By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

MALCOLM Menzies and Kami Roach repeated as the men and women champions of the 2025 Powerade Potcakeman Triathlon yesterday at Jaws Beach.

The sprint distance triathlon featured a 750 metre swim at Jaws Beach, a 12-mile two-loop course around Albany/Clifton Pier and a 5-kilometre bike ride on the road. It was organised by Baark!, who presented awards to the winners in all of the age groups.

The 16-year-old Menzies, preparing for the open water swim at the CARIFTA Swim Championships over the Easter holiday in Trinidad & Tobago, took the men’s title swim, bicycle and run race in 59.58 seconds over Grand Bahamians runner-up Launy Duncombe in 1:05.52 and third place finisher Ayden Bain in 1:10.08.

“It was very good. It was pretty cloudy, so it wasn’t that hard, but it was very windy on the bike, but overall, it was a very good day out,” Menzies said.

As the swim was his strongest component of the competition, Menzies said he worked extremely hard in it because he wants to be ready to compete at CARIFTA. 

But he admitted that he improved on his bike in training over the past six months and he had a really good run to cap it off. “It worked very well,” Menzies said. “My and coach have been working on getting me ready for CARIFTA, so I was pleased with my performance.” For Duncombe, he was under the weather, but he was still thrilled to know that he could have completed the course in second place.

“I did this race just to get my qualifying spot for the CARIFTA Triathlon,” said Duncombe, who just missed making the CARIFTA swim team again.

“It was a good race. I felt I could have done better if I was in better health, but I will take it.”

While he trailed Menzies as he had to deal with some tightness in his chest in the swim, the 17-year-old Duncombe said he made up some ground on the bike and he was able to maintain a solid performance on the run.

“I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t make the team,” Duncombe said of the CARIFTA swimming. “I tried my best. I couldn’t meet the requirements to make the team,. I know I just have to do better next time.”

Bain, a 6-year-old 12th grader at Tabernacle Baptist Academy, said he felt good about his performance.

“I want to thank God for giving me the power and the energy to come out here and participate,” he said. “It was a good race. I think I came out here and did my best.

“For the swim, I think I did good. Going into bike, I pushing hard, drinking water and thanking God, even though IU was hurting. Coming into the race, that was the best part because I was able to past people and encourage them as they encouraged me.”

Bain said he will definitely use this experience to help propel him to a top finish at the CARIFTA swimming next month.

Having virtually switched from competing in triathlons to just cycling, 19-year-old Roach said she had a rough time in her return from school at the University of Tampa to compete on Sunday for her third straight title. 

“I haven’t trained in a long time and so I was just trying my best to keep up,” said Roach, who is training on her own because they don’t have a cycling team at college.

“This one was definitely my hardest but I’m really proud of myself. I pushed everything possible I had left in the run to stay in first.”

The 28-year-old former CARFITA and collegiate swimmer Laura Morley returned for her second appearance, finishing second in a time of 1:22.35 as she improved on her third-place finish last year.

“I just came out here to support Baark, so I was pretty happy with how UI performed today. It’s such a great event with great sponsorship,” Morley said.

“I was very strong in my swim because of my sporing background. So I did a lot of training on the bike and in running. But once I got out there in the swim, I wanted to stay up there and I had a lot of fun doing that.”

Sienna Culmer-Mackey, a 19-year-old accounting major at the University of the Bahamas, ended up third in 1:25.31. She admitted that she wasn’t training for the event, but she performance really inspired her.

“I had an amazing swim. I felt a real improvement on my bike. That was the fastest bike ride I’ve ever had and my run was pretty decent too.

“This was the first race that I didn’t finish last, so it was a big difference. Now I have to start training myself to prepare for Nationals and to get ready for the CARIFTA triathlon.”

Lori Roach, the new president of the Bahamas Triathlon Association, said the event went very well, despite the fact that they got started about 15 minutes late.

“BASRA was out here, the water was calm, the wind died down and the competitors all got a chance to compete in a very nice atmosphere,’ she said.

“We had about 150 competitors, including 15 relay teams and almost 50 kids. So it was a great turnout. Everyone seemed to be having fun.”

Here’s a look at the top three finishers in the various age groups:

Male 30-39 - Felix Laroole, 1:17.13; Frank Graffam, 1:18.24; Jesus Rodriquez, 1:128.32.

Felame 30-39 - Chelsea Hughes, 1:33.24; Britt Christensen, 1:34.03.

Male 40-49 - Jeremy Coulombe, 1:13.34; Marc Saulnier, 1:16.29; Jonathan Pepin, 1:19.51.

Female 40-49 - Ilaria Gervasini, 1:28.00; Roxanne Daunis, 1:35.55; Evelyne Nieveu, 1:38.40.

Male 50-59 - Sean Farrington, 1:16:26; Ragil Cordova, 1:23.15; Juan Manuel Zatarain, 1:23.38.

Female 50-59 - Sarah Farrington, 1:35.24; Jacqueline Derbyshire, 1:41.00; Sanchia Fritzmaurice, 1:41.04.

Men 60-69 - Edward Bethel, 1:21.40.

Female 60-69 - Anne Lowe, 2:09.38.

Male 70-plus - Ulrich Filser, 1:42.39; Greg Lowe, 1:43.13.

All Female team winners - Win or Die Trifling - Patty Barigelli, Royann Dean and Lola Knowles, 1:16.47; Triathlon Tried - Alexia Zalarain, Issa Bournas and Annie Kennedy, 1:16.49; Tem Tri Racers - Alice Huille, Haley Roberts and Abbey Paige, 1:24.30.

All male team winners - Trifling Hard - Ragh  Cordova, Jeff Tynes and Ragh Cordova, 1:11.12; The Mavericks - Mark Roberts, Van Der Reit and Eamonn Strang, 1:12.22; X-Drew2 - Drew Bastian, Andrew Hanna and Xavier Dames, 1:21.40.

Mixed teams - Kool Kids - Patty Barigelli, Kevin Daley and Kounta Moussa, 1:02.06; Session Box - Maggie Sheehan and Amanda Darville, 1:19.22; Happy Feet - Maude Morrissette, Eric Grndron and Jade Lessard, 1:21.38.