Hauschildt and Wild winners in Phuket
Swiss Olympian Ruedi Wild captured the 2014 Challenge Laguna Phuket triathlon title on debut while Australia's Melissa Hauschildt made it four in a row in the women's category on Sunday.
A field of 550 athletes, representing 40 nations, jumped into the waters of Bangtao Bay here in Phuket at 6.30am to tackle the 1.9km swim, then followed it up by a 90km bike ride and running 21km.
Wild was third out of the water with a time of 24.24 minutes and battled neck and neck with his pro mates on the bike, where he clocked 2:14:45 hours before claiming his win on the run in 1:21:20. He crossed the finish line in 04:02.43 hours, less than two minutes before Sweden’s Fredrik Croneborg, who came in second in 04:04:02.
Hauschildt emerged second from the swim course behind Radka Vodickova of Czech Republic, clocking 24.28 minutes. The Aussie took lead on the bike, clocking 2:29:31 and ran out a comfortable winner at 1:27:06, almost 15 minutes before Parys Edwards of Great Britain, who clinched last week’s Laguna Phuket Triathlon title in the women’s field, in 4:42:05.
Wild said the victory was a dream come true. “I always like to come back here because it means a lot to me. It’s one of those races that you want to come, and not one of the races that I feel like I have to do,” he said.
“It’s always hot here. Therefore, it’s very difficult for us from other continents to get familiar with the scorching heat like here. However, although it’s really hot and humid out here and the race was really tough, the surroundings were nice and the Thai hospitality is good so I’m happy to be here again and again!”
The first Thai male finisher was Phuket’s own Jaray Jearanai who finished 18th overall in 4:37:04, breaking his record from last year, in 4:41:31.
