The 2021 Naperville Sprint Triathlon was back after a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event was held at the Naperville Park District’s Centennial Beach and featured close to 1,000 participants.
“It was great great to be back after a year off from the event,” said Nick Lynch the owner of 10xEM, LLC which owns the Experience Triathlon Naperville Sprint Triathlon. “The energy and enthusiasm from all the athletes was overwhelming.”
In the men’s division, the top three overall finishers have Naperville roots.
Top Three Men
The individual race consisted of a 375 meter swim, 22 kilometer bike, and a 5 kilometer run.
Chris Depew, 31, from Claremont California, originally from Naperville, finished in first place in the individual race, and also in his age bracket of 30-34 years old with a time of 54:50.
“Winning overall was a bit of a surprise. I’ve done this race a few times when I was younger and know how fast the top finishers end up. I haven’t raced in a triathlon in 3 years with weddings & covid/pandemic so it was just fun to be out there racing again. Didn’t have any expectations for myself, I just wanted to have fun with it,” said Depew.
Depew said his family still lives in Naperville, and graduated from Naperville Central High School in 2009.
Naperville’s own Tyler Woodward, who is 27, finished in second place overall in individuals, and fist place in his age division of 25-29 years old with a time of 55:28.
Scott Byram, 43, who is also from Naperville, finished with a time 59:24, which was good enough for third place overall and first in his age division of 40-44 years old.
Top Three Women
Rolling Meadows’ Maggie Feikes, 25, finished first overall in the women’s division with a time of 1:05:32 and also in her age group of 25-29 years old.
Erin Rea, 26, finished behind Feikes with a time of 1:06:07. Rea is from Wheaton.
Heather Glynn, 43, rounded out the group finishing in third place overall with a time of 1:06:20, which was good enough for first place in her age division of 40-44 years old.
Final race results can be found on Naperville Sprint Triathlon’s website.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
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