Conditions could not have been worse for local triathlon's return to racing but the Jervis Bay Triathlon Club members proved that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
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Last weekend's Little Husky triathlon festival was the first race for many competitors since events had been cancelled during the March COVID-19 lockdown.
However, local triathletes took the chance to show their form in the challenging conditions.
An early morning start saw club junior, Allira Murray, just miss out on a medal in the super sprint race, placing fourth in the 12-13 age group.
Swim coach, Gray Parkes, led the local charge in Saturday's sprint event, winning the 60-69 age group in one hour and 15 minutes.
Ben Moore was the fastest Jervis Bay competitor in 1:07:38 while Elisha Bell was the club's fastest female in 1:16:46.
Bell won silver in the competitive 30-39 age group and was the seventh fastest female overall.
Other club members to make the podium were Rod Rose and Mandy Meredith who both won silver in their categories.
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Competitors, on Sunday, were greeted the morning with driving rain and strong winds.
Due to high demand and COVID constrictions, Elite Energy had scheduled a second sprint race to start the day's events.
The conditions and a different course,made for slower race times but Darryl Callaghan led the way with a 1:15:28 finish.
He placed second in the 50-59 age group and was ninth overall.
Jackie Lyons was the fastest of the local women, finishing in 1:25:07 to snag bronze in the 40-49 age group.
She was the eighth fastest female competitor.
Will Blessing won gold in the 70+ category, and Annette Sampson took bronze in the 50-59 age group.
Matt Lewis blitzed the field to win Sunday's standard distance event in an impressive 1:55:52, almost three minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.
Jessica Roskelly put in a strong performance with a time of 2:38:32 while Scott Rankin took second place in the Aquabike event.
President of the Jervis Bay Triathlon Club Rod Rose, said club members relished the opportunity to get back to racing.
"Everyone was excited to finally race after eight months of COVID restrictions," he said.
"Triathlons require a considerable training effort and it is much harder without the focus provided by races.
"Despite the challenging weather, it was great to see the smiles and excitement on competitors' faces.
"The event organising worked well and the COVID safety plan was excellent."
Club members next travel to Forster to compete in the delayed 2019/20 Club Championships on November 14.
Rose says he is also focused on retaining the South Coast Interclub Series title, which Jervis Bay won earlier this year.
The next race on that calendar is Callala Triathlon in December.
