Chester Triathlon Club

Chester Tri’s Dan Craigen is Champion of the Dee for the third year running following Wednesday evening’s Dee Mile Race. The weather was kind to the swimmers, with the sun shining and the water relatively warm at 18 degrees, and the 2011 event saw the biggest field ever for the event, with 180 swimmers on the start list for the full 2km distance event and a further 35 taking to the water in the new, shorter, novice event (700m). There are three prizes on offer at the event: the Championship of the Dee, for the fastest non-wetsuit swimmer who lives within 5 miles of Chester Cross; fastest All-Comer, for any other non-wetsuit swimmer, and fastest wetsuit swimmer. Dan finished in 22min 40s and was preceded over the finish line by John Wood, fastest wetsuit swimmer in 21min 54s and Clive Roberts, second in the wetsuit category in 22min 34s. Bree Sutcliffe was the first female Chester Tri finisher and was the fastest woman in a wetsuit, clocking 25min 20s for the race, just fractions of a second behind second placed Katie Birchall, who in turn was just a few metres behind Eve Fellows, the fastest female all-comer. In the novice race, the fastest male swimmer and overall winner was Martin Brannan in 9min 13s, with the fastest woman, Kerrie Roberts, close behind in 10min 27s. You can see the full results for both races here