Dominance of the Cyclists

It wasn’t until December 1983 that the next event was held. The course stayed the same and there were still no bike racks.

The race however grew. The now novelty sport ‘Triathalon’ (it took a while to get our current spelling) was taking off.

Men’s race winner was a teenage Clayton Stevenson who showed everyone the way home with a devastating cycle leg. Clayton soon dropped triathlon and in 1988 scored 2nd in the NSW cycle champs, and represented Australia at the Olympics in Seoul.

The 1983 women’s champ Liz Hepple went onto to become one of the most formidable triathletes and cyclists in the world. Liz not only won numerous Aussie titles in triathlon but took the bronze medal in the women’s version of the Tour de France in 1988 and also represented Australia in the Seoul Olympics.

Liz still holds the record for the cycle leg of Sri Chimnoy triathlon (80km in 2.06). Liz coached Sara Carrigan to an Olympic gold medal in the Cycling road race in Athens in 2004.