In wet and windy conditions, Holmes took out 2nd place in the 20-24 age group, and 5th overall. The event, which attracted a field of some 300 female athletes, included a 1.5 km swim, a 40 km bike leg, and a 10 km run. The treacherous bike leg saw a number of riders come to grief as the slippery conditions wreaked havoc on the field with near torrential rainfall.
Ella’s time of 2 hours 18 minutes was only 2 minutes 47 seconds behind overall winner Penny Hosken of Victoria
Ella's result places her in an ideal position to secure a place in the Australian team for the 2012 World Triathlon Championships in New Zealand
Coach Steve O’Brien said that Ella’s performance was a good sign leading into major races in Ella’s national competition schedule later in the season. “Our main Australian event this year is the National qualification Olympic distance race in Mooloolaba in March, which is worth double points” O’Brien said. “But, the pleasing thing about today’s race is that we had a good result in a big event, plus we have identified a few skill areas we can work on going forward”, he said.
Despite the impressive result, there’s no resting for Ella though as she now launches into a rigorous 6-week training block to sharpen up for the Mooloolaba event, which will be her final Olympic Distance hit-out before the World Championships in October. “I’m looking forward to it” she said, “it’s going to be very solid 6 weeks, and we know the areas we need to work on”.