The Conquest continues at the Barwon Heads Triathlon

ADAM Conquest has gone back-to-back at the Barwon Heads Triathlon, adding this year’s victory to his wins in 2020 and 2018.

The annual event drew a field of 800 competitors – 720 individual entries and 80 in teams – to Barwon Heads on Sunday morning for the race, which featured a 400-metre swim, a 14.4km bike leg and a 4km run to finish.

Conquest entered the 40-49 category but won his third open men’s title all the same in a time of 39 minutes and 4 seconds, ahead of Georg Fellner (41:45) and Brad Bullock (41:55).

“It means a lot to win your local race, so to claim my third outright win in a course record time of 39.04 was amazing,” Conquest said.

“It was certainly the best conditions we’ve had over the six years the event’s been running, with barely a breath of wind.

“I really left it out there on the bike leg along 13th Beach, averaging around 45kmh and just held on for the run.

“We’re fortunate to have such a showcase event on our front door, so a massive thanks to the event organisers and sponsors who make this happen, especially in the current climate.”

Louise Wood was the best of the open women in a time of 48:59, with Beth Inglis (49:36) second and Alana Park (50:11) third.

“I think it’s the best one we’ve ever run, everything went to plan,” event organiser Lincoln Beckworth said. “The weather was perfect, there were very light winds so it was a very nice bike section … overall, it was really good.”

He said he was pleased this year’s triathlon drew the expected number of entries, including the usual 300 first-time triathletes, and thanked major sponsor 13th Beach Health Services.

“We get a lot of people signing up on the day as soon as entries open, and then we get a fair few in the last couple of weeks before the entries close.

“For a lot of people, they just do the one triathlon, and that’s all they do for the year. “A lot of people have now done all six that we’ve run.”

Mr Beckworth said the most serious triathletes from Sunday would now be turning their sights towards IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong.

He said the Barwon Heads Triathlon was a “short, fast hitout” so would be good preparation for the triathletes entered in the March 28 event, which features a 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km half-marathon run.