Wright to take the best from CAMTRI Cup

IT is said that every cloud has a silver lining and local triathlete Matthew Wright has found his in Sunday’s CAMTRI Sprint Triathlon American Cup and Central American and Caribbean Championship hosted by the Barbados Federation of Island Triathletes.

Despite not securing a podium finish as the only Barbadian in the Elite Men’s main event, Wright is pleased with his overall effort as he sees the performance as a stepping stone in his constant development.

Holding the hearts of local spectators on the Spring Garden circuit, Wright emerged from the waters after the 750-metre swim in third position out of a field of 31 starters, much to the delight of onlookers. Calling it one of his best swims ever, Wright took members of the media through his race.

“I had a really good swim! Probably 500 metres through, I was leading the swim and I’ve never been in that position before. Usually I’m catching up from the swim, but this season I’ve had some really good swims. About four of us got a little break in the swim and we were on the bike working pretty well together, but I just didn’t have that push today on the bike, which is such a shame because the two other guys got away from us and they had a huge lead. So if us four were able to work together, we could’ve ended up with a good minute off because the back group is where they had all the really fast runners.”

Going on to say that the heat and high winds played a major role in his eighth-place finish, Wright also added that they saw him making changes in his tactics. “It’s a real shame I didn’t have the bike legs today. There’s a wicked cross-wind coming across the highway, so you can’t get as much draft from the guys in front as opposed to a tail-wind and a head-wind, so that made it really hard. So I decided that it doesn’t make sense killing yourself with the heat, so I just waited out for the big group and unfortunately couldn’t catch the two front guys. But I was a lot fresher going on to the run, but even then the heat took its toll.”

Admitting that he was not at his best over the 5K run, Wright has chosen to take the good from the situation and move forward. “I dealt with what I could in the heat and my running is maybe at 70 per cent at the moment and I’ve had a bit of a foot injury, so I’m happy with where I am and the guys ran really fast today. I knew I couldn’t go with those top guys. I think I did as well as I could given the situation and it’s another positive step forward and hopefully that puts me in good stead for the rest of the season,” he said.

With the local event now behind him, Wright says that it is back to building for him as he has another CAMTRI Cup triathlon in Richmond, Virginia in two weeks. He said that following that, he has a month to himself before participating in the Canadian National Championships in Ottawa this June. Stating that he trains in Canada, he said he was not sure where this summer would take him, but that he hopes for some good races towards the close of the season. (MP)