Mark Zammit confirmed his current good form by winning the third race in the Birkirkara St. Joseph Triathlon Series, relegating national champion Dermot Galea to second place by 31 seconds. Females champion Danica Bonello Spiteri, had to work hard to fend off the stiff challenge of Johanna Calleja, to register her third consecutive victory.
On a day deemed to be historic for the local triathlon community, with no less than 67 individual triathletes and seven teams taking part in the day’s events, Mark Zammit turned on a performance that stopped the clock in the second best time of this year’s Series, four seconds behind Keith Galea’s result in race two.
His 10 minutes 14 seconds 750-metre swim, left champion Dermot Galea trailing by 44 seconds.
The latter could only manage to grab back 33 seconds in the 20-kilometre bike segment of the race, with Zammit rushing out to the 5-kilometre run after cycling the distance in 30 minutes 56 seconds.
With the champion unable to go into a higher gear, Zammit further increased his gap by running the 5 kilometres in 19 minutes, 8 seconds, to win the triathlon in one hour, 18 seconds. Dermot Galea finished in second place in one hour, 49 seconds, with the ever improving Karl Attard registering an impressive personal best time of one hour, one minute, 57 seconds to finish third.
Danica Bonello Spiteri’s gruelling schedule of events, must have taken its toll in this third sprint triathlon of the season.
To make life even more difficult for the champion, challenger Johanna Calleja has improved impressively over the first two races. In the 750-metre swim, the gap between the two female triathletes was one second. Bonello Spiteri’s experience in the bike segment, paid good dividends. She cycled the 20 kilometres in 35 minutes, 38 seconds to open a 38 seconds lead on Calleja.
However the latter came back to reduce the margin in the final 5-kilometre run. The champion’s reaction was timely in the final stages of the race, assuring a 100 per cent record by winning the race in one hour, 12 minutes, 35 seconds, to beat Calleja’s time by 15 seconds. Donatelle Callus finished third in one hour, 13 minutes, 14 seconds, her best time in the series.
In the team’s event, Roberto Demicoli (swim), Etienne Bonello (cycle) and Charles Cilia (run) finished first in 59 minutes 25 seconds. Seven teams took part in this event.
Following the main event, Birkirkara St. Joseph organised a short distance triathlon for newcomers to the sport. Twenty-four triathletes took part in the 200-metre swim, 13-kilometre bike and 5-kilometre run. To mark their first experience in triathlon, all participants were given a memento on crossing the finishing line.
The final race of the 2010 Series will be held today starting at 7.30 a.m. on the Salina-Bahar ic-Caghaq Coast Road. Another short distance triathlon will be held following the main event, starting at 9.15 a.m. The Coast Road will be closed for traffic between 7.30 a.m. and 10.30 a.m.