GCST Masters Swimmer Wins Captiva Tri Age Group

GCST Master Blanca Edwards Wins Female 45-49

As the rising sun peeked over the palm fronds Sunday morning, speckling the Gulf of Mexico with glimmering light, hundreds of swimmers rushed into the waters off of South Seas Island Resort for the first leg of the inaugural Galloway Captiva Triathlon.

After a quarter-mile swim, water-logged athletes sprinted through sugar sand and the still-cool air to their bikes for a 10-mile ride along Captiva’s winding roads, miles of which were closed to traffic Sunday as almost 700 triathletes swarmed the island.

Next came the run, a five-kilometer jaunt along the resort’s nine-hole golf course, with views of the shimmery Gulf to keep them company.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” said Estero’s Blanca Edwards, the first female competitor to cross the finish line winning the women’s 45-to-49 age group in a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes and 32 seconds. read more...