Hundreds of triathletes ventured down to Dunsborough, Western Australia, over the weekend of Saturday 2 to Sunday 3 April 2022 for the 10th year of the X-Adventure Dunsborough. Hosted by Rapid Ascent, the challenging course presented athletes with a fast-paced and picturesque ocean swim, off-road bike on the single tracks of Meelup Regional Park, and trail run through the rugged coastal terrain at Geographe Bay.
The weekend featured five different off-road races including the Long Course race which was completed solo, or in a relay team; plus the Short Course race (700m ocean swim, 6km coastal trail run and 11km mountain bike), the Aquathlon-X event (1km swim, 5km trail run); and two specific-kids events.
The Long Course X-Adventure was a 2023 ITU WQE and the 2021/22 Triathlon WA Cross-Tri Championships, with both a coveted state title and Triathlete of the Year (TOTY) points up for grabs.
In the Open Male field, young-gun Zeke Tinley (Bunbury) finished in a blistering time of 2:21:39 to claim the WA State Cross-Tri Title and valuable TOTY points. This performance keeps Tinley at the top of the TOTY ladder, with just one State Series race remaining in the season.
TWA Age Group winners, Mitch McKenzie (Mandurah), Brendon Dimmer (Mandurah), Chad Mead (Bunbury), Cedric Boudier (Non-Club), Kevin Netto (Non-Club), Andy Johns (Bunbury), Richard Burnell (EFS) and David Whiteley (Mandurah) also put on an amazing show of skill to earn 21 TOTY points.
In the Open Female field, Dimity-Lee Duke (Bunbury) showed her mountain-biking prowess along the tough trails to cross the finish line in first place and claim the State Cross-Tri Title in a time of 2:53:19. Local legend Felicity Sheedy-Ryan (UWA) claimed second in the Open Female category with a great time of 3:11:42 and Katherine Ryan (Stadium) came in third with a time of 3:25:11.
WA athletes Kate Mead (Perth), Michelle Carranza (Fremantle), Kate Atkinson (Stadium), Diana Barnett (Busselton), Pip Laufmann (Stadium) and Sue Scott (North Coast) gave it their all with impressive times to take out the win in their respective Age Group categories.
Other notable performances from WA athletes include that of Bart Hollemans (Oceanic), Marcus Rooney (Stadium), Simon Thompson, Adam Passmore, Ben Aldous (Phoenix), Shayne Brownlie, Chad Mead (Bunbury), Shaun Preston, Reece Greenem (Mandurah), Andrew Bitmead, Sophie Forrest, Kate Mead (Perth), Henrietta Ireland, Sue Scott (North Coast), Kate Atkinson (Stadium), Jane Hardy (Busselton), Madeline Davey, Shannon Hill, Pip Laufmann (Stadium), Naomi Bath (Perth).
After an intense weekend of off-road racing, athletes now look ahead to the last State Series event of the 2021/22 season – the SunSmart Busselton 100. This race is set to take place on Saturday, 30 April as the Marquee event at the SunSmart Busselton Festival of Triathlon.