Although Hurricane Michael did not threaten the Sarasota-Bradenton Triathlon Festival in Florida, algae levels in the water eliminated the swimming phase and changed the event to a duathlon with a 2.5 km run, 18.3 km bike ride and 5.0 km run.
No matter for 29-year-old Renee Tomlin, who missed much of this year with injury, claiming her fourth ITU World Cup victory that also made her he 2018 USA Triathlon National Champion.
“I had no idea where I was at, to be honest,” Tomlin said. “I’ve made a ton of changes, so I really had no idea. I just wanted to come out and compete and see what the day brought. I actually felt really comfortable the whole race, so it was really just staying composed and waiting until the last bit to turn it on.”
She got to the line first, just ahead of Kirsten Kasper, her track & field teammate at Georgetown University and Vendula Frintova (CZE), 54:34-54:35. It was Tomlin’s fourth career ITU World Cup win.
Tomlin then teamed with Jason West, Taylor Spivey and Morgan Pearson to earn the CAMTRI Mixed Relay title for the Pan American region with a comfy 5 1/2-second win over Canada.
Pearson finished fourth in the men’s race, won by Vincent Luis (FRA) in 48:18, with Belgium’s Jelle Geens and Portugal’s Joao Pereira second and third in 48:25.
“I made mistakes that cost me,” said Pearson afterwards. “I got off the bike in last, so that shows that I’m new and I need to keep working.
“This is my first year in the sport, and biking in a pack is hard to learn. These guys have been doing it for years, and it’s a really key part of the race. I’m not super happy with how I biked, but I definitely was solid for the first two laps. I know I have a long way to go and this year has been up and down, but I’m hungry, and I believe in myself more than I did when I started this year.”
Summaries:
USA Triathlon National Championships
Sarasota, Florida (USA) ~ 13-14 October 2018
(Full results here)
Men: 1. (4th overall) Morgan Pearson, 48:27; 2. (6) Jason West, 48:33; 3. (8) William Huffman, 48:40; 4. (16) Eli Hemming, 49:08; 5. (18) Tony Smoragiewicz, 49:11.
Women: 1. (1st overall) Renee Tomlin, 54:34; 2. (2) Kirsten Kasper, 54:35; 3. (3) Taylor Spivey, 54:45; 4. (29) Sarah Alexander, 56:49; 5. (41) Tamara Gorman, 58:25.
CAMTRI Mixed Relay Championships
Sarasota, Florida (USA) ~ 14 October 2018
(Full results here)
Final: 1. United States (Renee Tomlin, Jason West, Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson), 1:07:40.2; 2. Canada, 1:07:45.7; 3. Brazil, 1:08:00.9; 4. Mexico, 1:08:503; 5. United States II (Chelsea Burns, Seth Rider, Tamara Gorman, Tony Smoragiewicz), 1:09:19.8; 6. Mexico II, 1:09.32.2; 7. Argentina, 1:10:01.9; 8. Canada II, 1:10:22.0.
