Swimmers take off on the first leg of Sunday's BVI Sprint Triathlon

Chris Spencer, Louise DePuy victorious in BVI Sprint Triathlon

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

Chris Spencer won his first title, while St. John’s Lousie DePuy pulled off a 3-peat victory in Sunday’s BVI Sprint Triathlon in Nanny Cay.

Spencer, the overall winner, covered the 800 meter swim in the Nanny Cay Lagoon, the 12.5 mile cycle from Nanny Cay to West End and return and the 3.1 mile run from Nanny Cay to Pockwood Pond and back in 1 hour, 05 minutes and 30 seconds, the second fastest time in the 11-year history of the event.

“I wasn’t worrying about the time because I have a cold and, I lost my goggles about 20 meters into the swim,” Spencer who finished behind Chris Ghiorse last year noted. “The ride and swim were good. It was really nice to see so many people out here competing today.”

Anthony Spenser who finished behind Spencer with a time of 1:09.25—a personal best and seven minute improvement—said he was amazed but happy with his performance. “I’ve done 1:16 every year for six years, so to go seven minutes faster is just amazing,” he acknowledged. “I just spent $1,000 on a road bike yesterday. I’m afraid I’ve reached the stage where I have to by my way to the front of the field,” he joked. “The equipment made the different. I’ve also been doing more training and reading books on how to do triathlons. It’s more complicated than I first realized but, it all helps.”

DePuy, who finished in 1 hour, 14 minutes and 32 seconds—a five minute improvement over lat year—said she was happy with her race. “I think I’ve done this course in 1:12,” DePuy said of her overall best effort. At one point, I looked at my watch and I said ‘if you go under 1:15 that will be OK’ and I just squeaked under.”

The BVI Triathlon she said is being used to prepare for the St. Croix Iron Man in May. “I thought about it (St. Croix) a couple times during the run and I thought ‘13 miles, do I really want to do 13 miles?’ but, I think I will” DePuy said. “I always think of this race as the first race. This is the beginning of the training season for St. Croix and it’s a good indicator, because you have to put in a few good months of training. This is a nice flat course. You can go hard and check out your fitness level and I do like this course.”

Final Results: Times reflect swim, cycle and run. Men; 1. Chris Spencer (13:55/31:09/21:26) 1 hour, 05 minutes 30 seconds. 2. Anthony Spenser, (12:29/34:45/22:11), 1:09.25. 3. Ray Wearmouth, (15:11/32:15/25:50), 1:13:16. 4. Marc Downing, (13:44/39:42/22:06), 1:15.32. 5. Pat Nicholas, (14:23/36:03/25:17), 1:15.43. 6. Simon Cook, (16:32/36:24/22:56), 1:15.52. 7. Matthew Crafts, (13:22/36:41/28:10), 1:18.13). 8. Ben Butler, (18:31/37:37/24:52), 1:19.08. 9. Robert Power, (15:08/39:08/28:31), 1:22.49. 10. Gareth Thomas, (15:18/41:19/30:54), 1:29.11. 10. Les Elliott, (19:15/51:59/30:54), 1:42.08. 11. Tom Merrigan, 1:44.46. 12. Robert Laseter, 1:54.27.

Women:1. Louise DePuy, (12:36/34:56/27:18), 1:14.32. 2. Susan Tucker, 15:04/36:39/30:21) 1:22.04. 3. Jessica Brodenck, (17:35/38:05/27:12), 1:22.52. 4. Carolyn Chabury, 1:54.22. 5. Kathie McMurthre, 1:54.26.

Teams: Louise DePuy, Jim Cullimore, Linden Peters, (12:36/34:43/18:20), 1:05.49. 2. Gareth Thomas, Pat Nicholas, Nicholas Clark (15:26/34:56/21:34), 1:08.13. 3. Victoria Ghiorse, Patlian Johnson, Key Reddy, 16:08/37:51/27:08), 1:21.07.