Race Recap: Caledon Quarry Swim

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The inaugural season of the Global Swim Series got kicked off on Sunday in Caledon, Ontario, Canada.  Excitement was in the air surrounding the small Quarry that professional triathlon coach Barrie Shepley has turned into a great training locale for triathletes.  The morning was great and drizzled lightly as the swimmers got registered and ready for race start.  Still with music and Shepley as a lively announcer it was easy to shrug off the light rain.

The weather may have been poor, but the course itself was great. The water was around 67F, perfect conditions for a wetsuit swim and warm enough for a comfortable race without. The quarry offers near pool-like conditions where swimmers swam loops of a well-marked 1km rectangle (doing 1, 2 or 4 loops depending on the distance). The finish was easily visible with a large blow up arch and the gradual sandy beach slopes allowed swimmers to have easy and fast finishes to their races.

Conditions were very wet, the weather was warm and humid but the day started with light rain prior to the rain and ended with a heavier downpour as the event was concluding.  Despite these less than ideal conditions everyone seemed to be have a great time. Racers had no problem standing in the rain in their wetsuits enjoying a post race burger generously provided by the Lion’s Club of Caledon.

The Races:

4km: The longest race of the day went off first and set the stage right away for some great racing.  Despite the longer distance some tight and competitive packs formed and stuck together for the majority of the race. Coming into the finish Bayley Dalbec posted a very impressive 53:00 to not only be the 1st Female, but 1st overall in the race. Bud Seawright came in just over 2 minutes later with an also impressive 55:55 to claim 2nd overall and 1st Male.

2km: After some anxious waiting after the start of the 4km, the 2km and 1km went off as one mass start.  Racers were off to a quick start right out of the gate and an early battle for 1st emerged between Dylan Kent and Kyle Cale. Cale came out with a bit of a lead rounding the first corner, which he added to over the rest of the first loop and then held the gap steady on the second loop to win comfortably with a time of 27:50 followed by Kent at 29:03.  Julian Ilardo clinched 3rd overall in finish that had only 18 seconds separating 3rd from 5th.

1km: In the shortest event of the day Kirsten Vergara dropped an impressive 14:40 to dominate the field the entire way.  2nd overall and 1st male was Ryan Reid in 16:42.


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Overall this was a very successful day for our female competitors, who despite some quick competition were able to take 1st place overall finishes in 2 out of the 3 races. There were also some impressive times and placings a little further down the list as well with Lisa Morch taking 3rd overall in the 1km, and Cheryl Woodman and Michelle Tapson taking 3rd & 4th overall respectively in the 4km.

Also deserving of some recognition is George Milne who at 82 competed in the 1km event and posted a very respectable swim clocking in at just over 25 minutes.  With a strong performance to start the season, Milne is looking to be an early favorite to win the 80 & over age group.

Results can now be found posted under the “Results” tab or by clicking below.  Our 1st edition of our weekly Global Rankings will be posted shortly.

RESULTS

The GSS season continues this Sunday as we travel across the pond to Ireland to the scenic Lough Key Castle Island Loop. We’ll have a separate race preview on that swim coming up in the next couple days.

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