Taupo triathlete Cameron Todd took out the King of the Lake title at the Blue Lake multisport festival Photo/Ben Fraser
Taupo triathlete Cameron Todd took out the King of the Lake title at the Blue Lake multisport festival Photo/Ben Fraser
Image 1 of 10: Cameron Todd won King of Lake during the Blue Lake multisport festival. Photo/Ben Fraser
Taupo triathlete Cameron Todd has claimed the King of the Lake title at the Ecomist Blue Lake Multisport Festival, following a close battle with Rotorua's Sam Osborne.
The King and Queen of the Lake titles were awarded yesterday to the top man and woman with the best overall times atthe festival, across the three main events.
The three main events included an aquathon on Saturday morning, 2km open water swim on Saturday evening and sprint triathlon yesterday morning at Tikitapu (Blue Lake).
Todd, 22, who last won the King of the Lake title in 2013, managed to hold off Osborne to post the fastest overall time.
After a close race in the aquathon, Todd gained a two-minute lead over Osborne during the 2km open water swim on Saturday. Osborne then hit back by winning the final event - the sprint triathlon - but could only pull back one minute from the leader Todd.
Auckland's Rebecca Clarke won the Queen of the Lake title. Photo / Ben Fraser
Meanwhile, Auckland's Rebecca Clarke picked up the Queen of the Lake title finishing about five minutes ahead of Taupo's Sam Warriner - a Commonwealth Games silver medallist.
Todd and Clarke were each awarded $500, a trophy and a jade pendant for winning the feature titles.
Todd said he got off to a fast start in the 2km open water swim on Saturday, which proved to be the decisive event for the overall title.
"I tend to be young and full of testosterone, so I usually get out too fast. I could see them [the other competitors] and thought I had it for a while but when I started going crooked I wasn't as sure."
However, he managed to finish strong and win the 2km open water event, building a good gap at the top of the leaderboard.
Todd is currently studying commerce in Auckland and said he always enjoyed taking part in the Rotorua event.
"It was good fun, it is always good down here," he said. "They also tend to give out some good pocket money."
Overall women's winner Clarke was in great form over the weekend, going 1-2-2 in her three events at the weekend.
The most popular of all the events on offer at the weekend was the 2km YHA Rotorua Open Water Swim.
A total of 144 people entered that event which saw Todd finish ahead of last year's champion William Spear, 15 (Rotorua).
The event was the Rotorua Association of Triathletes and Multisport's (RATS) annual fundraiser and saw hundreds of entrants this year.
- Ecomist Blue Lake Multisport Festival results:
King of the Lake: 1 Cameron Todd 1:46:27 (Taupo), 2 Sam Osborne 1:47:57 (Rotorua), 3 Bradley Cullen 1:53:56 (Cambridge)
