2018 report
Fifty-one swimmers stand on the sandy shore of Parsley Bay. Like a Jack in the Box, they are ready to burst into the water at the sound of the ‘starting gun’. Sara shouts: “ready, set, go” and so begins the 2018 edition of the Martin Chimes Maccabi Tri. In a flash 102 feet stampede through the calm waters of the bay; bodies wade and dive for maximum speed until the water deepens and freestyle becomes the fastest means through the watercourse. Some hang back to avoid the battle at the front of the pack where the amphibious advance, hungry for first-place.
Friends, family and teammates watch and cheer from the bridge as swimmers cover 750 metres; it comprises two rectangular laps of the bay, punctuated by a short dash onto the sand after the first lap, and concludes with a stair-climb to the Transition on The Crescent.
After lap one, the group has already spread out and more so again after the second. Within just over nine minutes, swimmers begin to exit the water and sprint towards the ascent. Many feel legs starved of oxygen and stamina, consumed earlier by the upper-body effort, but forge ahead no matter. It is such a fitting finale to the first stage, reminiscent of the diabolical 2010 Cottage Point Tri designed by Martin Chimes, where the swim-to-transition had a similar uphill profile, not to mention the bike and run stages with more vertical ascent than a Himalayan Mountain Goat climbs in a lifetime.
David Schnabl, at 10:13, is the first swimmer to Transition followed by Craig Hammond, a sliver of a second later. Eleven swimmers finish within 1:23 of each other, among them the first female Jade Berson (11:03) and the first individual and Masters category entrant Vaughan Blank (11:02), while Norman Abel is the first Veteran at 12:56. Kerry Freeman deserves a special mention as the only female across all ages to tackle the full triathlon and exits the swim at 17:05.
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Within 18 minutes the swim leg is over. All individuals and teammates now put pedal to the metal looping around the streets of Vaucluse in perfect Summer morning conditions. Hopetoun Avenue stands as the main obstacle of the day – its gentle gradient deceptive and often underrated, yet at full gas it can clobber quads and jack-hammer hearts, over and over with four ascents required to complete the 19km stage.
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Jarred Shein, at 36:34, with minimal bike training is the fastest cyclist having overtaken or caught Jason Bos, Leonard Gentin and Daniel Bos each of whom had set out seconds before him. Wayne Miller, at 37:01, puts in a supercharged cycle as the quickest triathlete and reclaims the 1-minute deficit to Michael Linton in the swim, making it a simultaneous run start for the two individuals contending for a win in the Open category. For the Masters, Alan Kaplan took the honours of fastest cycle (38:43) to more than gain the lost time to Vaughan Blank in the swim. And, for the Veterans, John Cohen finishes a strong ride, at 42:31, but it is not enough to rein in Norman Abel who holds his advantage from the swim.
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The cyclists enter Transition, call out their names to the timekeepers Adam and Jake Chimes, and shift into running gear before charging onto the 5km course like bulls to a red rag.
Four teams set their runners loose on the undulating route within less than 2 minutes of each other. So, the team win is wide open to any of these sub 4 min/km sprinters. But it is Jonny Nesher (18:15) who claws back time from Seb Ruiz (19:43) and Shaun Greenblo (19:45) (who also swam) to narrowly take his team to victory at 1:06:26 (Brian May, Tony Rubenstein and Jonny Nesher) followed in quick succession by the next three teams who all finish within 1:03 of this time (and all four beat the prior team course record). Of note, fourth-place teammate, Michael Hazan, sets a rocket-fuelled pace (18:20) which includes a wrong turn that costs him an extra 300 metres! Similarly, Brett Yudelman squeezes in an extra lap on the bike leg.
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In the Open category, Wayne Miller’s run (21:46) proves too strong for Michael Linton (+1:25) to shadow, taking the sub 3-hour marathoner to triumph in 1:12:58. The third podium finisher in the Opens (and also first place Master) goes to Alan Kaplan as he crosses the finish line in a superb 1:15:48 and improving with age as he betters both his 2016 and 2017 times.
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Veteran Norman Abel (28:17) hangs onto the category lead by the skin of his teeth with the experienced John Cohen (26:25) and Joel Bloom (27:25) breathing down his back. John overtakes Joel and tries to reel in first place, but Norman’s swim effort continues to pay dividends and sees him keep his competition at bay. At 1:24:04 (39s and 55s ahead of John and Joel) the sweet taste of victory is his, made all the sweeter having staged a remarkable recuperation over the last year to regain health, fitness and strength.
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Beating the competition is a tough gig but beating yourself is a never-ending commitment. In that vein, Kerry Freeman faces the toughest competition on the day – herself, as the only female triathlete. With a smile on her face she powers through the tri in 1:37:29, hopefully inspiring more women to follow in her footsteps and take part in the 2019 edition.
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The Predicted Time winner goes to Team Shein (Jason Shein, David Shein, Darren Shein) who stop the clock at 1:11:33 with Swiss precision at exactly 3 seconds above their forecast. The Passion & Persistence award passes from Barry Abkin to Marty Knespal for his epic endurance and successful efforts to complete a full Ironman in 2018 at Port Macquarie even after a gruelling Ironman in Busselton went awry due to sharks and bushfires.
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When all is done and dusted, we regroup at the Stricker’s house to relive the tri over coffee and brekky and present the awards. There’s an uplifting energy that fills the room. As Adam Chimes says in his speech: “there is no doubt that this would have been one of the best days of Martin’s life, just seeing all his friends and family together, enjoying each other’s company and honouring the sport and the exercise”.
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Looking forward to seeing you again for the 2019 edition of the Martin Chimes Maccabi Tri.
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Daniel Bos
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