Race 5 - Elwood Edition

Race #5 of the 2XU Triathlon Series at Elwood delivered a fantastic day of racing, with Saturday providing perfect conditions and Sunday offering mild weather with a light sprinkle of rain - a welcome change from some of the extreme conditions we’ve endured this season!

This race was extra special as it doubled as an official AusTriathlon Age Group Team Qualifying Race for the 2025 Wollongong World Triathlon Championships in the Sprint Distance. That meant an incredibly strong field of competitors, making every finish hard-earned and well-deserved. Well done to all who took part!

Sprint Distance Highlights (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run)

The Sprint race saw plenty of action with solid performances from our squad. Here’s a shout-out to our top 10 finishers:

🏆 1st Place: Andrea CROMPTON (MCO21) – 1:40:49
🥈 2nd Place: Doug ASHMAN (70-74) – 1:40:08
🥉 3rd Place: Juliet FORSYTH (45-49) – 1:15:38
🥉 3rd Place: Roosa KUUSISTO (FT) – 1:24:10
4️⃣ Paul BURNS (60-64) – 1:16:47
5️⃣ Luca PHILLIPS (Youth) – 1:08:13
5️⃣ John NOEL (45-49) – 1:08:42
5️⃣ Narelle HAYES (Athena) – 2:05:40
7️⃣ Chris DIXON (40-44) – 1:06:03
7️⃣ Brona REEL (40-44) – 1:22:33
🔟 Maggie ROBERTS (40-44) – 1:24:43

Fastest Splits - Sprint Distance

• Fastest Swim: 🏊‍♂️ Luca PHILLIPS – 00:11:14
• Fastest Bike: 🚴 Chris DIXON – 00:30:45
• Fastest Run: 🏃‍♂️ Luca PHILLIPS – 00:18:38
• Fastest Overall Time: 🏅 Chris DIXON – 1:06:03

Fun Tri Highlights (200m swim, 8km bike, 2km run)

The Fun Tri featured some speedy finishes, with Tri-Alliance athletes putting on a great show. Here’s a look at the top results:

4️⃣ Michael KHAN (30-39) – 0:43:38
5️⃣ Renae GASMIER (50+) – 0:52:39
8️⃣ Jen ASHMAN (50+) – 0:54:25

With a strong field, great performances, and a more forgiving race day, Race #5 at Elwood was a fantastic event for all involved. A huge congratulations to everyone who raced, whether it was your first triathlon, a personal best, or a tough-fought finish.

Bring on the last one - we'll see you on the start line of Race #6!

A Massive Thank You!

With several key people away and Ollie completely out of action, we knew heading into Race #5 that the weekend was going to be a challenge. But what did the TA squad do? You lifted, big time! The level of support, teamwork, and willingness to step up was nothing short of incredible, and dare we say it… the weekend went off without a hitch!

A huge shout-out to everyone who made it happen:

🔹 Saturday Tent Set-Up Crew: A massive thank you to Narelle, James, and EJ for putting in a huge shift and lifting all day long. Andrea went above and beyond, even bringing along her extended family to lend a hand—talk about squad spirit! Big thanks also to Shelly, Tanya, Mike, Bernice, Annie, and the Try the Tri crew for getting everything sorted.

🔹 Race Recon & Try the Tri: Rob led the morning Race Recon alongside Narelle, Mike, and Annie before sticking around to team up with Mon for the Try the Tri session. From all reports, the session was a huge success - complete with plenty of sibling banter to keep everyone entertained!

🔹 Saturday Tips & Tricks Clinic: Another shout-out to Narelle, who stayed back to help Ollie run the Tips & Tricks clinic, ensuring our athletes were feeling confident and ready for race day.

🔹 Sunday TriKids Support: Huge thanks to Shelly, Andrea, Narelle, Maggie, and Alissa for keeping things running smoothly and making sure our little champions had everything they needed before their race.

🔹 Sunday Tent Pack-Down Crew: A special mention to Les (thank goodness he was back!), Narelle, James, Jules F, Jules C, Monty, Jen, Doug, Roosa, Steph & Archie, Gen, Annie & Brian, Anthony, and the twins for jumping in and getting everything packed away in record time.

🔹 Race Day Legends: James deserves a special mention for taking on the role of chief tyre-pumper during the morning and helping Ollie triage bike issues on the fly - absolute hero status!

To anyone whose name we may have missed, please know that your efforts did not go unnoticed - we appreciate every single person who helped in any way over the weekend. Without you, we simply couldn’t do what we do.

