Swimming run for Arno/Marleen Vlissingen; CrossRBR Zemst; Emily Donker won the enduro; Husky; XTerra Wellington; Irene; Neek and Else in IM New Zealand – WTJ 3231

Tuesday – We will soon be ready for last weekend's Dutch competitions. The Vlissingen swimming race was the only thing on Saturday's menu. However, this does not necessarily mean mass participation. Vlissingen may be too far out of the way for many athletes, or they may not be ready for competitions yet. However, Belgian Arno Lambrecht defended his victory from a year earlier with much more ease. He didn't have to go to extremes, so he took 2.5 minutes slower than 2023.

Arno is superior

With a tradition dating back to the mid-1980s, Vlissingen is the oldest swimming race in our country. Lambrecht was one of many Belgians who participated in or won the tournament. Second place was a short distance behind Robbie Kerremans from Wagenberg in Brabant. Third was Limburger Sam Hellbreakers, the fastest woman even faster than the men's third place.

Marlene opens strongly again

That fast girl is Marleen van Roessel. The vet from Breda always starts his season strong with a few podium places and that was the case again. 55.07 minutes was good for third place overall. It took a while for two Zeeland women, Esther de Koning and Esther Lutens, to reach second and third place.

The short distance was again won by Stijn Koole in 25.29 minutes. Next to him on the high podium was Flemish Kiara de Baker, who took five minutes longer. The short distance was won by Kees Wundergem, Saar Bergers, Brother Dijs Bergers and Fenna Lagore. For the next competition in the Celsius Projects swimming circuit, all went well again at Dynamica.

Crossathlon Gemst for World Champion

There was a cross duathlon on Sunday in Gems, Belgium. Specialist/world champion Thibaut de Smet – European champion in 2023, world champion the year before – is the best again. His time was 1:16:57. Quinten Dewaele and Angelo Vandecasteele filled the arena. The women's podium consisted of Lies van de Voorte, Karen Commissaris and Sarah Michaels. Noel Frijns, also fourth in the M18, finished 43rd.

Husky Triathlon

The Husky Triathlon in Huskinson, Australia attracted 408 participants. Not many foreigners, but the winner is from Finland. Henrik Goesch is emerging more and more at middle distances. He finished in 3.48.19 hours, 1 minute behind Tim van Berkel and three minutes behind defending champion Nicolas Frei. A familiar name as the winner: Radka Kahlefeld. Brad's wife clocked 4.17.16, six minutes sharper than Chloe Hartnett and nine minutes faster than third-placed Skye Wallace.

Husky competed in the Tweed Enduro at Pottsville Beach in Australia, albeit with fewer odds and fewer participants: 196. For the second time in a row, Edward Vining won the race. He did it in 3:47:26. Hamish Longmuir finished second four minutes later and Tom Grieve took bronze.

A huge win for Dutch/Australian Emilie Donker in 4.10.14 hours. She was fifteen minutes off Australian Amy McGuigan. A minute later, Beck Stedman was third. More Dutch success with second place for Malcolm van Basten in the M50.

February 24: Tweed Enduro Pottsville Beach (Australia)
M:
30.Malcolm Van Basten 4.33.53 (2^e M50)
107. Mark van der Linden 5.31.34 (14^e M45)
K:
1.Emily Donker 4.10.14
7. Neesha Van Basten 4.43.04 (1^e F20)

XTerra Wellington

Then to XTerra. There was no competition in Morocco, but in Wellington, the New Zealand capital. There, Sam Osbourne extended his title in front of his own audience. Although the opposition was not easy with Kieran McPherson (2nd) and Aaron Lynch (3rd), he was very strong. Australia's Maeve Kennedy won the women's event for the third consecutive year. Two Kiwis Samantha Kingsford and Deborah Lynch finished second and third. So the Lynch pair went home with two bronze medals.

Irene is third on the Legends Trail

Former triathlete Irene Kinnekim finished third in last weekend's Legends Trail. He completed the 250 km ultra run with an altitude of 10,000 meters in 59 hours and 14 minutes. She was an hour slower than last year. Claire Bannwarth of France and Karen Clukers of Belgium were fastest. Panvarth was the fastest of them all: 52.5 hours.

Ironman with Nick and Else

The real Ironman season begins next weekend with a race in New Zealand. Not every year is interesting for us, but now it absolutely is: Nick Heldorn for the men and Else Visser, the defending champion for the women. It's worth keeping up. We will come back to it in the coming days.