Acker, Butler win Stroke & Stride opener

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 7 August 2017

Marius Acker enjoyed being back on the road.

Marius Acker and former Olympic swimmer Lara Butler were the individual winners of opening race of the Ogier Stroke and Stride Series hosted by the Cayman Islands Triathlon Association on Wednesday, 2 August 2017, while Los Dos won the team event.

“It’s good to be back doing the whole thing myself,” said Acker, who competed as part of a team for the past two years and is recovering from a lower leg injury. “I’ve only been running for three weeks, so the short distance suits me well.”

Acker, a multiple time winner, completed the 400m swim and two-mile run in 18 minutes, 58.4 seconds, just ahead of 2016 series winner Stuart Bray (19:38.3).

“I was pleased passing Stuart. He was my biggest worry and when he got out of the water, his transition was quicker than mine, so I had some work to do to catch him. I caught him within the first 500 metre,” he said in an interview with CaymanSportsBuzz.com at the finish.

L-R: Matthew Seegelaar, Conrad Proud, Jamie Hughes, Marius Acker, Stuart Bray.

Jamie Hughes was third (20:02.7), Matthew Seegelaar was fourth (21:36.8) and Conrad Proud was fifth (21:50.7).

Acker added that he plans to turn up the pressure for the second race on 9 August. “If I win next week, it’s pretty much game over.”

Meantime, Butler was just ahead of Jane Hale to win the women’s race. Butler crossed the finish in 23:07.6 with Hale finishing second in 24:08.6. Third was Emily Davies in 24:33.2.

: Lara Butler

: Jane Hale

“I don’t swim [competitively] anymore, so the swim was a struggle,” said Butler, who retired from competition after the 2016 Olympics in Rio. “[It] was a lot harder than I thought it could be but it was 400 metres, not too long, so I was happy with that.” The swim distance is bumped up to 600m for the next race.

The Los Dos team of Krishna Adapa and Victor Magalhaes combined for the quickest overall time of 17:54.3. Adapa was second out of the water in 6:28.2 and Megalhaes dominated on the road, finishing in 11:26.1.

Team ‘Los Dos’ — Victor Magalhaes and Krishna Adapa

In all, 85 solo athletes competed, along with 18 two-person teams.

The route was adjusted for this year due to construction at Sunset House. The races start at Eden Rock with the swim, followed by a two-mile course southbound on South Church Street, looping back north to finish outside Bar Crudo on the waterfront. Each week, the swim distance is increased by 200m.

See full results from race one here.