conditions, as well as every competitor who would took part in the middle of Hurricane Tuska.

National Championship Results (Welsh Triathlon Members Only)

Super Series Categories (if different to above) 

Full scores from Tuska can be found HERE

The overall updated Welsh triathlon Super Series score can be found by clicking HERE