Second visit by Bad Oldesloe club triathletes

The 2006 Malta Triathlon Association (MTA) season came to an end earlier this month with an Open swim-run at Birzebbuga.

The event was held so late in the year to coincide with the visit by a group of young triathletes and club officials from the Bad Oldesloe Sports Club in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

This is the second visit to Malta by members of this club in the last two years.

Despite the fresh easterly breeze and the choppy waters of the bay, 35 athletes took part in the two events organised by the MTA. The first one, which was open to athletes 13 years old or under, was a mini aquathlon, consisting of two runs of 400m each with a swim of 100m in between.

The race was won by Lindsey Pirotta. She managed to beat the other three girls in the competition and all the boys in the category.

Her time of 5 minutes 24 seconds was just one second faster than that of second-placed Tony Kowal. Tobias Lakies was third in 5:27. The second girl (fifth overall) was Ksenia Lawrenz, while Nori Attard was third in 6:31.

The second event consisted of a 500m swim, followed by a run of 2.2 kms. Twenty-six athletes took part in this event which was open to athletes aged 14 years and over.

Christian Meyer was first out of the water in 5:34, followed 10 seconds later by Mark Zammit. In the women's field, Julia Witschkowski clocked 7:38. Daniela Orlowski was second in 8:08.

Zammit overtook Meyer in the run to win in 13:52. However, the Maltese was handed a one-minute penalty because of a rule infringement and subsequently had to forfeit first place to Meyer who finished the race in 14:00.

Leif Rasmussen was second in 14:01 and Gordon Camenzuli third in 14:07.

The Relay Team event was won by Antje Fleischfreisser and Thomas Orlowski in a time of 19:21.

The association was assisted by the Birkirkara St Joseph SC and Al Fresco Restaurant. The Police and St James Hospital took care of the safety aspect of the race which was sponsored by Powerade and Kristal Water.