Osborn and McNaught come out on top of two tight duels
THERE was a changing of the guard as Jon Osborn and Sammy McNaught took top honours in Sunday’s Amarreurs Uber Sprint Triathlon.
The absence of many usual front-runners left all up for grabs, with the winners enjoying duels against Sean Murphy and Hannah Kennedy – just 15 – respectively over this unique triathlon up north.
After an 800m swim from Rousse to Les Amarreurs, the route takes in a 15-mile west-coast bike leg and finally a 4.75-mile run around the Guernsey Athletics Club’s Full Course cross-country.
Jon Downes left the water first, followed by Murphy and then Kennedy, who is an England national development programme swimmer after all.
After the bike, the men’s race had become a shoot-out between Murphy and Osborn.
Osborn trailed by around 5sec. at transition but stamped his authority on the run, making a very early overtake before winning in 1hr 27min. 7sec. That set him 1-19 clear of his challenger.
Steve Smith took third in 1-32-46 to complete a podium of veterans.
‘It was alright,’ the winner said.
‘The swim was not too bad, I suppose, and I was probably about where I would normally be behind Sean.
‘He had a pretty good bike. We were close at the start of the run, and I went past him but I almost twisted my ankle, so I thought I would be a bit careful – watch out for rabbit holes and that.’
But it was a job well done and Osborn has his sights on racing an Ironman next year.
In the women’s contest, McNaught had led Kennedy off the bike but, again, the margin was very slim.
McNaught’s experience served her well on the run as she extended her lead to win in 1-39-52, with Kennedy finishing 1-23 behind.
The winner was impressed by her young rival.
‘She was really strong and she really put me under pressure,’ McNaught said.
‘I had to really go some to get her on the bike. I just ran as well as I could to get a bit of distance in early.
‘I’m pleased with today.’
It was indeed a solid performance for McNaught, who has just returned to triathlon racing after a spell of focusing mostly on running.
Running had previously been her weakest discipline, but on Sunday it proved pivotal to beating young Kennedy, who has shown great promise since taking up ‘tri’ earlier this season.
There had been momentary confusion as Dana Ujhazyova had actually crossed the line first, but only after accidentally cutting distance from the run. She eventually took third after a time penalty.
