Full Results: Mo Freitas Defeats Josh Riccio in Photo Finish to Claim the Big ‘Rincon Beachboy’ Race; April Zilg Women’s Champ
The 9th Annual Rincon Beachboy (photo: Angelo Cordero)
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Mo Freitas and April Zilg have taken out the 2017 Rincon Beachboy as 340 paddlers descended upon postcard perfect Puerto Rico for the 9th Annual edition of this classic race.
After just over an hour of paddling, Mo edged out the in-form Josh Riccio in a photo finish as hundreds of spectators lined the beach, while Aussie veteran Kelly Margetts held off young Frenchman Martin Letourneur by a similarly narrow margin in the fight for third; Garrett Fletcher rounded out the top five podium after outlasting Ryan Helm.
The top four guys dominated the race and competed in a tight pack for much of the 8 mile (12km) elite course before Mo and Josh broke away in the latter stages following an uncustomary fall from Margetts. Meanwhile North Carolina’s finest, April Zilg, was in a race of her own on the women’s side of the draw, hitting the line more than five minutes clear of runner-up Victoria Burgess.
It’s been a big couple of weekends for Mo, Josh and Kelly, who have shared around the top three spots in three separate races in the span of just 8 days.
Kelly and Josh swapped 1-2 finishes at the two-day Coconut Cup on the island of St. Croix last weekend, while this time Mo got some revenge and flipped the results. All three of these guys appear to be in good form heading into the first major of the year in two weeks, the Carolina Cup, where they’ll be joined by the rest of the world’s best, and I’m particularly interested to see how the supremely talented but lesser-known Riccio performs in NC after a couple of years on the fringes as a journeyman athlete.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BSpZAIEgj2u/
Apart from the big elite field and massive open race, this year’s Rincon Beachboy also featured a couple of dozen future stars in the specialty junior race. 13-year-old Gian Xavier Medina Gomez beat the big boys to claim line honours, while Valeria Salustri was the top girl and beat almost all of the boys while she was at it.
Looks like it was another great edition of this beloved race, which seems to attract 300+ participants every year without any of the fanfare or fuss of some of the world’s better known events. To top it all off, the Rincon Beachboy is dedicated to raising money for charity and once again delivered thousands of dollars to a good cause.
I hear the after party isn’t too bad either, so perhaps you should pencil the 2018 Rincon Beachboy into your calendars. SUP Racer already has, and considering it’s going to be the 10th anniversary of the event I’m betting it’ll be the biggest one yet.
Full results down below the photos (jump straight to the results), while there’s more updates over on the official Facebook group.
You can also watch a replay of the live GPS tracking to see how the ants spread out along the course.
All photos by Angelo Cordero
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Rincon Beachboy: Elite Men’s Results
Rincon Beachboy: Elite Women’s Results
Rincon Beachboy: Junior Results
Rincon Beachboy: Open Race Results
