Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/729537
22 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2016 Sport TRIATHLON Fabio Spiteri overcomes injury to qualify for Ironman 70.3 World Championships WITH a nagging calf injury side- lining veteran endurance triath- lete Fabio Spiteri for most of the season, completing Ironman 70.3 Rügen, Germany was a target Spi- teri had set for himself after hav- ing to stop in Trapani and deliv- ering a slow run in Texas, earlier on this year. Spiteri, who hails from an ath- letics background, turned his focus to endurance and long dis- tance triathlons since 2008 and has collected an impressive CV of races and results. This year, injury set him back with Spiteri barely running for fourteen weeks. When one con- siders that an Ironman 70.3 Tri- athlon consists of a 1.9km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21km run, laying off running for fourteen weeks is definitely not conducive to achieving the good results Spi- teri is used to. Determined to produce a good performance in the swim and cy- cle segment, with the hope of sur- viving the run, Spiteri went with a 'hope for the best' attitude. The island of Rügen, in the Bal- tic Sea provided a perfect venue with calm waters, clean closed roads and appropriate weather conditions. Racing in the 40-44 Age Group, which is considered to be one of the most competitive age groups, Spiteri had to contend with an- other eighty-seven determined athletes In the swim segment Spiteri had a fast swim, emerging out of the water in tenth place, as was the plan a strong performance on the bike saw him move up to sixth place. It was now crunch time for Spiteri who had to con- tend with a surprisingly hilly run route, which saw all competitors slow their pace. A calm and con- centrated approach saw Spiteri settled in a good tempo whilst at the time attempting to retain his position. This strategy resulted in Spiteri completing the race in fifth place, the best ever result for Spiteri in such a race. Spiteri's results saw him se- cure a qualification for the Iron- man 70.3 World Championships which will be held in Chattanoo- ga, USA. This will be Spiteri's first participation in these Cham- pionships and he will be joining fellow triathlete Michelle Vella Wood who secured her place ear- lier on this summer. "This qualification came as a total surprise, especially after having such a disappointing and challenging season. I went to Rügen with a big question mark, though I did my best to approach is a best possible under the cir- cumstances. I was lucky to have conditions in my favour espe- cially the mid-morning start as I do not like racing to early in the morning" said an elated Spiteri shortly after the race. "My next race abroad will be Challenge Sardegna, which is on the same distances as this and there I will be aiming for a podium placing in my category" Spiteri's participation in Iron- man 70.3 Rügen was made pos- sible through the assistance of Garmin Malta, Wheel Wizard (Malta), Go&Fun Green Energy Drink Malta, Mochika - Outdoor Life, Festina Watches, Special- eyes Opticians and Kinetika. Malta was also represented by Josef Bonavia, Kenneth Camill- eri, Pio Vassallo and Glen Zam- mit as well as Jason Debono, who embarked his first outing at an Ironman 70.3 race. All athletes, who train under Spiteri's guid- ance, registered strong times. Fabio Spiteri celebrating Successful Multi-Class Dinghy Regatta at Royal Malta Yacht Club THE Royal Malta Yacht Club re- cently hosted a multi class Dinghy Weekend Regatta which welcomed over fifty sailors from four Maltese Sailing Clubs – Birzebbugia Sail- ing Club, Malta Young Sailors Club, Vikings Sailing Club and the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The single handed Optimist class, saw sixteen entries and was divided into Novice – for children who are new to sailing and racing, Cadet [8-11 year old] and Senior [12 to 15 years] classes. The Single handed Laser 4.7 class and Radial class had seventeen en- tries whilst all the Topper entries hailed from the Vikings Sailing Club. The double handed Feva class saw six boats between Royal Malta Yacht Club and Birzebbugia Sailing Club. A Handicap class was made up of a RS Vision, 2 Mirror Mira- cles and an Enterprise, these raced on Portsmouth Yardstick corrected time. Saturday saw a total of three races held in strong winds and a quite confused chop, conditions which favoured the heavier sailors. All three races per class got away with- out too much trouble for Assistant Race Officer Inge Mule Stagno from Birzebbugia Sailing Club and Peter Dimech from the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The same format was applied on the second day of racing, by which time there was less wind and the confused chop had calmed down. The Optimist fleet were keen to race. Their zeal to race however saw two of the beginners get caught in a wrong position and were disquali- fied. The Laser fleet saw some older sailors, including two Royal Malta Yacht Club committee members, battling it out against youngsters who eventually got the better of them. The Feva fleet saw some new sail- ors to the class including young Vic- toria Schultheis, recent winner of a gold medal in the Optimist Class at the World Sailing Championships. Schultheis sailed her first event in this double handed class. The Far- rugia Vella brothers from Birzeb- bugia Sailing Club also did very well. Siblings Andrew and Michela Mifsud sailing a RS Vision beat their father who sailed the Miracle din- ghy in this handicap class. Royal Malta Yacht Club Commo- dore Godwin Zammit presided over a Prize Giving afternoon, which saw crews joined by families and friends who cheered on the winners who were presented with a number of sailing related products. RMYC Dinghy Regatta Results Laser 4.7 1st Place – Matthew Micallef 2nd Place – Daniele Micallef Valetta Laser Radial 1st Place – Karl Miggiani 2nd Place – Zach Zammit 3rd Place – Maya Podesta Optimist Class – Cadets 1st Place – Richard Schultheis 2nd Place – Daniel Ciantar 3rd Place – Dimitris Pipi Vertsonis Optimist Class – Seniors 1st Place – Saul Vassallo 2nd Place – Patrice Pace 3rd Place – Luke Rausi Optimist Class – Novice 1st Place – Kain Gauci 2nd Place – Shaun Aquilina 3rd Place – Cleavon Borg RS Fevas 1st Place – Kane Seychell/Harry Parnis England 2nd Place – Neil Farrugia Vella/ Craig Farrugia Vella 3rd Place – Megan Ferry / Emilie Gregory Handicap Class 1st Place (RS Vision) – Andrew Mifsud / Michela Mifsud 2nd Place (Miracle) – Pierre Mifsud / Andre Fenech Toppers 1st Place – Andrea Azzopardi PHOTOGRAPHY BY RMYC/MARK NAPIER