Clear blue seas and balmy temperatures greeted visitors to the Greek island of Spetses for the annual Spetsathlon. The weekend comprised a series of events which saw over 1,000 athletes take part in two triathlon distances (sprint and endurance), plus an open-water swim and bike race.
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The largest triathlon in Greece for four years, the event is organised by the founders of the popular Spetses mini-marathon and presided over by Dr Marina-Lida Coutarelli, who is passionate about promoting sport in the area.
Athletes taking part included James Dennis Chronis, Greece’s number one triathlon in the world rankings, who won the Sprint race on the Sunday, setting a new course record of 01:08:12. In the women’s category Carly Killam took the win in 01:23:51.
Also on offer was an ‘Endurance’ race, that took in two laps of the sea swim, island perimeter bike and seafront run. Grigoris Souvatzoglou set a new course record in the men’s race (02:18:01) while Nadia Syntzanaki took the honours in the women’s race in 02:45:22.
220 Triathlon’s editor, Helen Webster, took part in the 1000m open-water swim on the Saturday and the Sprint triathlon on the Sunday – see her race report in the July issue of 220, on sale 21st June 2016.
For more information about the Spetsathlon, visit the event website: www.spetsathlon.com.