Good showing by Maltese entrants in Concept 2 World Ski Erg championships

Malta has made its mark at the 7th annual Concept 2 World Ski Erg 1-kilometer Championships held on the 7 November at Lakes personal fitness studio Marsa Sports Club.

There were 37 Maltese entrants competing for the first time in the sprint championships and joining over 1,400 others across the globe in a fitness discipline that is growing fast. The youngest participant in the world sprints was just 5 years old and the oldest over 80.

There were some outstanding performances from the locals, with several youngsters showing great resilience and determination. Julia Sciberras, aged 8, was the youngest and finished third in the girls under 12, with a time of 11:54.5. George Strickland, aged 11, won first place in his under 12 age group with a 5:57.9 in the local competition and placed 20th out of 159 performers in the boys under 12 age group worldwide.

The fastest Maltese woman of the day was Rebecca Strickland, with a time of 4:17.3, winning her over 40’s category and placing 23rd world wide. The fastest of the Maltese racers was Matthew Mercieca, winning the Men’s 30’s category with 3:22.8 and placing 34th world wide with a tremendous effort. Bradley Callus, a local national tennis player, won his 20’s category with a 3:25.7 and a very creditable world wide 23rd position.

Ken Lake set a new world record of 3:26.7 in the Men’s 60 to place first in the world, beating 63 other challengers.

The fastest time in the world was set by Sam Loch of Australia with 2:54.4 and the fastest woman was Heather Mooney of the USA with 3:40.5

The organisers were very satisfied with the local results and look forward to the next championships next year.