Cameron Todd (left) and Sam Osbourne battle it out for the lead during the run leg. Photo . Andrew Warner
Cameron Todd (left) and Sam Osbourne battle it out for the lead during the run leg. Photo . Andrew Warner
This year's Eves Surfbreaker triathlon ended in controversy at the Mount on Saturday with the first three runners home all disqualified.
First past-the-post Sam Osbourne (Rotorua), second placed Cameron Todd (Taupo) and Kyle Smith (Taupo) had led the field all the way from the tricky opening swim leg in aboiling early morning surf off Mount Main Beach.
Image 1 of 13: Start of the Eves Surfbreaker Triathlon.
But when a clearly agitated Cameron Brown made a beeline straight to race organiser Sheryl McLay after finishing in fifth place it was obvious something was up.
What happened was the three leaders coasted behind a van that pulled out in front of them on the bike leg for an illegal advantage.
Osbourne quickly owned up to the error and admitted they made a mistake.
"It was a pretty unprofessional thing to do. One of the guys was calling it to go faster. It is not the right thing to do in a race. It is cheating absolutely," he said.
"The options were to slow up and let it go and accept the fact you are having to slow down for a while. It is a little bit disappointing because I like coming back here and have won here before but you can't take it at all. It doesn't feel right crossing the finish line in first knowing that sort of thing happened."
WINNING SMILE: Fynn Thompson, 18, was promoted to first after finishing fourth.
Into the limelight stepped Fynn Thompson, 18, from Cambridge who outsprinted multiple winner Brown for fourth place, then was promoted to the winner's circle.
"I was behind them and holding a gap when suddenly it opened up really fast and I wasn't really sure what was happening," Thompson said. "I was pleased with how I went because it was a test race before I compete in the junior Oceania champs in Sydney in two weeks' time."
Thompson admitted it felt like a hollow victory because he did not win the event.
"It is just a shame those things happen but it is pretty decent of them to turn themselves in. But it was a good tester for me and the swim was certainly a bit of a shock as I don't do many ocean swims. The sand finish is brutal and your legs feel like they have nothing in them. It is a really cool summer event and really well run."
Rebecca Spence (North Shore) finished strongly to take the women's title in 54:41 from Hamilton athletes Mikayla Nielsen (57:30) and Suzanne Landers (1:00:21).
