In his first outing since being named director of the Bahrain Endurance 13 Team, four-time triathlon world champion Chris “Macca” McCormack topped the sprint distance at the Bintan Triathlon today, finishing in a time of 1 hour, 3 minutes, and 4 seconds. He also joined a team in the Olympic distance race in the afternoon.
The win after a long hiatus marks McCormack’s return to racing, which he admits is inspired by the team. He says, “When you’re surrounded by an environment of excellence and people who are driven to do their best — people like His Highness Shaikh Nasser and these stellar athletes — you can’t help being motivated to go out and try to score a win for the team.”
This is McCormack’s second time to race on the island of Bintan in Indonesia since winning both sprint and Olympic distance races last year. “It’s the kick-off race for the Singapore and Asian triathlon season, and one of my favorite races in the region,” he says.
McCormack adds, “It was a fast race and felt good to knock the rust off. I am doing Norseman later this year so this kicks off my preparation for that.”
McCormack heads off next to Europe for Challenge Denmark where he will race the full distance in a team with fellow legends Thomas Hellriegel and Luc Van Lierde.
While the Bahrain Endurance 13 team had a well earned rest, they will be in action next weekend with Brent McMahon at Ironman Brazil and Joe Gambles at Challenge Camsur.
