Cutajar & Galea smash Male and Female Course Records on Salina Coast Road

The BSJ Go & Fun Sprint Triathlon Series came to an end on Sunday morning on the Salina Coast Road with impressive wins from Shaun Galea and Hannah Cutajar.  The Race was also designated, by the Malta Triathlon Federation, as the National Sprint Triathlon Championships.  

Galea and Cutajar’s impressive results saw the existing course record broken.  The course record was established back in 2016, when the Triathlon races returned to the Coast Road following a break due to the reconstruction of the route. 

In keeping with International Triathlon Union regulations for National Championship Races, the race saw two separate starts, with a three-minute gap between the Male and Female starts. 

First out of the water was Shaun Galea, who gained a three second advantage over possible podium contender Bernard Sant. Galea continued to gain advantage in the first transition whilst heading onto the 20km cycle route.  From then on it was evident that Galea was not only out for a win but a possible sub one-hour result. Galea went on to build a comfortable gap over Sant and the rest of the athletes to achieve an impressive finish time of 59 minutes, 17 seconds. Galea is the first triathlete register such a time on the new coast road.  Sant had to settle for second place. In third place was veteran Fabio Spiteri.  His result might have come as a surprise to quite a few especially since Spiteri, until recently, was focusing his energies on long distance triathlon.  

In the Females’ Category National Champion Hannah Cutajar was first female out of the water. Her swim time was the third best of the day.  Cutajar took the lead on the bike and despite Lara Buttigieg attempting to thwart Cutajar’s efforts for a fourth consecutive title, Cutajar kept a steady lead to widen the gap as the race progressed into the 5-kilometre run. Cutajar won the race in a time of 1 hours 5 minutes and 14 seconds.  Buttigieg and Margaret Seguna kept close during the cycle segment, but in the run segment, Buttigieg pushed on to take the lead over Seguna.  Buttigieg crossed the finish line in second place, three minutes behind Cutajar, whilst Seguna crossed the line in a time of 1 hour 10 minutes 23 seconds.

Trophies were presented to the winners of the Championships as well as the winners of the overall BSJ Go & Fun Sprint Triathlon Series. The   overall   winners   of   the   Series   in   the   Male   and   Female categories  where  those triathletes  with  the  best  accumulated time  in all four races respectively.  The winners of the Series were Jesrit Camilleri, Malcolm Vassallo, Marlon Mallia (Males) and Lara Buttigieg, Clara Attard, Suzanne Farrugia (Females).

“Another positive run of the BSJ Sprint Triathlon Series came to an end this morning.  This summer saw some fantastic timings and improvements registered by our athletes, but today was by far one for the books, when both the Male and Female course records were smashed”  stated Euchar Camilleri, Secretary General, Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club. “ We take this opportunity to thank Go & Fun for supporting our races as well as the athletes, volunteers, marshalls, medical teams and  authorities – including Transport Malta, the Malta Police Force and the Naxxar Local Council – they are the ingredients that make these races a successful recipe!”

Results – National Sprint Triathlon Championships

Age Groups

Results – BSJ Go & Fun Sprint Triathlon Series