Cotter, Tennant first at Lanikai triathlon

By Christian Friis
Special to The Advertiser

LANIKAI — James Cotter waited for the opportune moment to make his move, while Deirdre Tennant took control from the outset to capture their respective divisions of the second Bikefactory Lanikai Triathlon yesterday.

James Cotter

Deirdre Tennant Advertiser library photos

Tennant, competing on what she called "my home course," finished first among the women in 1 hour, 48 seconds.

A full field of 350 competed in the 500-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike ride and 5-kilometer run.

In the men's race, brothers Chad and Matt Seymour were first out of the water, with Cotter in close pursuit. However, Matt Seymour's bike blew a tire and when Chad Seymour slowed his pace on the bike, Cotter seized the moment.

"When Chad had pushed the pace for a while on the bike, and he slowed down a little bit, that was when I saw my opportunity to push the pace a little bit so that I could get a gap," Cotter said. "And it worked."

Going into the second transition, bike to run, Cotter had a lead on Mark Speck, who had a strong bike ride. Cotter finished with a strong run, beating Speck to the finish by 37 seconds. Chris Larson also ran well and finished third — 25 seconds behind Speck.

Cotter is returning from knee problems last year. "I trained too much, and all of a sudden my knee could not handle anymore," said Cotter, who two weeks from now will be participating in the USA Triathlon Collegiate Championships with his teammates from Volcano Tri Team at the University of Hawai'i.

In the women's race, Tennant opened with a strong swim to pull away. Tanya Sells finished second in 1:02:00 and Katherine Nichols was third in 1:03:24.

"I felt really comfortable today," Tennant said after her 1-minute, 12-second victory. "I just finished fifth in a half-Ironman in California, and now I am getting ready to race in an Ironman in Japan next month."

With 350 participating athletes, the Lanikai Triathlon was "sold out" a week before the race, according to organizer Raul Boca. "I was really happy, everything went as planned," Boca said. "It is hard work, but it is worth seeing all these people enjoying participating in a triathlon."

Men

1. James Cotter 55:45.
2. Mark Speck 56:22.
3. Chris Larson 56:47.

Women

1. Deirdre Tennant 1:00:48.
2. Tanya Sells 1:02:00.
3. Katherine Nichols 1:03:24.

Relay Teams

Mix

1. Kemp-Smith/Kellner/Rams 1:02:09.

Men

1. Marvoka/Anderson/Anderson 1:08:08.

Women

1. Secretario/Ching/Brady 1:12:08.