McCarthy overcomes monk seal obstacle to top TriKauai

Leo McCarthy overcame the extra few hundred yards of sand in the swim portion of the TriKaua‘i Triathlon to finish the event first overall in 1 hour, 9 minutes and 20 seconds.

Casey McGraw followed about two minutes back (1:11:53) with Johnny Grout hot on his heels, stopping the clock at 1:12:13.

“The swim portion of the triathlon had to be re-routed around not one, but three, precious sleeping monk seals who had chosen prime beach spots at what would have been the entrance and exit for the swim,” said Fran McDonald of Kukui‘ula Outrigger, in an e-mail. “To give the monk seals their space, the swim course started further down the beach in front of the Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club and went out through Left-lefts surf break, resulting in a few extra hundred yards through deep beach sand.”

More than 168 participants turned out for the event marking the close of the 2010 Koloa Plantation Days celebration at the Po‘ipu Beach Park. The event started with the swim in Po‘ipu, a 14-mile bike route to Oma‘o and back to Po‘ipu, and a 5k sprint from the Po‘ipu Beach Park to Koloa Landing and back.

Lois Luts took the overall female finish in an hour, 24 minutes and 31 seconds followed by Alana Goo-Frazier (1:27:16) and Kimberly Ryan (1:33:15).

Roy Yamagata, longtime Po‘ipu Beach Park water safety officer, topped the Men’s 60+ division and Anna Meyers was the sole 60+ Female participant.

The female team of Shannon Wigent (swim), Robin Pratt (bicycle) and Nancy Pappa (run) crossed in 1:25:00 to be the first team finisher. Kayla Ishida (swim), Art Mersber (bicycle) and Kawai Curnan (run) ended in 1:15:25 as the first Mixed team finisher.

Chelsie Smith-Wishard, a strong distance runner while at Kaua‘i High School, topped the 5k Fun Run in 16:52 followed by Kevin Kyle (20:12) and Erik Beaver (20:48).

Visit trikauai.com for more information.