A gnarly surf made for a challenging swim section, in which Westgate dug deep into his lengthy swimming background to hold a 35sec lead heading through transition to the bike stage. "The waves were pretty bumpy out there,” he said adding that despite the undulating nature of the 20km bike course he managed to maintain a consistent pace through to the run. "It just switches up a bit more than swimming,” he said of the added disciplines of cycling and running. By her own admission, de la Harpe felt like a sinking ship on the swim stage. But despite the odd "gob full” of Brighton surf and having to empty her goggles on occasion, de la Harpe maintained contact with the lead.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 17, 2021 15:33 UTC