NEWCASTLE Olympian Aaron Royle recovered from a fall to finish third at the Noosa Triathlon on Sunday and send national selectors a reminder of his tenacity.
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The 29-year-old was running shoulder to shoulder with Jake Birtwhistle and South African Henri Shoeman in the leading pack nearly four kilometres into the run leg when he was hampered by a motorbike carrying a cameraman on course.
Royle stumbled after clipping the motorbike and lost contact with the other two. He got his rhythm back but was unable to defend his crown.
Birtwhistle shrugged off Schoeman in the final 500 metres to win by 22 seconds, clocking the time of 1:43.39 to win the race for the second time.
"It's great to be back and racing well. It was a tough one, just had to play the waiting game there (running with Schoeman)," Birtwhistle said. "I was confident I'd have him covered if I was there at the back end of the run."
Ashleigh Gentle claimed her sixth-straight and record seventh women's title overall with a trademark runaway effort in tricky conditions, eclipsing former coach Craig Walton's mark of six.
The Rio Olympian battled through a shortened swim leg due to a dangerous rip and big swell, emerging sixth and working her way towards the front on a quick cycle leg.
She then cruised past fellow Tokyo Olympic hopeful Natalie Van Coevorden, blitzing another run leg to win by nearly one minute in one hour, 57 minutes and 53 seconds.
"Relief is one (emotion); there was so much talk before the race about breaking the record, so it feels good," she said. "It feels a bit weird, I don't think I'll get used to the queen (of Noosa) reference but I'll take it."
