The AAH Sandman at LLanddwyn beach, Anglesey brought the curtain down on the inaugural Welsh Super Series, as Pembrokeshire’s Alex Matchett secured a whitewash of victories with his sixth victory of the series to cement his position at the top of the male competition. A 2nd place finish for Vicky Johnston was enough to pip Catherine Marks at the top of the female series, having led the table since Llanelli.
With the weather forecast causing chaos in the build up to the event, the AAH crew pulled out all the stops to ensure that mother nature wouldn’t hinder the finale of the 2018 Welsh Super Series. As the sun rose, the wind dropped, and calm fell upon Newborough Forest as Transition filled up with athletes of all ages and abilities as the day consisted of the Welsh Super Series Sprint, as well as a duathlon event and numerous Tristar ages.
Within the male race, with the top 8 after stage 5 all having completed 4 events, marginal gains were available with a strong Sandman Performance, but the likes of Josh Lewis, Olly Simon and Chris Silver, who had been near the podium throughout the series all sat on 3, so it essentially became a three-way shootout for the final two podium spaces if their form continued.
The swim at times turned into a paddle with the winds and tides causing a little disruption, but the lead group of Lewis, Simon, Silver, Matchett, Celtic Tri’s Nathaniel Harries and Caerphilly’s Kieran John made light work and entered and exited transition almost together. After a fast 25km around the West of the island, the front four of Lewis, Matchett, Silver and Simon all entered transition within 10 seconds of each other, Silver probably suffering the most on the bike having dropped his chain on a couple of occasions, but a mis placement of Bike within transition by Josh Lewis provided the ascendency back to Olly simon in the overall race. Matchett, as he’d done so throughout the previous five stages made light work of T2 and built a lead that no one could claw back on the run. Silver, lived up to his name and cemented his 2nd place in the series with another 2nd place finish here. It was a straight shoot out though between Simon and Lewis for third, and with both switching positions throughout the run, it seemed that the error in T2 by Lewis was the difference as Simon powered away on the latter stages of the run.
Within the women’s race, GOG Triathlon’s Rhian Roxburgh, winner of the 2016 led from the front, having left the water not far behind the leading men. The race for the series however was a two-horse race between Johnston and Marks. With Johnston only having completed three events thus far after struggling with injury all year, she essentially needed to finish ahead of Marks to secure the series. This on paper was the closest race between the two all series, but Johnston did enough to hold off Catherine, as a second and fourth placed finish in the event was enough to secure 1st and 2nd overall.
Across the rest of the series, a close contest in the male 50+ category saw Nigel Morse pip Steve Matchett to the title, even though Matchett had the better of Morse on the day. Nathaniel Harries managed to secure the male youth and junior category with a top 10 finish, as did Cardiff’s James Manson in the male 40+ category and a huge effort from Roger Kiernan secured the 70+ category.
Within the women’s race, Pembrokeshire’s Camilla Cooke didn’t quite do enough to pip Jennifer Aylward in the women’s 50+ category, but it was enough to secure a podium spot for Pembrokeshire within the club competition. Gillian Hopkins finishing in the top 10 was enough to win the Women’s 40+ category and win some hard-earned points for Team Cranc, and a no show from either Katie Greenwood or Emma Palfrey meant that Greenwood secured third spot in the overall by the smallest of margins.
Final Welsh Super Series Category Winners
| Position | Overall Male | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Alex Matchett | Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club | 547.75 |
| 2nd | Chris Silver | NTPCW | 533.66 |
| 3rd | Olly Simon | Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club | 520.4 |
| Position | Overall Female | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Vicky Johnston | 500.60 | |
| 2nd | Catherine Marks | Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club | 481.19 |
| 3rd | Katie Greenwood | Cardiff Triathletes | 462.40 |
| Age Categories - Male | Name | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youth and Junior | Nathanial Harries | Celtic Tri | 240.51 |
| Senior | Alex Matchett | Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club | 547.75 |
| 40+ | James Manson | Cardiff Triathletes | 487.27 |
| 50+ | Nigel Morse | Celtic tri | 431.72 |
| 60+ | Mike Battersby | Cardiff Triathletes | 391.41 |
| 70+ | Roger Kiernan | 90.24 |
| Age Categories - Female | Name | Club | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youth and Junior | Eden Schiller | Newcastle Stafforshire Triathlon Club | 228.36 |
| Senior | Vicky Johnston | 500.60 | |
| 40+ | Gillians Hopkins | Cardiff Triathletes | 457.30 |
| 50+ | Jennifer Aylward | 188.44 | |
| 60+ | Karen Munn | Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club | 200.57 |
| 70+ | Sue Bathgate | Cheltenham Triathlon Club | 99.33 |
A full breakdown of all the Welsh Super Series results can be found by clicking here
Welsh Triathlon would like to congratulate all competitors across each event of the 2018 and thank you for contributing to a great first series. Welsh triathlon would also like to thank all of the individual event organisers,
Healthy Life Activities,
Pembrokeshire Triathlon Club,
Always Aim High Events,
Pencoed Triathlon Club
and the Bala Working Party,
as well as their respective local authorities and commercial partners for their efforts in facilitating the series. There will be a series in 2019 and the locations and format of this will be disclosed in the Autumn.
