Fabio Spiteri and Margaret Seguna crowned new National Long Distance Triathlon Champions

Rough seas  and strong headwinds were part of the race package during the Garmin Malta 113k National Long Distance Triathlon Championships which saw two new National Champions being crowned.   Fabio Spiteri (Agones SFC) and Margaret Seguna (Mellieha AC) were crowned national champions in what was a hotly contested race fought in a strong athlete pool that doubled in numbers over the previous year.  
 
Slovenian Triathlete, Jaroslav Kovacic, racing for the first time in Malta, showed his dominance from the very start of the race by exiting the swim after twenty three minutes thirty five seconds and kept a consistent distance throughout the race. Second out of the water was Birkirkara St. Joseph’s Graham Borg in a time of twenty six minutes and six seconds. Italian Emilio Cucci exited the water in twenty seven minutes forty four seconds.  
 
The cycle segment gave a better indication of how final places would be taken up with Kovacic and Cucci dominating the first two places.  Spiteri’s strength on the bike showed in the cycle segment thus enabling him to move up to third place.  Whilst David Galea had the best run from the three Maltese podium finishers it was not enough for him to secure a podium place.
 
In the end the overall Males category  was won by Kovacic who clocked 4 hrs 3 mins and 54 secs and setting a course record in the process. Second placed was Italian Under 23 triathlete Emiliano Cucci who crossed the finish line in 4 hrs 21 mins and 22 secs. Maltese Fabio Spiteri was the third male on the podium and crowned National Champion in a time of 4 hrs 28 mins and 36 secs.
 
“It was great racing in Malta. Weather conditions were not easy and the bike route was very challenging but am happy to have reached my target time. Malta is a potential place for training and hope to bring some other Slovenian Triathletes to Malta hopefully to race and potentially for some training”. Jaroslav Kovacic commented.
 
In the Maltese Classification, following Fabio Spiteri on the podium where Birkirkara St. Joseph’s Rudolph Agius in second place, clocking a time of four hours thirty three seconds, followed two seconds after by last year’s National Champion David Galea  who still managed to shave off forty nine seconds from last year’s time.
 
In the Female Category Mellieha AC’s Margaret Seguna won her first National Championship title after a hard fought battle with last year’s winner Birkirkara St. Joseph’s Michelle Vella Wood. Seguna was the first female out of the water, followed by fellow Mellieha athlete Donatelle Camilleri. Vella Wood exited the water in third place, a shift in the first two positions was registered on the bike with Vella Wood gaining a substantial advantage over Seguna. Vella Wood’s performance in cycling is going from strength the strength showing the preparation she is undertaking for the Baku 2015 European Games is paying off.  In the run Seguna had the better of Vella Wood which resulted her being the first female to cross the finish line in five hours two minutes and twenty six seconds.  Donatelle Camilleri completed the podium in third place.
 
Age Group categories were won by Kelvin Goodwin (Male Over 40). Suzanne Farrugia and Jude Zammit took the Over 50 titles.
 
Twenty four teams took part in the  Relay Team segment, which consisted of some of  Malta’s best athletes who teamed up for this event.  First and fastest swimmer was Sarah Demicoli who exited the water after twenty six minutes and two seconds. She was closely followed by Jean Claude Cutajar and Keith Galea.  In the Cycle segment, Wayne Spiteri shot through the difficult course in two hours and seventeen minutes. Strong performances were registered by Paul Zarb and Mark Bonnici who were the second and third fastest cyclists. In the run segment, Michael Gellel, who made a welcome return to racing after quite a long absence showed that he still had racing in his blood and clocked in the fastest time.
 
Final Results for Relay Teams were as follows:-
1st Place -  Team H - Neil Markham (Swim) Wayne Spiteri (Cycle) Joe Pace (Run)  
4 hrs, 20 mins 4 secs
 
2nd Place - Shaun Galea (Swim) Mark Bonnici (Cycle) Kevin Zammit (Run)
4 hrs 24 mins 46 secs
 
3rd Place - Nicol Cremona (Swim) Joseph Cremona (Cycle) Michael Gellel (Run)  
4 hrs 25 mins 17 secs.
 
The growth in participation in the Garmin Malta 113k Triathlon and Long Distance National Championships also saw athletes from Slovenia, Slovakia, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom taking part in the race for the first time.
 
The organisers are grateful for the logistical assistance shown by Agones SFC, Malta Cycling Federation, Mellieha Athletic Club and Mosta Cycling Club as well as the volunteers to helped out on the day.
 
The Garmin Malta 113k Long Distance Championship was  supported by Garmin, represented in Malta by Medcomms Ltd., The Cyclist, Urban Jungle, Malta Tourism Authority, Mochika, Ecco, emvigee pr & marketing, Al Fresco, Go&Fun, Leap Nutrition, Green Trade, Wall’s represented in Malta by M&Z (Marketing) Ltd and sanctioned by the Malta Triathlon Federation.

 
Garmin Malta 113k Triathlon Results
 
Individual Distance
1st Overall Male  - Jaroslav Kovacic (Slovenia) - 4hrs 3 mins 54 secs
2nd Overall Male -  Emiliano Cucci (Italy)  - 4 hrs 21 mins 22 secs
3rd Overall Male - Fabio Spiteri (Malta) - 4 hrs 28 mins 36 secs
 
1st Maltese Male & National Champion - Fabio Spiteri -  4 hrs 28 mins 36 secs
2nd Maltese Male - Rudolph Agius - 4 hrs 33 mins
3rd Maltese Male - David Galea - 4 hrs 33 mins 2 secs
 
1st Overall Female & National Champion - Margaret Seguna - 5 hrs 02 mins 26 secs
2nd Female - Michelle Vella Wood - 5 hrs 10 mins 28 secs
3rd Female - Donatelle Camilleri - 5 hrs 52 mins 49 secs
 
1st Over 40 Male  - Kelvin Goodwin - 5 hrs 12 mins 50 secs
 
1st Over 50 Male -  Jude Zammit - 5 hrs 03 mins 35 secs
1st Over 50 Female - Suzanne Farrugia - 6 hrs 11 mins 4 secs