UCSB Athlete Wins Santa Barbara Long Course Triathlon

Zack Paris, of the Elite Racing Team and an alumnus of the UCSB Triathlon Team claimed second, finishing twenty-three seconds behind Jonathan. Coach Mateo Mercur is Head Coach of both the UCSB Triathlon Team as well as the Elite Racing Team, a Santa Barbara based triathlon team dedicated to the development of top age group and elite athletes.

“Training with the Elite Racing Team this summer has been awesome,” said Jon Waltman. “The race conditions were perfect and I nailed the race plan that I laid out with Coach Mateo. I raced the swim and the bike hard and paced myself at my limit on the run.”

Mr. Waltman, raced in the 18-29 age group wave that started twenty minutes after the elite wave. Zack Paris raced in the elite wave and was the competition’s actual leader for the duration of the one mile swim, 34 mile bike, and 10 mile run. Zack Paris celebrated his performance as he broke the tape at the finish. Nineteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds later, Jonathan Waltman charged across the finish line to overcome the twenty minute differential and move into first place for the race. Training partners and informal team mates, Waltman and Paris were light-hearted about the outcome.

“I took the swim out hard to establish a lead and held it all the way through the bike and run,” said Zack Paris. “I’ve been taking the run easy in my training because of an injury, but I was able to run strong and smooth today. It would have been great to race shoulder to shoulder with Jon though. Next time!”

“UCSB and Elite had a great day. Jon and Zack were outstanding,” said Coach Mateo Mercur. “Adrienne lead the women for the swim, the bike, and much of the run, and ended up getting third. We had UCSB athletes go first, second, and third in their age groups and a UCSB Triathlon alumna win her division. I’m very pleased with the way everyone raced, I’m a very happy coach.”