IT was her first triathlon in 11 months, but when Emily Watts tackled the second round of the Central West Inter Club Triathlon Series in Bathurst on Sunday it was if she had been competing all along.
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Watts took out the fastest female honours as she blazed through the 2.5 kilometre run, 200 metres swim, 16km cycle, 200m swim, 2.5km run course in 55 minutes, 41 seconds.
She finished more than two minutes clear of runner-up Hollee Simons (57:56), a Bathurst competitor who has been in hot form this season. Third belonged to Orange's Abby Dean (59:02).
While Watts had previously taken out fastest female honours at Bathurst Wallabies Triathlon Club races and last February won her age group NSW All Schools Triathlon, another sport is now her focus.
She is currently three months into her road cycling comeback following a training crash last year which left her in a neck and back brace for two-and-a-half months.
It meant Watts was just as pleased to finish Sunday's race without pain - other than the usual fatigue - as she was with the victory.
"I was really surprised, I thought my collarbone might muck up in the second swim or run, but I was really surprised as there was nothing, so that's a win for me really," Watts enthused.
"I always try to come out here for the Australia Day tri because there is such good support at this club, and I just love a good triathlon.
"To see how many women are out here is great, older women, older men. Everyone is cheering along the run course, high-fives all-round, it's brilliant."
Watts established an early lead over a big field of 45 rivals, clocking a 9:58 run split to hold a 44 seconds advantage over Simons heading into the first swim.
While Simons was five seconds quicker than Watts in that swim, and impressively 20 seconds quicker in the cycle, the Lithgow talent finished strongly to take the honours.
"I was watching for her [Simons] in the bike because I know she's a pretty good bike rider. When I saw her in the run she was powering on too, but I thought I had enough," Watts said.
"I didn't feel so good in the water, just with not being in the water much lately, I've probably only done 400 metres worth of swimming in the last two weeks or so.
"The run was just my long legs, I come from a running background, so it just comes naturally. I come from Little Athletics, so my legs were ready to run."
Watts' focus is now on training for the upcoming Cycling Australia National Road Series where she will ride for her new team Subaru Giant.
"We are going along really well, we've got a team camp in about two weeks.
"We thought the boys and girls combination wouldn't work that well, but we've seen at nationals it does work. The boys were able to support the women in the feed zone, they we were able to do the same after our race," she said.
CENTRAL WEST INTER CLUB TRIATHLON SERIES
ROUND TWO, BATHURST
2.5km run, 200m swim, 16km cycle, 200m swim, 2.5km run
WOMEN OVERALL
1 Emily Watts 55:41
2 Hollee Simons Bathurst :57:56
3 Abby Dean Orange 59:02
4 Jessie Dean Orange 1:00:11
5 Sophie Martin Orange 1:03:23
6 Molly Dean Orange 1:03:41
7 Kirsten Howard 1:04:02
8 Estelle Dean Orange 1:05:09
9 Sian Potter Orange 1:06:03
ON THE ROAD: Emily Watts claimed the top spot in women overall with 55:41.
IMAGE
10 Jennifer Arnold Orange 1:06:23
11 Kinisha Roweth Orange 1:07:24
12 Erica Eccleston Orange 1:08:23
13 Caitlin Chandler Females In Training 1:09:08
14 Giselle Denley Mudgee 1:09:23
15 Rebecca George Mudgee 1:11:39
16 Millie Hogben 1:12:22
17 Jessie Tudor Orange 1:13:19
