Hi Everyone
On the 18th May I was on the starting line of the
first edition of the Triathlon1 Series organized by the Mediterranean Triathlon
Federation in conjunction with the European Triathlon Union. The first Race of
this series was organized in the Small town of Avola in Sicily. I was very
looking forward to this race as I really like racing in Sicily
Unfortunately the weather was not that ideal for us
athletes. Weather was awful. It rained all morning which made the technical
bike course very slippery and dangerous. This fact was a major drawback as I did
not know the course so well compared to the other athletes who raced in Avola in the previous editions. I was very frustrated and nervous before the race as I knew I
could not give everything on the bike due to the slippery roads. It was a very high profile race as this race attracted a lot
of professional athletes who race regularly for the Italian Triathlon Team. I
knew that it was going to be a difficult and a very fast race. I started well in
the swim covering the 1.2km swim in 15minutes, coming out from the water in 7th
place just a few seconds behind the main group
On the bike I did my best to try and get in the group but
the roads were too slippery. We had 4 laps round the town of Avola with some
sharp corners. I managed to enter in the main group in the last lap and
attacked immediately to come in T2 in front of the group.The pace they set in the beginning of the running segment
was amazing. So fast. They opened a 20m gap. I really pushed hard to get into
the group. I managed to finish the race in 5th Place just 30seconds
behind 2nd place. I was very surprised with my running time as I
covered the 5km segment in a good time of 16.55 which is my fastest run ever in a
sprint triathlon.
I am very pleased with my result. If it was not raining I
could have done much better and could have fought for the whole race for a
podium race. The times in both swimming and running are personal bests which
means that all the hours of training are paying off. This is the best result I achieved in an Elite men's race with a strong professional field. I hope in the
future will have other opportunities to race with such athletes to continue to improve my level
I would like to thank my brother
coach Dermot Galea, my swimming coach Catalin Stan, my parents and my wife’s
parents for their support. Thanks so much to my sponsors Garmin Malta, BBB bike
Parts Malta, Jaycee Malta, Malta Challenge Marathon, and Starbene Shop of Mosta
for their support, and my club Birkirkara St Joseph for their support. Last but not least, big thanks go to my wife
Elizabeth for being by my side all the time leading up to such an important
event for me. Here support is fundamental for me and without her I cannot
produce such a great performance as I did. Here presence during races gives me
so much comfort and strength that I will be able to express myself to the best
of my abilities in races.
That’s all for now
Yours in Sport
Keith
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