Sport

Gallery ǀ Athletes beat heat for annual Challenge Shepparton Triathlon

By James Kleeman

Mar 15, 2022

Showered in glory: Female elite first place champion Amelia Watkinson tips a beer on her head in celebration. Photo by Megan Fisher

Athletes from across the country flocked to Victoria Park Lake on Sunday to swim, ride and run in the annual Challenge Shepparton Triathlon.

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The course was a gruelling one, with athletes enduring a 1.9km swim in the lake, two laps of a 45km bike circuit along the Midland Hwy, before running three 7km laps through Shepparton to the finish line, where they were treated to a well-deserved beer.

Amelia Watkinson took out a thrilling victory in the women’s Challenge Shepparton event in a time of four hours, eight minutes and 38 seconds after trailing runner-up Lotte Wilms for much of the race.

Ms Wilms led Ms Watkinson for the entire 90km on the bike, with Grace Thek, Penny Slater and Renee Kiley all jostling for third.

In the closing stages and with Ms Wilms’ lead eroding, Ms Watkinson seized the opportunity and cruised into first in the final 200m in an exhilarating finish.

Ms Wilms took out second with a time of 4:09:02 while MS Thek was third just four seconds behind.

In the men’s event, defending champion Max Neumann was first out of the water with a time of 23:47, with Fraser Walsh taking the lead on the bike.

Mr Neumann and Tim van Berkel stayed hot on his heels, before Mr van Berkel took the lead at the halfway mark.

Mr van Berkel assumed control during the run, keeping clear of his main challengers, Mr Walsh and Mr Neumann, to clinch victory with a time of 3:46:19.

News photographer Megan Fisher went along on Sunday to capture plenty of the action.