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Arizona's Premier Triathlon Team
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This year's 2.4 mile open water swim was held in Tempe Town Lake bringing a strong and deep field of competitors one week before Ironman Arizona. The conditions were great for the race with air temp in the 80's and water temp in the upper 60's. Water was calm and had a slight current on the return leg of the swim.
As the race began Temujin found himself in a small break pack of swimmers. After passing the 500m buoy and going under the Mill St. bridge, the then race leader markedly slowed, probably to sit in on the draft. Without hesitation Temujin took the lead pushing the pace. The race headed east along the bank until the swimmers had to break north east for the 2000m buoy. The chase pack failed to recognize the need to head slightly north until a large gap had formed between them and race leader Temujin.
The chase group closed hard and the gap shrank to 2 body lengths by the 2000m turn buoy but the damage had been done. Temujin found a new gear at the turn and the gap continued to grow over the next 500-1000 meters as the athletes headed west. Teammate Mike Melley recognized the urgency of the situation and made his own break from the chase group.
His efforts were paying off as he and another athlete again closed the gap on race leader Temujin. However, it proved to be too little too late. Temujin made the last turn to head south across the lake to the race finish and took a peak back to see he had a lead of approximately 5 body lengths. With just a couple hundred meters to go Temujin threw his legs into the race finishing strong.
Temujin Gold finished first and defended his title from last year. Rene Goehler came in second :11 back and Landis member Mike Melley came in third :07 behind Goehler. Both Gold and Melley were wearing Xterra VectorProX2 wetsuits. In a sport where equipment can make the difference between winning and losing Temujin was happy with the performance of his new wetsuit. The suit felt great around his shoulder allowing free range of motion and fit tight throughout the suit. Most importantly the suit felt fast in the water and the results speak for themselves... this suit actually was fast in the water!
As the race began Temujin found himself in a small break pack of swimmers. After passing the 500m buoy and going under the Mill St. bridge, the then race leader markedly slowed, probably to sit in on the draft. Without hesitation Temujin took the lead pushing the pace. The race headed east along the bank until the swimmers had to break north east for the 2000m buoy. The chase pack failed to recognize the need to head slightly north until a large gap had formed between them and race leader Temujin.
The chase group closed hard and the gap shrank to 2 body lengths by the 2000m turn buoy but the damage had been done. Temujin found a new gear at the turn and the gap continued to grow over the next 500-1000 meters as the athletes headed west. Teammate Mike Melley recognized the urgency of the situation and made his own break from the chase group.
His efforts were paying off as he and another athlete again closed the gap on race leader Temujin. However, it proved to be too little too late. Temujin made the last turn to head south across the lake to the race finish and took a peak back to see he had a lead of approximately 5 body lengths. With just a couple hundred meters to go Temujin threw his legs into the race finishing strong.
Temujin Gold finished first and defended his title from last year. Rene Goehler came in second :11 back and Landis member Mike Melley came in third :07 behind Goehler. Both Gold and Melley were wearing Xterra VectorProX2 wetsuits. In a sport where equipment can make the difference between winning and losing Temujin was happy with the performance of his new wetsuit. The suit felt great around his shoulder allowing free range of motion and fit tight throughout the suit. Most importantly the suit felt fast in the water and the results speak for themselves... this suit actually was fast in the water!
