Sports
King ’16 and Oerlemans look to defend Hamtrek titles
By Ben Fields ’15
May 1, 2015
Hamilton’s premier athletic event, Hamtrek, will take place this Friday, May 1. With over 300 people signed up for the sprint triathlon, the race will be rife with competition. Participants will swim 525 yards, bike nine miles and run five kilometer – roughly 3.1 miles. Few events bring together quite so many people as professors, staff members, varsity athletes, students and community members will take to the course Friday afternoon.
So far there are roughly 54 men and 64 women registered for the individual event, including both of last year’s returning champions. Last year, Professor of English Onno Oerlemans took home first place in the men’s event – and was the overall champion – with a time of 57:32.88. On the women’s side, Lauren King ’16 came out on top finishing in 1:05:44.82, a new women’s course record. Both King and Oerlemans will be coming back looking to defend their titles, but they will face tough competition from the field.
The men’s race will be particularly competitive with all of the top three competitors returning to the race. Runner-up Reid Swartz ’15 will look to improve on his time and come out on top. Last year Swartz had the fastest swim split of individual competitors, and was almost two minutes ahead of Oerlemans at that point in the race. The race is likely to come down to the bike and the run, which Oerlemans had a two minute advantage in both. Although Swartz and Oerlemans are the two to watch, do not count out Adam Bushnoe ’99 who placed third last year. Bushnoe will look to make up ground during the bike and the run, as Swartz will likely remain on top during the swim.
After dominating the women’s side last year, King will look to stay on top in this year’s race. She took home first place by over two minutes last year, with Alice Grant ’14 coming in second. Similar to Swartz, King was particularly dominant in the swim, finishing over two minutes ahead of the nearest individual women. The challenge for King could come from newcomers to the event, as she dispatched with the competition so handily last year.
Hamtrek is sure to be a fun event bringing a wide array of people into the pool, onto the road and the golf course. With a wide-open team event and competitive individual events, it is anybody’s race. The first heats go off at 4 p.m. at the Bristol Pool, and the race will likely conclude with a barbeque and award’s ceremony around 6:15 p.m.