Family Champions

This weekend Tobias participated in the 800 meter CUC sea swim. With Majken swimming beside him to make sure he didn’t have any problems, he managed a 22 minute swim, which was good enough for gold in the male 8 years and under age group. He was obviously very proud; as were his parents! He managed to swim freestyle pretty much all the way, with some occasional breaststroke. His only complaint during the swim was getting saltwater in his mouth and nose. Picture of the champ below.
Majken and I participated in the Cayman Island Time Trial Championships a week ago. Start is Paradise Bar and Grill on South Church Street not far from where we live. The race route is out and back. East along South Sound to just before Hurley's roundabout and back to the finish line at Paradise Bar and Grill. Majken finished as first female overall in a time of 26:11, while I finished second overall in a time 21:40 for the 10 mile (16 km) course. Results are available here. Majken and I both received coverage in the CayCompass, a blurb below:

...Dennis Brooks set the early pace at 24 minutes 50 seconds and held the best time for quite a while until he was toppled by Michael Stomps.

Unlike most of the other top competitors, two time Olympian Mitchell Smith raced on a standard road racing bicycle, without all the aerodynamic bells and whistles that characterise triathlon and time trial bicycles.

This did not seem to slow Smith down too much as he streaked to a time of 22:19 to knock Stomps off the top step of the podium. Steve Evans was the first cyclist to mount a serious challenge to Smith’s time, but fell a mere two seconds short with a time of 22:21.

Triathlete Jasper Mikkelsen turned in the surprise performance of the day as he knocked Smith off the top step with an amazing time of 21:40, only a couple of seconds short of the course record.

Mikkelsen is building up to an Ironman triathlon this weekend in Florida and if his speed over ten miles is anything to go on, he should be flying on his big day.

Unfortunately for Mikkelsen, Jerome Ameline, the undisputed king of time trialling in Cayman, was yet to cross the line.

When he did, he reclaimed his rightful place on the top step of the podium, setting a new course record in the process. His time of 21:19 for the 10–mile course translates to an average speed of 28.14 miles per hour.

...

In the women’s division, Majken Mikkelsen went one better than spouse Jasper by claiming the women’s overall title as well as the 30–39 age group in a time of 26:11. Her time means that she was faster than four of the male age group champions and finished in 16th position overall.