USTS Orange County Biathlon : Scott Molina Runs Into a Swimmer He Can’t Keep Up With : New Zealand’s Wells Strokes to Win

Ask Rick Wells about his swimming ability and he will answer vaguely that he was once something called a “national representative” in his native New Zealand.

Ask Scott Molina, the triathlete who before Sunday had won each of the five Long Beach and Orange County U.S. Triathlon Series events held, and you will get an altogether different answer.

“The guy’s a fish,” said Molina, who finished second to Wells in the USTS Orange County biathlon Sunday at Doheny Beach State Park.

Wells, 25, opened a 33-second lead during the first leg of the biathlon--a 1.5-kilometer swim in 63-degree water--and held on to edge Molina by eight seconds after a 10-kilometer run, finishing the race in 54 minutes 18 seconds.

Further probing into this “national representative” title helps explain the victory: Wells at one time held New Zealand national records in the 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle and competed in the rigorous Australian surf-lifesaving competitions.

“The guy once swam a 1:53.6 200-meter free,” Molina said. “We’ve never had anybody like that before.”

“We” is presumably the triathlon elite class--a group Molina has long headed. He has won each of the four USTS national titles, and almost half of all the USTS races ever held. Molina, 27, has fallen in the standings, failing to win Sunday for the 10th time this year. This development could signal an opening for such triathletes as Mike Pigg, 23, the current points leader who finished fifth Sunday, or it could indicate simply that Molina is choosing to gear himself toward peaking late in the season when prize money is higher. (The victory Sunday was worth $1,400 and the second-place award was $800).

If there is an opening, Wells might be a likely candidate to fill part of it. He finished second to Molina in the 1986 Orange County triathlon, coming out of the water and the bicycle segments in first but faltering during the run. Since then, he has been working on his running, and in January he defeated Molina and elite triathletes Dave Scott, Scott Tinley and Mark Allen in the World Sprint Championship, a triathlon in Perth, Australia.

“Swimming is always my strong point,” Wells said. “Today it was just a matter of holding onto it during the run.”

The Orange County USTS event diminished from a triathlon to a biathlon several weeks ago when community opposition caused race officials to eliminate the 40-kilometer biking leg.

The shortened event apparently gave competitors with particular strength in swimming or running an advantage. With the total race time shortened by about an hour, any lead had a better chance of holding.

With his lead after the swim and without the leg-wearying bike ride, Wells felt stronger than usual for the run.

“You can run harder because there’s no biking in between,” he said. “I was fresh and you can just rip into it.”

The biathlon format gave an edge to the women’s winner as well. Karen Smyers, of Somerville, Mass., who just finished competing in the indoor track season for a Boston track club, used the run to come from fifth place after the swim to finish in 1:01:02.

Orange County Biathlon Notes

Race officials said the event “certainly” would have drawn the limit of 2,000 competitors had it remained a triathlon, but estimated registration Sunday at 950 and actual participation at 500. . . . Thomas Boughey of Irvine had the highest finish of any Orange County professional. Boughey, who at 34 was the oldest male pro, finished 14th in 57:56. . . . Gina Aubrey of San Clemente was the only female pro from Orange County to complete the race, finishing 21st in 1:18:37. . . . Sixty-three degree water caused race officials to shorten the swimming portion of the race from 1,500 to 1,200 yards for amateurs, reasoning that they spend more time in the water than the professionals. . . . The following Orange County amateurs finished first in their age groups: Robert Cuyler, Newport Beach, (men’s 35-39), 1:00:17; Gary Nash, El Toro, (men’s 45-49), 1:06:16; Doug Maijala, La Palma (men’s 55-59), 1:19:08; Elizabeth Kubis, Mission Viejo (women’s 18-19), 1:08.12; Joan Jeter, Newport Beach, (women’s 45-49), 1:18. . . . Gary Clark, 48, a heart transplant recipient from Tucson, Ariz., finished in 2:28:12.