Michelle Vella Wood

Keith Galea and Michelle Vella Wood claimed victory at the National Sprint Triathlon Championships, organised by Birkirkara St Joseph Sports Club in Birżebbuġa under the auspices of the Malta Triathlon Federation.

As was expected, Birkirkara SJ triathlete Keith Galea was first out of the water, followed closely by Pembroke Athleta’s Hannah Pace.

Graham Borg and Shaun Galea, also of Birkirkara SJ, the latter fresh from his Cross Triathlon National Championships victory, were next.

Mellieħa AC’s Margaret Seguna was second female out from the 750m swim with Vella Wood reaching the transition 12 minutes after starting the first leg.

There were some positional changes in the 20km cycle leg with gaps narrowing in both the male and female categories.

As was the case in the previous Sprint Triathlon races held over this course, Borg registered the fastest time on the hilly course, covering the distance in 31 minutes and 20 seconds.

Galea, hot on Borg’s heels, managed a very fast transition to set off for the run segment two seconds faster than Borg.

Showing his strength and determination, Galea built up a steady tempo in the 5K run to widen the gap on Borg. He finished first in a time of 1:01.09.

Borg completed the course in 1:02.58 to clinch second place.

Veteran Fabio Spiteri (Agones SFC) looked all set to claim third place but was pipped at the finish by a determined sprint from Birkirkara’s U-17 triathlete Shaun Galea.

In the women’s race, Vella Wood sprung up the biggest surprise of the day.

Although finishing off the 750m swim approximately one minute and 15 seconds behind favourite and title contender Pace, Vella Wood produced a determined performance in the cycling segment to trim the gap on the leading Pace.

Vella Wood started the run ahead of Pace as the two battled it out for victory. This duel spurred Vella Wood to greater efforts as she went on to secure the title in 1:08.45.

Pace completed the course in one hour 10 minutes followed by Seguna who finished third.

The battle between Vella Wood and Pace was an interesting one as both athletes have been focusing on longer distance triathlon.

Pace was the first Maltese female triathlete to qualify for the 2016 Ironman 70.3 World Championships while Vella Wood is the first Maltese to compete in the Pro category in Ironman 70.3 and Ironman races.

The relay race was won by Luke Camilleri Cuschieri (swim), Pierre Borg (cycle) and Matthew Rota (run).