The 2019 State Sprint Championships were decided this morning at the Australia Day Triathlon at Point Walter.  Over 600 competitors were greeted with beautiful mild conditions as they commenced the day's celebrations with a plunge in the Swan River and a ride and run over the undulating course. 

Athletes in the State Sprint Championships took off in the swim into a strong easterly wind and strong current, as the rising sun made spotting difficult, resulting in a challenging swim.  In the Men's field, Luke Bate was first out of the water, with Liam McCoach and Adam White hot on his heals.  After a quick sprint up the hill to transition, Bates quickly put some distance on McCoach and White on the bike. Matt Burton came powering through from the back of the field, "like a steam train" according to Bates, to overtake Bates by the second lap in the bike and recorded the fastest bike leg of the day. Bates was able to reel Burton in on the run, pulling away towards the finish and taking the title and the Brynt McSwain Trophy in 1:00:35.  Burton took out second less than 20 seconds behind and McCoach was third, followed by Alec Davison and Paul Mackay.

In the Women's field Liv Smith had a strong swim to come out almost 30 seconds ahead of youngsters Charlotte Thompson and Rhianna Hepburn.  As they headed out on the bike, Norwegian visitor Solveig Natvig Loevseth, gradually closed in on Smith as she powered up the hills.  Solveig and Smith were neck and neck as they headed out onto the run but the Norwegian Champion pulled away in the 5km run to take the tape in 1:08:54.  Smith takes the State title, as first Triathlon WA member across the line in 1:10:34 followed by Rhianna Hepburn, Charlotte Thompson, Madison Toovey and Renee Baker coming in fifth in her come back race.

Congratulations to everyone who competed today.  A big thank you to all the volunteers and Technical Crew and Steve Doyle and the crew at Sports Performance Management for a great event.

See below for the State Sprint Championship Age Group Results.  For the full race results click here.