The support, the teamwork, and the energy of this squad continues to blow us away. Let’s bring this same spirit into Race #6 and finish the season strong! 💙💛

Ollie’s Back Update – BYO Wind Trainer & A Friendly Reminder!

For those following along on Ollie’s back saga, he’s now undergone treatment for his ruptured disc, but as you can imagine, this isn’t a quick fix. Recovery will take time, and for now, he’s under strict instructions to avoid lifting - which means a few adjustments to our training sessions.

🔹 Tuesday Night Wind Trainer: This will now be a BYO wind trainer session until further notice, as Ollie won’t be able to transport them.

🔹 Thursday Night Session: Since setting up wind trainers is off the cards, we’ll be putting this time to good use sharpening our intervals and transitions. And let’s be honest - we all need it! Just ask the experienced athlete who went to leave T1 yesterday to start their bike leg… while still wearing their wetsuit. 🤦‍♂️

Also, if you see Ollie at a session lifting, carrying, or doing anything he shouldn’t be, make sure to remind him to take it easy! We know it’s tempting to jump in and help, but his recovery is the priority - we need him back at full capacity as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience, squad, and let’s keep things rolling while Ollie sticks to doctor's orders! 💪💙💛

Upcoming Swim Session Changes – Here’s the Plan

With a few major events on the calendar (Victorian All Schools Relays, Labour Day, and of course, the Grand Prix), we’ve got some adjustments to our swim sessions over the next couple of weeks. We know changes can be frustrating (especially with pool access coming to an end soon) but we’re making sure you still get quality swim training in!

Here’s what’s happening:

🚨 Pool Session Changes:

• Monday 3rd March (tonight): Moved to the indoor pool due to Victorian All Schools Swimming Relays.
• Monday 10th March: No session (Labour Day public holiday).
• Wednesday 12th March: No session (Grand Prix disruptions).
• Friday 14th March: No session (Grand Prix disruptions).
• Monday 17th March: No session (Grand Prix disruptions).

✅ Alternative Open Water Swims at Elwood Beach:
To keep you in the water and race-ready, we’re replacing some of these pool sessions with open water sessions at Elwood Beach on the following dates:

• Wednesday 12th March
• Friday 14th March
• Monday 17th March

Tonight’s session (Monday 3rd March) is still going ahead—just indoors.

We appreciate your flexibility as we navigate these changes and make the most of the training opportunities available 🏊‍♂️💙💛

MSAC Pool Closures & What It Means for Our Squad

We wanted to take a moment to share some important updates regarding the upcoming maintenance at MSAC that will impact our squad swims in the coming months. If you haven’t already heard, MSAC will be closing both its 50m outdoor competition pool and multipurpose pool for essential maintenance starting April 1st.

• Outdoor pool closed: April – August
• Multipurpose pool closed: April – May

These works are vital to ensuring MSAC remains one of the premier swimming facilities in Melbourne, with upgraded flooring and waterproofing to improve accessibility and longevity.

What This Means for Our Squad

We know this isn’t the news anyone wanted to hear, and we understand it will cause disruptions to training. But after thorough research and careful consideration, we’ve made the decision not to move squad swims to an alternative venue during this closure.

We explored several options, but unfortunately, the only available pools offered limited 25m lanes at significantly higher costs—meaning an additional $20 per week on top of current membership fees. With cost-of-living pressures already front of mind, we do not believe this is a viable or fair option for our squad.

Membership Adjustments & Training Plan

Since we won’t have consistent access to squad swims during this period, we are recommending all athletes adjust their membership to a "without swim" option. This way, you won’t be paying for a service we can’t reliably provide.

However, swimming will remain a critical part of your training plan. Your programs will still include swim sets, and we strongly encourage you to complete them at your own convenience—covering the necessary distances, technique work, and race-specific preparation to keep progressing toward your goals.

Once the initial phase of MSAC’s project is complete, we will regain some access to lane hire, but this will be intermittent, and we’ll communicate those updates as they come.

Why We’re Sticking With MSAC

Tri-Alliance has had a long-standing partnership with MSAC, and we value this relationship immensely. They will be looking after us as best they can, and when the works are complete, we’ll have access to an improved, high-quality facility. Most importantly, our loyalty and partnership mean we will receive priority access once everything is back up and running.

We Understand This Will Be Frustrating

We know this is not ideal. We know it will be inconvenient. And we know not everyone is going to like it. For that, we truly apologise. We are making this decision with informed knowledge and the best interests of the squad in mind.

If you have any questions, concerns, or would like to discuss your options, please reach out to Ollie. We will continue to update you through the newsletter each week as we learn more about session availability.

Thank you for your understanding and support 💙💛