DESPITE awful weather, a strong field turned out to contest the first of the three aquathlon events to be held at Kelly College this year.
The event comprises a distance swim, a change into running kit then a distance run around the college grounds.
The distances involved vary, depending on the age group of the competitors, from a 150m swim plus 1,500m run for the youngest through to a 750m swim plus 5,000m run for the adults.
One of the most impressive performances of the day was that of Matthew Henry of Kelly College who was competing in the Tristars 3 (13-14 years) category.
Fresh from some excellent results in the Devon County Swimming Championships where he gained five national qualifying times, Matthew showed he was as fast on land as he is in the water by leading from start to finish and winning the event 30 seconds ahead of team-mate Joshua Lake.
In the youngest age group, winner for the boys was Nick Browning of Gloucester, ahead of Fraser Bayliss and Christian Richards of Kelly.
Fraser had performed strongly in the swim section and even more so in the run with the transition stage being his only downfall, while Christian was also able to make up places during the run.
In the Tristars 2 group, it was a Kelly College one-two with the victory going to Oliver Lake ahead of Lawrence Oxborough who, despite swimming additional lengths in error, managed to turn fourth place after the swim into a second position at the finish line.
The school also produced winners in the youth boys (Alex Richards), junior girls (Rachel Hughes), junior boys (Thomas Phillips) and open men?s (Richard Brady).
Another competitor who has had a busy time lately in the county swimming competition was Victoria Dewlar-Fowler who put in a determined 400m swim followed by an equally determined 3km run to finish second in the Tristars 3 girls? age group.
Victoria improved her placing during the land section but was beaten to the finish line by Clea Zeltman of Dawlish who had worked her way through the field, moving up from fifth place at the transition stage.
The competitors will return for round two on April 25 at Kelly College.