10th win for Galea, 1st win for Schembri Rodgers
Birkirkara St. Joseph Sports Club’s Keith Galea won his 10th National Champion title in Salina on Sunday morning. Maya Schembri Rodgers joined him on the winners’ podium marking her debut on the National Championships’ podium.
The final race of the Go & Fun BSJ Triathlon Series, designated as the National Championships by the Malta Triathlon Federation, once again welcomed a strong crowd.
Keith Galea, aiming for his 10th title, was first out of the water with a comfortable gap ahead of Ramon Calleja, Steve Ritchie, and Bernard Farrugia. Maintaining the lead on the bike, Galea saw the gap narrow as Ritchie registered the fastest bike split. Nonetheless, Galea kept a controlled pace to cross the finish line first and win the coveted Champion title.
Ritchie finished the race in second place. Meanwhile, a battle for third place ensued between veteran David Galea and Christopher Buhagiar. Buhagiar took the lead and maintained a gap ahead of Galea, but in the final meters of the race, Galea overtook him to claim third place by just one second.
Maya Schembri Rodgers was the winner of the females’ title having established a comfortable gap in the swim ahead of Deborah Schembri and Miriam Borg Saydon. Schembri strong bike leg, narrowed the gap slightly but Schembri Rodgers maintained a determined pace to cross the finish line ahead of Schembri and Borg Saydon who finished in third place.
Sprint Distance
Pia Grech emerged first out of the water with a strong lead ahead of the sprint distance pack. She maintained this lead throughout the 20km bike segment and most of the 5km run. However, Lindsey Pirotta overtook her in the second half of the 5km run to secure first place. Despite this, Grech is a competitor to watch, having only started competing in the sport this season. Finishing in third place was Ana Ramirez Lopez.
In the males’ category Adam Jones, Nicholas Sammut and James Vassallo led the pack out of the water. On on the bike route paces started to change with Neil Falzon climbing up the ranks to register the fastest bike and run split to take the win of the morning. Following him on the podium were James Vassallo and Kenneth Camilleri, both making their first but well-deserved presence on the winners’ podium.
Trophies to the winners were presented by Club President Ray Grech who expressed his satisfaction at the outcome of this years’ series. “The Club is immensely proud of the strong performances witnessed throughout the Series. Congratulations to all the winners for their dedication and hard work. We also extend our heartfelt gratitude to our sponsor – Go & Fun for their unwavering support, making this event the success it was.”
The Club went on to thank the Malta Police – Naxxar District, Naxxar Local Council, LESA, Medical teams, race officials and the Malta Triathlon Federation for their contribution towards making the event a safe and successful one.
Go & Fun BSJ Triathlon Series – Race 4 Results
| Olympic Distance National Championships | Sprint Distance | ||||
| 1st | Keith Galea (2:09:11) | Maya Schembri Rodgers (2:34:59) | Neil Falzon (1:07:36) | Lindsey Pirotta (1:16:37) | |
| 2nd | Steve Ritchie (2:12:54) | Deborah Schembri (2:37:30) | James Vassallo (1:13:37) | Pia Grech (1:19:54) | |
| 3rd | David Galea (2:21:20) | Miriam Borg Saydon (3:3.19) | Kenneth Camilleri (1:15:14) | Ana Ramirez Lopez (1:34:06) | |
Go & Fun BSJ Triathlon Series – Overall Classification
The Overall Classification was based on the best accumulated time in all four races respectively (four Olympic and four Sprints).
In the Sprint Distance Females Category, Pia Grech took the honours whilst the Michael Hughes, and Luke Cosby took the Males’ podium.
The Olympic Distance overall podium was taken up by Keith Galea, Christopher Allison and Charles Camilleri.
Age Group winners were Martin Beyer (Over 40) and the evergreen Nicky Farrugia (Over 60).
The Club will now turn its focus to its 5k Road Running Series which will kick off on Tuesday 11th June and the Garmin BSJ Open Water Swimming Championships which will start on Wednesday 19th June.