Aberavon Beach Aquathlon - 6th July 2009

Report by Luke Watson

We arrived at Aberavon early on Sunday morning to the crashing of MASSIVE waves on the rocks by the beach – not a good sign for the weaker swimmers among us (…Dad?). Fortunately we learned that the swim would take place in the ‘sheltered’ sea between two breakwaters. Sadly, there was only 4 Pembs Tri members taking part (3 Watsons and Luke Cornish), despite this being the Welsh Champs. The format was a 750m(ish!) swim followed by a 5km run (both 2 laps) for the Juniors and Seniors, with half that for the Youths. Everyone started as one wave with the Youths peeling off after the first lap and heading out to transition, while everyone else went back into the water.

After a quick race briefing we headed down for a beach start. There was only one thing missing…Dad!. After all the times he’s had a go at me for faffing before a race he decides he needs the toilet 5mins before we’re supposed to start, leaving me holding the baby oil and the car keys. He eventually made the start line and we were off.

As soon as we started, we knew we’d underestimated both the conditions and the length of the swim course. It was really wavy, making navigation tough (alright for those who only need to see the red hat in front, eh Jake! Don’t worry I’ll pay you back at Tuska). Of course, navigation is always tough when you can’t see…”Dad, those were rocks on the breakwater being swamped by the waves, they really weren’t people out to cheer us on” (should have gone to Specsavers)!!! After what seemed like a very long time for a 400m, we exited the water with me in the lead, followed by Jake and the lead Youth girl…advantage to the youngsters! They headed off to transition while I went back into the water for another long lap. Luke Cornish was out shortly afterwards and he too headed onto the run. Meanwhile, there was still no sign of Dad…

After another, even longer lap, or so it seemed, I exited the water with a decent lead. However, the swim time was 18.53, making it the longest 750m I’ve ever swum! I passed Jake (opposite directions) on his way to the finish – winning the Welsh Youth Championships- as I started the run, then Luke C as he ran in 3rd place to take Youth bronze.

I completed the first run lap maintaining a decent lead but the only problem was I hadn’t seen Dad starting his run…was he still struggling in the swim? Had he dropped out? No, it turns out he’d got lost on the second lap, sighting the buoy and setting determinedly off towards it, only to get a tap on the shoulder from a rescue officer “Excuse me mate, you have to go to that buoy first”…oh dear! He eventually got out the water in just under 30mins…believe it or not, there were still some people behind him!

I finished the 2nd lap, and was pleased to win otherwise I’d never hear the end of it from Jake! We had to put red Corus swim hats on for the winners photo taken with the stunning backdrop of the steelworks (red hat, green shoes, steelworks …nice!).

Dad had a surprisingly (his words not mine) good run, overtaking a few people…that’s the advantage of having your weakest discipline first. Then it was presentation time with the following results:

Full results at http://www.celtictri.com/index.htm