From Kestrel Athlete Clayton Fettell on his recent races:
Hi All,
On the road getting ready for my fourth consecutive race. The racing has been great and the travelling through California has been a lot of fun.
Race 1: The Huntington Beach Aquathon was a short 1km swim followed by a 5km run. I had a great race and led from the gun pushing the swim hard as i do, and hitting out a nice quick 5km to take line honors in front of training/travel buddy Joey Lampe.
Race 2: The Escape to Alcatraz is a race I have always wanted to do and is up there with one of the most prestigious races in the world. The race is a 2.5km swim a 30km ride and a 13km run.
The swim is recognised as the hardest swim in the sport and its a prime I have always dreamt about, not to mention the international media coverage.
I had my work cut out with Andy Potts and Frenchman Benjamin Sanson lining up next to me. I had a terrible start and struggled to get going in the 12 degree water. I got moving and took my own direct line and found myself out of the water first with a handy 20second buffer over Andy Potts.
The ride was tough and I just needed to keep in touch with the front few guys, I got of the bike 7th with a group of guys hot on my heels.
The run was great and I loved every minute of it. Up and down stairs, sand, rock, and pavement, I moved into 5th position with Olympian Victor Platta pulling me in. Platta passed me with about 500meters to go, putting me back into a very pleasing 6th place finish and the crown as the fastest swimmer in the sport.
Race 3: San Jose Invitational- 40km tt 3 hours break 800yard swim/3mile run/800yard swim/2mile run.
A very fun format. Racing on my road bike I always had my work cut out, and going into the ride with two of the heaviest hitters on the bike in the form of Chris Lieto and David Thompson I was a little nervous. I had a pretty good ride clocking 57:12 for the undulating course. I thought this was a pretty good time, but it turned out Lieto averaged 50kms an hour and Thompson was only a couple of minutes off him. I went into the afternoon events a little down thinking the race was all over. Coach Drewy told me to go out all guns blazing and try and win the aquathon, even though i was chasing a 8minute deficit. The aqauthon was a time trial start staggered on how well you performed in the mornings bike TT.
I went out of in 9th position and immediately moved into 8th position. I started the run really fast, running my first 3 miles at 3:05km pace, pulling back a lot of time on the front runners, The second swim was great as I moved myself into 3rd place and went into the second run in a group of 5, all chasing the final podium position. I took the run out very hard and moved away from the other boys except one. With a mile to go we were neck and neck. I put a serge on and gained a small gap but was pulled back in. We ran through into our last lap and I heard the commentator say "Fisher has run a 4:01 mile." It wasnt the most comforting thought going into a sprint finish. He pulled away from me with a couple of hundred km to go and I placed 4th. I ended up having the afternoons fastest time by over 2:30minutes.