Chch triathlete well placed

Press, 9 May 1985, Page 44

Chch triathlete well placed

John Hellemans, a Christchurch triathlete, has had two satisfactory placings against strong competition in California in the last two weeks.

On April 27 Hellemans competed in a race of the Los Angeles triathlon series and finished eighth in lhr 48min 425, three minutes behind the winner, Scott Molina, who won the Double Brown Ironman triathlon in Auckland in March. Molina’s time was lhr 45min ss. Another leading American triathlete, Mark Montgomery, was second 13 seconds behind Molina. Hellemans was the best placed of the non-American entries.

Joanne Ernst, one of the leading women triathletes in the United States, won

the women’s section in lhr 56min 435. Allison Roe, a former New Zealand marathon representatives, was second in lhr 58min 4s. Last week-end Hellemans competed in the 100 km Wildflower triathlon north of San Francisco. He finished the 2km swim, 80km cycle ride and 18km run in fourth place in 3hr 59min. The winnner of the race in 3hr 45min was Rob Barel, a Dutchman, who is being touted as the next world champion. Molina crashed on the cycle leg and did not complete the race. Hellemans will leave the United States today for the Netherlands where he will train for six weeks before contesting the European championships on August 18.