18 Illana Jones Bathurst 1:14:19
19 Brigette Evans Bathurst 1:14:38
20 Jenelle Starkey 1:15:23
21 Loviisa Majuri 1:15:31
22 Cennedi Dally 1:15:51
23 Amy Robinson 1:15:52
24 Danielle Patterson Bathurst 1:16:12
25 Katie Prior Bathurst 1:16:24
26 Ronda Gainsford Mudgee 1:16:30
27 Carolyn Egan Orange 1:16:35
28 Pip Press Bathurst 1:16:53
29 Candice Falconer 1:19:12
30 Jane Bennett Bathurst 1:19:20
31 Renee Covington 1:21:41
32 Cas Ingham Orange 1:22:26
33 Barb Hill Bathurst 1:22:47
34 Rebecca O'Connor Bathurst 1:23:42
35 Tanya Manson Bathurst 1:25:11
36 Tania Pringle Bathurst 1:25:17
37 Shellie Burgess Bathurst 1:26:16
38 Dianne Jarman 1:26:34
39 Natasha Lindsay Bathurst 1:27:00
40 Emily Palmer 1:27:51
41 Sally Wallace Orange 1:28:21
42 Jess Brennan 1:33:12
43 Debra Mason 1:34:43
44 Judy Tarleton Orange 1:36:10
45 Megan Goodwin Orange 1:38:40
46 Tracey Clark Panthers 1:44:36
MEN
AGE GROUP
Male Under 19
Tom Tudor Orange 50:08
Jack Reen 52:33
Campbell Wall Mudgee 54:19
Hugh Thornhill Orange 59:21
William Kelly Bathurst 1:00:10
Beau Rohr 1:04:05
Riley Taylor 1:05:33
Bryce Foley 1:07:55
Lachlan Ross 1:10:36
James Haberecht 1:11:50
Tyler Johnson 1:19:23
Male 20-29
Jack Bilton Orange 49:32
Josh Stapley Bathurst 52:28
Scott McLennan Bathurst 55:17
Christopher Howarth Bathurst 57:10
Josh Corcoran 1:05:53
Tristan Harrison Orange 1:09:06
Nicholas Gailer 1:12:50
Male 30-39
Nick North Bathurst 49:19
Tim Guy 54:58
Thomas Hanrahan Bathurst 57:31
Timothy Miller Bathurst 58:03
Ed Shillington Orange 1:01:10
Ben Orford Dubbo 1:02:02
Andrew Paul Bathurst 1:02:46
Matthew Low Mudgee 1:03:30
Aaron Burgess Bathurst 1:05:09
Ben Bartlett Orange 1:07:20
Tim Cullenward Dubbo 1:09:58
Paul Centofanti Orange 1:13:39
Brett Murray Mudgee 1:14:37
Andrew James 1:20:07
Adam Sunderland Orange 1:20:51
Steven Vollebergh Bathurst 1:22:58
Michael O'Connor Bathurst 1:23:01
Chris Jones 1:26:03
Male 40-49
Matt Webster Mudgee 52:58
Tim Robinson Orange 58:35
Greg Atkinson Mudgee 1:00:13
Matt Dean Orange 1:00:49
Jamie Rivett Bathurst 1:00:55
Stephen Martin Orange 1:02:35
Danny Weal Bathurst 1:06:14
Scott Taylor Mudgee 1:06:42
Edward George Mudgee 1:08:09
Darren Rohr 1:10:14
Matt Hayes Bathurst 1:11:45
James Kelly Bathurst 1:15:03
Todd McMahon 1:15:25
Pat Dallimore Bathurst 1:18:42
Male 50-59
Richard Hobson Bathurst 57:34
Mark Delaney Orange 1:01:44
Mark Kiho Orange 1:03:07
Darren Fenton Bathurst 1:03:43
Mark Fisher Cowra 1:04:17
Tony Selwood Orange 1:07:04
Frank Ostini Orange 1:07:23
Philip tudor Orange 1:09:31
Clark Potter 1:09:50
Charles Stuart Dubbo 1:12:41
Andrew Butler Mudgee 1:16:58
Mick Stapley 1:31:11
Male 60-69
Stephen Jackson Orange 1:00:21
Bruce Weal 1:30:02
Adam Mort Mudgee 1:03:03
Chris Grady Bathurst 1:10:01
SHORT COURSE
2.5km run, 200m swim, 16km cycle
MEN
1 Mark Windsor Bathurst 37:44
2 Thomas Press Bathurst 49:11
3 Miller Rivett Bathurst 50:57
4 Simon Lun Orange 52:41
5 Gavin Borg Bathurst 54:29
6 Dave Hughes 55:26
7 Cameron Ross 59:12
8 Lochlain Kelly 1:03:37
9 Lachlan Micalos 1:04:43
10 Fletcher Kelly Bathurst 1:10:02
WOMEN
1 Melissa Rajkovic Bathurst 50:52
2 Halle Potter 51:28
3 Claire Wessell Bathurst 52:20
4 Alison Corcoran 52:30
5 Ebony Robinson 54:40
6 Domenica Russo 58:26
7 Abby Dean 59:02
8 Carly Sewell 1:02:45
9 Ali Stanford 1:04:01
10 Daisy Morrissey 1:04:01
11 Emily Hines 1:04:13
12 Liesel Haberecht Orange 1:04:18
13 Kelly Carter 1:05:30
14 Taleiha Gorman 1:05:36
15 Fallon Gray 1:06:00
16 Jamie Taylor 1:08:20
17 Amanda Robinson 1:08:29
18 Laycee Covington-Gorst Bathurst 1:11:54
19 Amanda Rohr 1:13:25
20 SKYE CAMPBELL Bathurst 1:16:25
21 Donna Seage Bathurst 1:23:03