Top triathletes eyeing upcoming Geelong half ironman

Jarrod Johnstone and Brooke Gordon, who finished as fastest male and female in Warrnambool Triathlon Club's mini series at Blue Hole on Thursday, January 11, 2024, are training for the Ironman 70.3 Geelong on March 26.

The mini series event consisted of a 200m swim, seven-kilometre ride and a 2km run while the 70.3 ironman is a 1.9km swim, 90km ride and a 21.1km run.

The pair also took out top honours in the sprint distance at the Killarney Triathlon in November last year.

Johnson, a teacher who moved to Warrnambool two years ago from Melbourne, was "quite happy" with his performance in the sunny conditions.

"There were a few strong people in the field which was good," he told The Standard.

"I sort of played a bit of a sneaky move in the swim and ran to the left to get a bit of a lead which is in the rules. And then stayed ahead after that.

"Last year I won one of these races and had four or five ahead of me in the swim so it was a nice little tactical move."

Gordon, a vet from Dunkeld who works in Hamilton, was pleased to cross the line first as the fastest female.

The New Zealand native, who moved to Australia two years ago, left work early so she could make the dash to Warrnambool in time for the race.

"That was fun," she said after the event.

"I was very tired after work so I thought I'd just go have fun, enjoy the sun.

"It was nice to have some hills and not just flat, I was just trying to catch the boys, it's good motivation."

Both triathletes said they had enjoyed their short time involved with the Warrnambool Triathlon Club.

Johnstone, who is hoping his time at the Geelong 70.3 Ironman qualifies him for a world championship in December, praised the club's positive environment.

"(I) absolutely love it, it's a good bunch of people," he said.

"Very inclusive, very encouraging."