Schofield celebrates Oceania title victory, Jeffcoat seals silver

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athletes claimed an impressive 50 percent of the medals on offer at the inaugural Oceania Triathlon Super Sprint Championships staged at the Gold Coast Performance Centre in Runaway Bay.

The demanding format of Super Sprint racing included qualifiers, repechages, semi-finals, and finals, all packed into a single day. It meant some athletes raced up to four times during the day.

Twins Jayden and Luke Schofield were dominant throughout the Elite Men’s races, and they led the final from the start to secure first and second place respectively. A thrilling sprint to the finish line between the 25-year-olds saw Jayden break the tape less than a second ahead of his brother.

Besides earning bragging rights at the family’s kitchen table, the victory also represented Jayden’s inaugural Oceania title.

“I’ve raced here for years as a junior and to come here and win is unbelievable,” Schofield said.

“I absolutely love the super sprint format. It falls into what my strengths are and we just love the pain of fast running, fast riding and the transitions. That’s what makes the race really.”

He said sharing the top two spots on the podium with his brother added to the moment.

“We’ve had a fair few sprint finishes,” Schofield said. “He’s always a tough athlete to beat. Even though he is my brother, he’s a phenomenal athlete.

“You can be fitter than him but trying to dig deeper than him is really the tough part.”

The Championships also marked nineteen-year-old Joel Offord’s debut at this level, and after narrowly missing out on the A Final he secured a commendable fifth in the B Final.

Tokyo Olympian Emma Jeffcoat narrowly missed the Elite Women’s title to 33-year-old Charlotte McShane in a fast and furious sprint finish, but she had good reason to feel proud to claim the silver medal.

Chloe Bateup made the strategic decision to skip the Oceania Championships in favour of heading to The Philippines. She competed in the Asia Triathlon Cup at Subic Bay, in her pursuit of world ranking points.

Despite starting the race ranked No.1, Bateup delivered a solid performance to earn the bronze medal.

Bateup and the Schofield brothers are now preparing to compete in China over the coming weeks at the Asia Triathlon Cup, Taizhou and/or Asia Triathlon Cup, Lianyungan. Meanwhile, Jeffcoat and Offord will return to Sydney for a focused training block as they prepare to compete in a series of races in Europe where they’ll be joined by the Schofield brothers.

Photo courtesy of Aus Triathlon