SISS Triathlon Championships

By Jacob Willmott | Posted: Sunday March 7, 2021

Meeting up at school to try and get away around 7, someone (a swimmer of all people!) slept through their alarm.

This led to us getting away closer to 7:30am. We were travelling through to Oamaru with Mr Willmott to compete in the South Island Triathlon Schools' Champs. Most tried sleeping and  Henry Kirk even brought all of his bed sheets for the trip!

The early start bearable after a successful day for all the lads. In fact, every OBHS student competing managed to get a spot on the podium.

The results: OBHS under 14s coming 2nd with a solid performance from Johnathon King (swimmer), Jayden van Kessel (cyclist) and Adam Mainvil-Baxter (runner) all pushing their limits on the course, and coming close to victory.

OBHS under 16 team with last minute recruited runner, Felix Townend, managed to still claim the win. Eddie Wright finishing the 300m swim strong, James Gardner carving the 12km bike course (as expected on recent form) and Felix bringing it home with a fast 2.5km run albeit with his shoe laces untied!

The under 19 team also managed to win their age group. Starting with Henry Kirk in his speedos. James Howard who continues to impress the boys this year sped through the 20km bike ride. Then finishing off the race was myself, Jacob Willmott, who finished the last bit of the 5km run with Henry screaming behind me in his sandals.

Competing as an individual was Harry Summers, coming in second place in the under 16 individuals. First out of the water, he was chased down on the bike by a group of riders. He then ran hard making the OBHS boys proud and taking silver.

We capped the day off with prizegiving and a swim in Oamaru Harbour (and a couple of jumps off the wharf). The boys got back to school in pouring rain but with medals proudly worn around everyone's necks.

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