Youth prevails at Tinman
By Mike Tymn
Special to The Advertiser
In a sport usually dominated by veteran competitors, youth was on the move yesterday morning as James Cotter, 20, outlegged Matt Seymour, 18, for the victory in the 22nd annual Tinman Triathlon.
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Defending champion and race recordholder Peter Hursty, 29, was a distant third.
James Cotter won the men's race in time of 1:41:32.
"I took a chance and it didn't work out," said Hursty, who set the record of 1 hour and 40 minutes flat in winning for the fourth straight time last year. "I was only half-prepared for this race and thought I might be able to get away with it."
Cotter, a Kona resident from New Zealand, pulled away from Seymour on the second mile of the 10-kilometer run, the final segment of the event, which also included an 800-meter swim and 25-mile bike race.
"I put the hammer down going up Monsarrat (Avenue)," said Cotter, who clocked 1:41:32, finishing nearly two minutes ahead of Seymour (1:43:30). Hursty finished another three minutes back (1:46:28).
Ninth overall in 1:52:02, defending women's champion Deirdre Tennant, 30, won the women's race by nearly five minutes over Tanya Sells, 32 (1:56:53), while two-time winner (1997-'98) Katherine Nichols, 36, finished 57 seconds behind Sells.
"I was going for the record and felt strong all the way, but I didn't have enough," said Tennant, a physical therapy assistant. The women's record of 1:50:53 was set by Debbie Hornsby in 1993.
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With 1,052 entrants, the event got under way at Ala Moana Beach Park at 5:45 a.m. Cotter, Seymour, and Seymour's older brother, Chad Seymour, 20, finished the swim together, about 20 seconds ahead of Hursty.
Deirdre Tennant was the top woman in time of 1:52:02.
Hursty pulled up to Cotter and the two Seymours in the early miles of the bike race out to Hawai'i Kai, but began falling behind on the return trip from Hawai'i Kai to the finish at Kapi'olani Park. Chad Seymour fell farther behind on the second half of the bike segment, eventually finishing the race in seventh place.
Cotter and Matt Seymour made the transition from bike to run in 1:07:25, a minute ahead of Hursty.
"I've had better days," Hursty yelled, shaking his head, as he parked his bike. In setting the record last year, Hursty was off his bike in 1:04:19.
Tennant finished the bike segment in 1:13:50, three minutes ahead of Sells, who overtook Nichols on the way out to Hawai'i Kai.
"I trained with more intensity this year," said Tennant, who recorded 1:52:50 in last year's victory. "The weather was good, so I don't think that was a factor (in missing the record). I gave it my all."
Cotter and Seymour matched strides in the run until they began the long uphill grind on Monsarrat before circling Diamond Head.
"I don't think I backed off the pace, he just pulled away," said Seymour, who moved here from Colorado two months ago.
With 30 yards remaining in the race, Cotter did not see the finish line and it appeared that he would run to the outside of it, following competitors who were finishing up the bike segment. When he was pointed to the finish line, he did an immediate 90-degree turn, but upon seeing his girlfriend, Kristin Sharp, along the sidelines he jumped up on the curb to accept a congratulatory embrace from her before getting back on the street and crossing the line.
"My goal was the top five," said Cotter, who played water polo in New Zealand before moving to Kona two years ago. "That would have been great, but winning is awesome."
Cotter, who is studying for a pilot's license, finished fourth last year.
Hursty, who is a flight instructor, said his job cut into his training time this year.
"My legs were really flat," he said. "It won't happen again next year."
