Bate and Bateup.
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They sound like the name of an accounting firm, instead they were the two names that dominated this year's Australia Day Aquathon.
Thousands of people lined Wollongong foreshore to watch Luke Bate power ahead to win the men's long course race while teenager Chloe Bateup defended her women's long course title in ideal conditions.
The pair are both emerging triathlon talents.
Bate now calls Illawarra home after moving over from Perth 10 months ago. The 20-year-old held off a challenge from defending champion Nathan Breen and Troy Wittendon to win the 7km run and 900m race.
"I knew how good a swimmer and runner Breen was. I knew he was the one to beat," Bate said.
"I had a horrible transition [from the swim] so I knew I had to hammer it right from the start to catch up with Breen because otherwise I'd never catch him. So that's what I did. I hammered it as hard as I could and then held on from there.
"I caught him at 2km and we both kind of stayed at the same pace all the way to the end. He was a couple of seconds per km slower. In the end, I think averaged a 3:11 or 3:12 [per km] pace."
Bate will now start preparing for the OTU Oceania Championships in Davenport at the end of February.
He said the key to success was training hard but investing a lot of time into recovery.
"Most of it is constant sessions, just tapping away everyday," Bate said.
"I do three sessions per day and a lot of it is just recovery. A lot of amateur athletes do train almost the same as professionals, but they don't have the recovery down as much as the others do. If I'm not training, I'm sleeping or eating."
Canberra teen Chloe Bateup showed no signs of stage fright by winning back-to-back Australia Day Aquathon titles on Sunday.
The 16-year-old recorded the win from runner-up Matilda Offord - who also finished second in last year's event - and Maeve Kennedy in third place.
Bateup said she had been running 50 to 60km per week head of the Aquathon and she enjoyed taking on the Wollongong course.
"I love doing this event. It's always a good day and it's a great course," she said.
"I was first out of the transition and I just tried to keep smooth in the run. It was perfect out there, no wind - just really nice and sunny. It's just so nice and scenic here. I love swimming in the beach and it's different from what I usually do in Canberra. It has good views all the way around.
"I'm very stoked to go back to back. It's a good race and generally pulls in a really good field with a few of the other under-23 athletes as well."
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