Event #9 Swim Test Set

On a lazy Sunday morning, the University of British Columbia Aquatic center saw 17 triathletes dip their toes in the pool in preparation for event number 9; the 500m swim set.

To everyones surprise dominant swimmer Nathaniel Janzen was nowhere to be found. Has he given up the chase against Matt Reeve. This could equate to a critical 15 point swing if Nathaniel decides to make up the event.

Ironically, in our first swim with the new tent in place, the sun decided to come out from hiding. There are many mixed emotions towards if the tent is a good of bad thing. Time will tell. The main impact it had for the swim test set was that the pace clock was no longer visible, would this affect the racers? Probably not, but you never know.

Looking over the group, Winston Guo surely must have been seen excited by the turnout. Having voiced his concerns over lost ground in the swim set, seeing that many of the middle range swimmers were not present, this bode well for him.

With the table set, Ivan called the start and the race was on. Leaving on 15 second intervals to prevent drafting, the fastest swimmers of each lane went first, followed by the rest.

There were many strategies, Vincent Lavallee*, followed Rachel Schoeler by 15 seconds where he decided to try and bridge the gap by sprinting the first 100m with the hope of getting into her slipstream, however, he had no luck in such matters as she quickly pulled away leaving him tired and without shelter. This technique may have been more successful in other lanes, but this narrator is unaware if that is so.

By the end of the grueling swim, Alex Lush was a clear winner in a time of 7:00 flat with Rachel finishing in second in a time of 7:20 and Vincent in 3rd in 7:25.

This is the first time in the University of British Columbia Triathlon Club history that the women take the win, and not only that but take second place on the podium as well!

With that done, the race came down to the further lanes to see where the division of rank would come. Matt Reeve who was worried of his hold on first overall maintained a solid showing finishing in 3rd male just behind Scott Chris distancing himself from Winston, but where was Nathaniel?

In the women's race Spazzzzzzzzz or infrequently known as Lauren was capable of holding off her main rivals in the overall to regain her place atop the women's field.

Following the event, speculation of where Nathaniel was started to leak out. The predominant vote was that on his bike ride in to campus he got cold and decided to bus home. But confirmation was still needed for this.

In a follow up, Nathaniel Janzen, Andrew Wight and Kendra Swain did the swim on the following Tuesday, setting two new course records! Kendra set the women's record in a time of 6:31 and Nathaniel, in a time that would have lapped Vincent set a time of 6:11. Those will be two times that may stand the test of time on the record board.

Congrats to all who showed up. And shame on Nathaniel for sleeping in.

Results:

Alex Lush	7:00
Rachel Schoeler	7:20
Vincent Lavallee	7:25
Scott Chris	7:39
Heather Enns	7:45
Matt Reeve	7:47
Spazadore	7:49
Celeste Paskstas	7:53
Kelsey Foote	9:00
Claire	9:30
Winston Guo	9:41
Victoria Gilbert	9:41
Derrick Lee	10:00
Eddie Wu	10:20
Debbie Poon	10:55
Jesse Chao	11:20
Yan Liu	12:20

Nathaniel Janzen	6:11
Kendra Swain	6:31
Andrew Wight	8:30

*Generally good looking guy