Posted on: Saturday, November 27, 2004

ISLE FILE
Swede, Brazilian take lead in Ultraman

Advertiser Staff

Johanes Colting of Sweden and Marise Nunes of Brazil took the lead yesterday after the opening stage of the Ultraman Triathlon World Championships on the Big Island.

Colting set two course records to surge ahead in the men's competition. He completed the 6.2-mile ocean swim from Kailua Bay to Keauhou Bay in 2 hours, 14 minutes, then finished the 90-mile bike ride from Keauhou Bay around the southern tip of the island and finishing in Volcanoes National Park in 4:38.

"I wanted to embrace this competition," said Colting, whose cumulative time of 6:53 was an hour faster than his closest competitor — Seth Bitting of Canada. "I am really pleased with the swim, but there were some very sneaky hills on the bike. Things got tough when we began the climb up to Volcano at the 60-mile point."

Nunes finished the swim in 3:05 and the bike in 7:05 for a 36-minute lead over Lauran Fithian of the United States.

Nunes found the weather "much colder than Brazil. Still, I'm pleased with my time."

The three-stage event continues today starting at 6:30 a.m. with a 171-mile bike ride over the Kohala mountains.

SURFING

O'Brien, Reichle shine at Sunset

North Shore surfers Jamie O'Brien and Raymond Reichle were among the standouts on the opening day of the O'Neill World Cup of Surfing yesterday.

The first and second rounds were completed in clean 6- to 10-foot surf at Sunset Beach.

O'Brien surfed with a knee injury but still posted the best total score of the day, 16.66 for his top two waves. He recorded scores of 8.83 and 7.83 in his second-round victory.

"This was the first surf I've had in weeks," said O'Brien, who has torn ligaments in his left knee. "I was laying in bed this morning with no intention of surfing, but my dad told me I should at least come down and let the organizers know in person that I was withdrawing.

"When I got here and saw the waves, there was no way I wasn't going out. It's a little inconsistent out there, but this is about as perfect as the conditions can get."

Reichle had the best single-wave score of the day, a near-perfect 9.5.

Another North Shore surfer, Myles Padaca, also advanced yesterday. He won the Triple Crown championship in 2001.

A total of 11 Hawai'i surfers advanced yesterday. The others were Ross Williams, Sean Moody, Daniel Jones, Liam McNamara, Ian Walsh, Mikala Jones, Dustin Cuizon and Brian Pacheco.

The O'Neill World Cup is the second jewel in the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Wai'anae's Sunny Garcia won the first event, the Vans Hawaiian Pro.

Garcia and the other top-ranked competitors had byes through yesterday's rounds.

The contest is expected to resume today if conditions hold. For status of the event, call 596-7873 or visit www.triplecrownofsurfing.com.