Hello OxfordTri Family,
Happy International Women’s Day and a massive shout out to all our epic ladies who are part of the OxfordTri Family!
At the weekend I had the privilege of Marshalling at out final OxfordTri cross country outing of the year at Henley Showground. It was great to see so many faces most of whom seemed to be having fun although I’m sure Kelly’s race report might say otherwise!
There is a lot in this newsletter so wanted to keep this bit brief. You will read about some changes to timings at Radley going forward, these have been taken by the committee as we continue to balance offering as much as possible whilst also working towards making the club financially sustainable. As always, we do this with you our members at the core of every decision we make. We will continue to review these changes and act accordingly.
I hope you have a great weekend and look forward to seeing you at a session soon and please keep sharing the Oxford Aquathlon with those whom you think might be interested!
God Bless
Craig
Wednesday Night Coached Swim Time Change
Beginning the 20th of March our Wednesday night coached swim at Radley College will change to 8pm-9pm.
This is something which we have been considering for a while as a committee and our hope is that not only will this help us to reduce operating costs but that it will also make it more appealing/accessible to a larger proportion of club members. We will continue to review this change going forward and will be inviting session specific feedback after a number of weeks of this change being implemented.
Member of the Month
Thank you so much to those who nominated individuals for our Member of the Month, we will definitely be continuing the member nominations going forward so thanks for taking part and if you missed out don’t worry it’s here to stay!
We are delighted to share that February’s member of the month is none other than Kelly Lehmann. Kelly had numerous nominations all of which revolved around his fantastic work around supporting the club and its members who have participated in the cross-country season. Not only does he write a cracking race report but he is an inspiration to many and makes everyone feel part of his cross-country army. Thank so much Kelly here’s to next years X cross-country!
Open Water Swim Familiarisation Sessions
We are delighted to share that our Open Water Swim Familiarisation Sessions are now live. These are coached sessions open to both members and non-members throughout the month of May. These session run in addition to our regular social open water swim sessions which we hope to be announcing more details of very shortly.
There is more information on the Familiarisation Sessions via our website HERE. Please note that if you are an existing member you don’t need to sign up for the Open Water Membership in order to sign up to participate in these sessions.
Race Report : Oxfordshire Cross Country : Round 5, Henley Show Ground – Kelly
A beautiful sunny day greeted 20 Oxford Tri Runners to edge of the Chilterns for the fifth and final cross-country meeting of the season.
They were faced with a 7.25 km multi-lap field and forest course in remarkably good condition. Oddly, all of the mud and puddles were at the top of the hill.
The Course started kindly by winding through the fields and trees for about 1.5 km. This was followed by another 1 km of gentle, up-down and up-again; before reaching the Course’s ‘signature hill’.
This was a rock-and-root-strewn, 500m, almost single-track section with a 12.4% gradient. Just as it seemed to be coming to an end … it nurdled on upwards for another 100 metres.
A pleasant run through the trees and a steepish downhill completed the second loop – which ended at the race’s 1.5 km point. Then one more loop, before a 200m downhill blast to the finishing line.
++++++
To complete the day’s enjoyment there was a Team relay race. Teams were made up of 4 people with a minimum of 2 ladies; each running 1.5 km of the kinder parts of the Course.
Eight of the keenest / hardiest / silliest (delete as appropriate) Oxford Tri runners took to the start line and both teams made sure that it was Oxford Tri that brought the season to a close!
Team Spruytenburg, Ableson-Bradshaw, Faulkner and Young
beat
Team McDermott, McDonald, Bradley and Minty by ~1 minute.
++++++
Thanks are due to Craig Bathgate who was a Marshall for the day and to Rob Wilson and Cecily Arthur who were Marshalls earlier in the season.
The Oxfordshire Cross Country League : Rankings.
There were 206 Ladies and 342 Gentlemen who participated in the 5 Races of the Oxfordshire XC League. To achieve a Ranking position in the League’s end of season listings, athletes needed to complete 4 or 5 races. The best 4 results count towards the Rankings.
8 Oxford Tri Ladies and 10 Gentlemen completed 4 or 5 races to achieve a Ranking Position in their Age Groups. These included Top 10 positions for Hannah Grainger Clemson and Stuart Faulkner with a 3rd Place for Jane Bell and a 1stPlace for Heine van Zyl.
Full results are shown below:
| Ladies | Age Group | Number of Competitors | Oxford Tri Ranking Performances | |
| Rank | Athlete | |||
| Senior | 71 | 25 | Helen Hambling | |
| 31 | Katie Mc Donald | |||
| 35-44 | 47 | |||
| 45-54 | 55 | 9 | Hannah Grainger Clemson | |
| 15 | Sarah Spruytenburg | |||
| 18 | Emma McDonald | |||
| 23 | Fiona Ableson Bradshaw | |||
| 32 | Judy Kelly | |||
| 55-64 | 24 | |||
| 65+ | 9 | 3 | Jane Bell | |
Gents | Age Group | Number of Competitors | Oxford Tri Ranking Performances | |
| Rank | Athlete | |||
| Senior | 120 | 22 | Adrien Fauvarque | |
| 33 | Francisco Gomez | |||
| 37 | James Bradley | |||
| 43 | Doug Young | |||
| 45 | Nick Minty | |||
| 52 | Craig Bathgate | |||
| 40-49 | 99 | 10 | Stuart Faulkner | |
| 50-59 | 85 | 48 | Lee Merrett | |
| 60-69 | 28 | 1 | Heine van Zyl | |
| 19 | Kelly Lehmann | |||
| 70+ | 10 | |||
A Final Note …….
I was ranked 19th in the 60-69 year old age group.
However, the other 18 were all in the junior, 60-64 year old age category.
That makes me the Highest Ranked 65-69 year old in the Oxfordshire XC League.
I’m happy to take that as a win !
Hope to see you Next Season ?
Mud & Glory
Kelly
Training Calendar
See the official calendar for full info and sign up links.
Monday 11th March: Coached Swim – Leys Pool @ 20:00
Tuesday 12th March: Member Lead Social Run – Headington Hill @ 19:00
Tuesday 12th March: Coached Spin – Oxsrad @ 19:00
Tuesday 12th March: Coached Swim – Thame Pool @ 20:00
Wednesday 13th March: Coached Swim – Radley Pool @ 19:30
Thursday 14th March: Coached Run – Horspath Track @ 19:00
Friday 15th March: Strength and Conditioning Online @ 07:15
Friday 15th March: Coached Swim – Kidlington Pool @ 19:00