General News
23 October, 2020
Confidence boosting win for Kurt McDonald
CAMPERDOWN triathlete Kurt McDonald admits he was thrilled to return to the winners’ list last Sunday.
CAMPERDOWN triathlete Kurt McDonald admits he was thrilled to return to the winners’ list last Sunday.
The 21 year-old triumphed in round two of the Queensland Tri Series at Raby Bay after a strong performance in all three disciplines.
He completed the swim leg in 10 minutes and 53 seconds, the cycle stint in 37 minutes and 16 seconds before finishing the run in 18 minutes and 38 seconds.
He crossed the line in a time of one hour, six minutes and 47 seconds, 10 seconds clear of Travis Coleman.
The pair finished almost a minute ahead of third placegetter Sam Betten.
McDonald, who is now based in Murarrie with Warwick Dalziel’s Triathlon squad, also finished fifth in the opening round of the Queensland Tri Series at Moreton Bay.
“It’s certainly been a long time since I got to break the tape but it was good to win again,” he said.
“I led the swim for all but 200 metres and opened up quite a big gap but that was shut down in the final kilometres of the bike leg.
“The run was out of me and another fella (Coleman) but I just sat and waited until there was 800 metres to go and then I took off on him.
“It was quite the ideal race.”
This season has been different for McDonald, who moved to Brisbane earlier this year.
But COVID-19 changed the outlook of his stint interstate, with the pandemic scrapping a planned overseas trip and restricting him to just four races locally.
Nonetheless he was pleased to add a victory to his season record, which was his first in a while.
“It (the win) definitely brings back a bit of confidence that I’d been lacking in the last year,” McDonald said.
“It sort of proves that making the move to Brisbane was the right one too.
“It’s been a different season. We were meant to be in Europe in the middle months of the year but that obviously didn’t happen.
“We’ve had events thrown at us late that we’ve had to prepare for but honestly it’s been pretty good.”
When he does return to competition, McDonald has his focus on gaining world selection.
“I’ll have one more race in 2020 and then I’ll have a bit of a break shortly. I’ll most likely then race again early next year in January or February,” he said.
“It looks like the Australian Champs will be in February so I’ll be looking to carry confidence and form into that and hopefully qualify for world selection.
“It’s been a goal of mine for a while now that I haven’t been able to get ticked off.”