It was on Sunday that www.islandstats.com reported that Erica Hawley and Tyler Smith competed in the Salinas ITU Triathlon World Cup.
Today we bring you comments from both Smith and Hawley as well as highlights of the Elite Women’s race featuring Hawley.
Smith telling www.islandstats.com, “The course itself today wasn't too difficult but it was very fast and tightly packed racing throughout. It was my first time racing at this World Cup level, but I was expecting a better result, I struggled with a rough and physical swim as well as the first part of the bike course being at the back of such a large group through some technical sections.”
Hawley said, “My race went well - as it’s Olympic qualifying time the race was stacked. I believe the girls had 65 athletes which is huge. I had a good swim and bike, but unfortunately the race unfolded as one large bike pack of about 50 girls so it ended up all being determined on the run. I was injured most of September and had only started running a couple of weeks ago so I am overall pleased with the race, even though I would’ve like to have finished up higher than 39th. From 1st to my 40th there was only 2 minutes so the gaps were so much smaller in this race.”
