The August aquathlon carried on the tradition of great racing Tri Club San Diego style supported by the best volunteers in the world.
With a heat wave baking the county right now and a water temperature in the low 70's the only thing that slowed us down was overturned truck that made traffic a nightmare.
Fortunately another tradition of the Aquathlon series is a late start!!! We ended up with approximately 130 athletes, and one Bob Marley, toeing the line in the sand. Here Jacque Harvey, just done celebrating his 60th brithday, get's ready to teach some kids a lesson. Old Guys Rule!!!
One of the beauties of racing here in San Diego is the depth of the field at our club races. It has been said that TCSD club races have a faster field than most 'pay to race' triathlons and the both podiums back that up.
The women's podium started with collegiate standout Amanda Felder , followed by Ironman Champion Kate Major who is coming off injury and third place went to Darlene to whom I extend my apology for being a rookie journalist who should have written down a few more facts. Also included in the picture is TCSD's own stand out age grouper Elizabeth Daubner, who finished fourth, and is the creator of the edible aquathlon award. In this case GINORMOUS rice krispie treat, royal icing and MnM. More on Elizabeth later....
The men's podium was binational with local star and club member Jim Vance
representing the USA. It took the boys from Brazil to knock Jim down to third. But with Jim's goal race of winning IMMOO quickly approaching and his history of injuries at just the wrong time, I don't know if I would be racing at all this close to the IM.
Congratulations to overall winner Paulo Miyasiro who last weekend placed 5th at the Chicago Triathlon and led out of the water, which is where he was coming in to the transition. Second place saw Fabio Carvalho who like his traveling companion also saw a top ten finish at Chicago.
Let's recap who deep the podiums were. In the mens you had 2 top ten
finishers last weekend at one of the premier events in the nation and the top American finisher, 3rd, at IM Florida. The womens featured a 2 time IM champion and a multi event collegiate champion.
Here the podium boys and past winner Caue Suplicity pose with spectator and two time defending Kona champion Normann Stadler and his beautiful girlfriend. This is what makes triathlon the best sport in the world!! Until you can start playing pickup games with NFL, MLB or NBA players at your local park on a monthly basis, nothing comes close.
But the real fun starts after the race with the pizza and pasta buffet provided by Leucadia Pizza and hosted by Denise Pitre and her crew. This is also where Elizabeth Daubner shines to many of the athletes.
Elizabeth accepted the challenge, yes challenge, last year from Jim to provide desserts at the aquathlons. Now I am not sure if it was suppose to be homemade or not, but that's what they are and the athletes love them. She is probably most remembered for the banana splits, as who would actually think they could pull off banana splits for 150 athletes at the beach during the summer!! Here she is proudly displaying last nights fresh strawberry shortcake.
We were also introduced to our newest club member Benjamin Scott Allen who was bummed that his mom was late because he was fired up for the swim. Here he is at 3 days old with mom, Vicki Allen and brother Skyler. Dad Sean is out there somewhere proven his manhood. Congratulations!! I had originally posted the Allen clan as the Campbells. Apologies!!!
Lastly, I would like to thank beginner coach Steve Tally posing here with his beautiful girlfriend Tammy. See I often, ok always, tease him for being head to toe BnL when he races. So thanks Steve for wearing the club colors, they match your eyes!!
See you all again September 20th. Two more races and were done for the year.

It was a blast! Kate Major was there too! Lots of celebrities.
Posted by: Rachel | August 31, 2007 at 01:02 PM
Thanks for posting the aquathlon Brian! It was a blast as usual. Last name correction on the newest member Benjamin Scot Allen. Although he was late getting to the venue, he was taking the night of in lieu of the up and coming club race. He is in recovery mode post birth on Monday! BTW, Vicki was a rockstar in the labor room, 6 hours, no drugs, and good out of T1!
Posted by: Sean and Vicki Allen | August 31, 2007 at 02:39 PM
My apologies. You guys are great and have corrected it.
Posted by: Brian | August 31, 2007 at 04:15 PM