SANTARA TECH EAGLES FLY TO 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES TITLE VICTORY IN NEOM

Tim Don regained his Teams title with the Santara Tech Eagles swooping for a come from behind victory in NEOM.

It wasn’t just individual honours being handed out in NEOM, with the team battle also heating up in the desert with the athletes vying for glory and a big share of the $300,000 up for grabs.

The leaderboard at the finale would see Championship Series winner Leo Bergere’s Santara Tech Eagles, take the title with 425 points, with the Bahrain Victorious Scorpions helped into second place and 407 points by Beaugrand’s victory.

Waugh’s all-British RTP Sharks, would come third on 390 points, while the North American-dominated RTS Warriors would complete the standings on a distant 220 points.

It was remarkable reversal of fortunes. The RTP Sharks looked like they couldn’t be caught after the opener in London where they notched a record breaking 148 points – the most any team has ever scored in a single event.

Kate Waugh, the Series winner and the leading light of the Sharks women, even took the win in the next event in Toulouse, but the Eagles and the Bahrain Victorious Scorpions fought back with star names Emma Lombardi, Bergere, Kristian Blummenfelt, Hayden Wilde and Leonie Periault all entering the fray for the first time. Both the Eagles and the Scorpions bagged 100 points to close the gap, but still sat well back.

It all started to really shift in Malibu, where the Sharks were weakened and struggled badly as the Eagles collected 125 points and the Scorpions 113, meaning heading into the final the Sharks’ lead had been whittled down to 11 over the Eagles and 18 from the Scorpions.

The Grand Final in NEOM was a big days for the Eagles as they bagged 135 points to eventually win by a comfortable 15 point margin. The Scorpions finished second, relegating the Sharks to third.

Fourth place was the RTS Warriors, who gave a host of young athletes a first chance to race world class opposition as they try and build a team for the LA Olympics 2028 with USAT’s Project Podium, and they expect to be back and stronger next year.

There was also $15,000 a piece up for grabs for the fastest swimmers, bikers and runners over the Series. Sophie Coldwell and Chase McQueen took the swim, Jess Fullagar and Emil Holm the bike and Reese Vannerson and Jeanne Lehair the run.