Charity begins at Williamtown

Squadron Leader David Coysh wades ashore after finishing the swimming leg. Photos by LACW Veronica McKenna

Sergeant Nicolle Sundstrom pushes herself during the cycling leg of the short course.

MORE than 25 Air Force athletes formed an impressive group among the 50-odd athletes who took part in the 17th annual RAAF Williamtown triathlon, held in support of charity.

The event, which raised funds for Legacy and served as the ASTA NSW State Championships, was held at Port Stephens on March 19.

It comprised a long course (1km swim, 30km cycle, and 10 km run) and short course (0.5km swim, 15km cycle and 7.5km run) and was competed by both teams and individuals.

The short course run was scheduled to be 5km, but due to an error in marking the turnaround point, it ended up being 7.5km. This didn’t seem to bother the competitors as they all crossed the finish line without any serious words of abuse for the organisers.

Flight Lieutenant David Boyd won the short course in 1:1:48, ahead of civilian Jenny Saw (1:13:49) and Sergeant Nicolle Sundstrom (1:20:25).

Another civilian, Carl Leonard, won the long course convincingly in 1:43:28, also claiming the fastest swim and ride of the day. The first ADF competitor was 3RAR’s Private Wayne Eliot who finished almost 2 minutes behind Leonard at 1:45:21.

Second ADF competitor (and first Air Force competitor) was Leading Aircraftman Mathew Jeffery in 1:45:52. LAC Jeffery had the fastest run of the day, a blistering 38 minutes and finished only 21 seconds behind PTE Elliot.

Third ADF finisher was Air Force Warrant Officer Terry Withers (1:46:54) who struggled to hold off fast finishing Leading Aircraftman Mark Guilfoyle (1:47:40).

In the women’s section, civilian Vicky Voyzey (1:49:27) took line honours from Corporal Julia Morris-finlay (2:00:21) and Flight Lieutenant Tina Willmett (2:49:30). But CPL Morris-finlay and FTLT Willmett blitzed their age categories.

The ADF Warfare Centre, Williamtown, won the Unit Trophy for the highest level of participation and results.

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