Mackevicius clinches win after trailing in the swim
Former Australian international athlete Clinton Mackevicius won the men's elite race in yesterday's Hong Kong National Triathlon Championships at Tai Mei Tuk after a clinical display of running.
'I'm a triathlete but I'm not a great swimmer,' said the 33-year-old Melbourne-born athlete. 'I came out of the water well down on the other guys but I made up quite a bit of ground on the bike.'
Ho King-fun and Dickson Tam Joe-dick led the men's elite competitors from the 1.5-kilometre swim through to the start of the 10-kilometre run, but then had to endure the imposing sight of Mackevicius motoring past them at speed on Plover Cove Dam. By the time the first 5-kilometre lap of the dam was completed, the Australian had claimed a lead of 90 seconds, which increased to more than three minutes by the time he crossed the finish line for victory in one hour, 57 minutes and nine seconds.
Fellow Australian Ashley Miles took second place in 2:00:25 while Ivan Lo, who was third out of the water after the swim, finished third in 2:01:33. Lo said he was relieved just to be participating in the race, having survived the Christchurch earthquake earlier this year.
'I had just packed my swim gear and was about to leave the house for training when the floor erupted like a volcano,' said Lo, 22. 'The front lawn was moving and rolling outside like the ocean and I couldn't even stand up because the living room floor was swaying so much.
'It was a terrifying experience and I ended up climbing through a window to get out of the house. I was lucky to escape, and I got myself on a plane back to Hong Kong the very next day.'
Macau's Hoi Long won the women's title with a convincing gun to tape performance. The 27-year-old, who has been deaf since birth, said she took the 3am ferry from Macau to get to the race start on time.
'I've competed in this race four or five times before and I always prefer to travel early than to stay in a hotel overnight,' said Hoi, who lip-reads both English and Cantonese.
Hoi finished in 2:14:43, one place ahead of Joyce Cheung (2:16:50) and Laura Walsh (2:21:43) in third. Cheung made up ground on the 40-kilometre bike section but her challenge came up short when she suffered leg cramps during the transition from the bike to the run. 'I couldn't even walk,' said Cheung.
