News

Well done Piranhas – Div 2 and Country Champions, runner up in the Junior title

What a day and night: the Piranhas defend their Division 2 and Country Championship titles, and runner up in the Junior title – congrats to Hills.

We won Div 2 by 11 points in a 200+ point aggregate v second placed Concord – ie less than 0.5%. So the points of every Piranha volunteer and racer were vital. Thanks to those not in the photo like Clarissa, Jared, Janet, Mindy, Theresa, Kim, Penny, Carolyn, Debbie who were all there at 6:30am, and then later (and long shifts) for Cheryl, Alison, Cas, Charlotte, Trish, Montana and Brian.

Well done to the racers – each point was vital. We missed a few rockstars from last year and got the job done this year (just!) with our range across all female and male ages. Well done the mums and dads who brought their kids out for the junior triathlon events in the morning – the brainchild of Phil, Mick and Mel – it is embedded now as a core part of NSW Club Champs and a wonderful way to grow our great sport. Perfect for a family-oriented club like ours. Thank you Harry Fardell who had one of his team from Orange Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic out there for massages for the Piranhas.

Thanks to those who survived the cold at Goz on Wed arvo to take out submerged rocks – Mick, Jared, Megan, Cas, Dave S, Scotty and Dan B. This was so important to maximise chances of a great swim experience for all athletes on race day. A massive thanks to Westlime and the Commins boys who delivered another 40 tonnes of sand.

Well done Orange Council and Scott Maunder who delivered on their commitment for a wider beach entry / exit – the new viewing area is fantastic and Gosling Creek as a venue just gets better and better. And great to see Mayor Reg Kidd and his support out there yesterday. Not only did the swim leg improve yesterday – a big credit to 100% Events who took feedback from last year’s ride and run legs and changed them so they improved as well.

Thank you to the 31 other clubs who travelled to come and enjoy Orange at its finest yesterday, and to Triathlon NSW and 100% Events for a a great day.

Our shirt sponsors are valued – beside ones already mentioned in this post, thank you Frank at Cowra Subaru, Jeremy at RPT, Dan M at Pigot Miller Wilson, Dave S at Central West Equine, Anthony at John Cook, Mel at HyPER, Blowes Clothing, James at Ross Hill, Steve at GHD, Mick at D’Aquino and Simon at Broadley & Haydon. And a plug for our preferred local charity ‘Give me 5 for kids’. Steve and Dette Robinson at Orange Clothing Company delivered wonderful shirts again. Pls support these local firms who support us.

Thank you weather gods who smiled on us yesterday for ideal race conditions, then threw in a short lick of rain at the back end of the race to remind us that they can be a little temperamental.

The OCTC committee are awesome – Cas and Kim, Phil and the ongoing support we get from Hotel Canobolas, and Megan Goodwin who is everywhere to drive / rally the troops and manage our finances. Finally Mick Lockyer.  He owned the event from an OCTC perspective. He put in the time in a weekly call (and many emails) with the event organisers to deliver a great event and negotiated the discount we enjoyed. He paced out and adjusted the run course on Mon when he realised it needed an adjustment, organised the sponsors and then the orders for the shirts, picked rocks on Wed, put up marquee on Fri, then raced on Sat. Phew.

That’s the official end of the OCTC season. Good luck today to Rory and Connor in New Zealand for ITU Oceania titles, to Rory and Charlotte who are at Australian All Schools next month, and our long course fiends who prepare for Port Macquarie 70.3 and Ironman.

Dave Hunter