MALIBU, Calif. – A Pepperdine swimmer in winter and track competitior by spring, junior Brianna Blanchard recently utilized her multi-sport talents to the fullest and placed third at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, presented by Toyota, held earlier this month.

 

Blanchard (Agoura, Calif./La Reina HS) completed the 1500-meter swim, 40K bike ride and 10K run in a time of two hours and 20 minutes, which placed her first in the 20-24 year old age group. The course stretched along the blacktop of the Pacific Coast Highway and the sand and surf of Zuma Beach.

 

“With this being my third triathlon I went in hoping to place among the top 10, so I was more than thrilled to finish third,” Blanchard said. “It was the biggest event I’ve been too and there was a lot of good competition.”

 

Blanchard competed in the olympic distance field and avoided going head-to-head with the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy, who were in their own celebrity division.

 

For comparison purposes, it should be noted Lopez' time of 2:23.38 was three-minutes slower than Blanchard's even the actress/songstress competed on a sprint distance course that was about half the length of the olympic distance. Celebrities swam 800-meters, biked for 30 kilometers and ran a 6K to the finish line.

 

Throughout the treacherous course, Blanchard said her main concern was how she’d feel going into the 10K run.

 

“I was a little concerned because I work on my swimming and bike a lot, but don’t get as much practice running,” she said. “At the start of the run I could either feel great or horrible, and luckily I felt great from the beginning – it was an exciting feeling, and the weather was perfect, just the best, ideal conditions.”

 

Pepperdine’s 2008-09 swimming and diving season starts the weekend of Oct. 11 and 12 with the PCSC Pentathlon and relay meet, and Blanchard is more than ready to go.

 

“The triathlon didn’t take that much energy out of me,” she said. “I had a blast and it was a great workout, covering 32 miles overall. I think I was either a little sore or tired at the first Monday practice afterwards but I feel fine now. The triathlon helped me get stronger for the swimming season.

 

The season-opening PCSC meets will take place at UC Riverside.