INSIDE THIS ISSUE
FALL 2019
Tim O’Donnell in Kona TCSD Contacts/Events Welcome New Members Board Members
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TRIATHLON CLUB OF SAN DIEGO
FALL TCSD EVENTS
CLUB TRIATHLON Saturday, November 30th Location: Fiesta Island 5am Volunteer Setup 6am Transition Opens 6:50am Course Talk 7am Race Starts 8:30am Awards and cleanup Format: 700m swim, 20k bike, 4 mile run
KONA VIEWING PARTY December 12th looks for details online
Check TCSD website/facebook for latest details
2019 Race Schedule 4 Weekly Calendar 5 Congratulations IM Finishers 6
TCSD Conversation TCSD Out ‘n About
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Tri News
Tim O’Donnell’s
By Matt Bach
Record-Setting Performance in
Kona
When the cannon went off in Kailua Bay at 6:25am, no one expected Tim O’Donnell to land on the podium. Not even Tim O’Donnell (TO). Having rebroken his foot six weeks ago in the same place that he originally broke it in 2018, TO was happy just to be on the start line. But sometimes when the pressure is off, magic happens. After a choppier swim, with swells that even made the Naval Academy grad seasick, Tim emerged from the water in the lead pack of eight men in 47:38, just one minute off of the Kona swim course record despite the conditions. All the men transitioned almost exactly in two minutes so as to not give their competitors an inch at the beginning of the ride. Knowing that a large contingent of uber-
bikers would be coming out of the water with a deficit looking to regroup and chase down the lead pack, the eight went to work. The pack quickly whittled down to five and that included 2x Olympic Gold Medalist and Kona rookie Alistair Brownlee and 2x IRONMAN World Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Jan Frodeno. Maurice Clavel, a German pro, made a name for himself by leading the race and setting the pace on the way to Hawi while Josh Amberger, the Aussie superswimmer, tagged along in the group. Near Hawi, Amberger and Clavel fell back to leave TO, Alistair and Frodeno in a small front pack, now just 2.5 minutes ahead of the uber-bikers Cameron Wurf, Sebastian Kienle, Boris Stein and Lionel Sanders. Tim thought to himself on the climb to Hawi “there are three Olympic Gold continued on page 12