Stewart Chases Down Win

Newcastle Herald

Monday November 26, 2007

By RENEE VALENTINE

REDHEAD triathlete Nathan Stewart recovered from a slow start to defend his Newcastle Olympic Distance Triathlon crown with a convincing win yesterday.

Stewart was two minutes off the pace of race leaders after the opening 1.5-kilometre swim leg but clawed his way back with an opportunistic 40km cycle, which included four loops of hilly King Edward Park.

By the time Stewart made the transition to the final leg, a 10km run, he had nearly a two-minute buffer over his nearest rival.

He captured his second successive title in one hour, 58 minutes and 52 seconds.

Jemani Francis, from Gungahlin, was second in 1:59.48 and Sydney's Cameron Goode was third in 2:01.16.

Shane Gibbs was the next best-placed local.

Gibbs boasts a strong swimming background and was out of the water second, eventually finishing fifth in 2:02.03.

Aberglasslyn's Gareth Bannon was sixth in 2:03.57.

It was a pleasing final hit-out for Stewart before he heads to Western Australia for the Busselton ironman triathlon this weekend.

It will be just his fourth attempt at the gruelling ironman distance of 3.8km swim, 180km ride and 42.2km run and comes eight months after he was forced to withdraw from the Port Macquarie ironman due to illness.

"That was a good hit-out for sure leading into Busselton," Stewart said.

"I felt good on the bike and had a bit of a lead going into the run, so I was able to ease back a bit and rest the legs a little."

Woden's Michelle Wu won the women's race in 2:13.26 ahead of Yvette Fisher, of Holt, in 2:15.24 and Mona Vale's Betina Crooks was third in 2:20.14.

Celebrity entrant Daniel McPherson, who appears in the television series City Homicide, was not too far off the pace of the leaders, finishing 17th overall in 2:10.54 and placing fifth in his age group.

The event was the second leg of the Newcastle Triathlon Series.

Stewart placed second in the opening event at Maitland in October.

© 2007 Newcastle Herald

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