Charville swims way to sprint division title

The Sandusky native banked on his strength as a swimmer.
& lt;a href=mailto:bassetti@vindy.com & gt;By JOHN BASSETTI & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BAZETTA -- Bound for Miami University next week, 18-year-old Brett Charville of Sandusky is getting a nice send-off.
It wasn't gift-wrapped, but it did come in three parts -- swimming, biking and running.
It was his sprint division victory in the Mosquito Creek Triathlon, a roughly 211/2-mile test of strength, speed and mental toughness.
The recent Sandusky High graduate covered the 750-meter swim, 28k bike race and 5k run in 1 hour, 31 minutes, 51 seconds.
Banking on his strength as a swimmer, Charville got a good jump on the competition, then struggled through a longer-than-expected bike route before hanging on during the run.
"That course is a little long," he said of the bike distance -- one he assumed would be 20k, before being lengthened by race officials.
"What should have been 121/2 [miles] looked like more than 16 on my odometer."
Charville, who placed fifth out of 167 in Sylvania just last week, said the swim was kind of deceiving, too.
"It was kind of wavy in the middle, a little choppy," he said.
His most difficult discipline was the final 3.1 miles.
"I'm a bad runner, so it was the hardest," said Charville.
Turney finishes second
He was followed by Ron Turney of Boardman, while Roger Miller of Parma was third.
Abby Maiorano of Howland was top female in the class.
The 47-year-old Turney, a retired Naval aviation commander originally from the Lake Tahoe, Nev., area, was a college swimmer at The Citadel.
"I'm satisfied with it," Turney said of his performance, although he wasn't sure if the swim distance was longer than usual or if his time was slower than normal.
"I did 13 minutes today when 10 would have been a good swim for me, so it was a bit long."
In his sixth triathlon, biking was the weakest leg for Turney, a single dad who lives with his son.
When he was 28, Turney said he did a 6-mile island-to-island swim in the South Pacific.
Miller, whose time was 1:34.17, has done eight to 10 triathlons a year since 1996 -- all in the sprint division.
Has best race ever
The 52-year-old appliance repairman with Electrical Appliance Repairs of Independence is usually runner-up or third in his age group (50-54).
ut Sunday's race was his best since placing fifth among 32 when 700 entered the Wendy's Triathlon in Columbus on June 29.
"It keeps you in good shape. Instead of working your legs all the time your arms get it, too," said Miller.
The 24-year-old Maiorano participated in soccer and track in high school and now works as a physical therapist's assistant while attending YSU where she is a student athletic trainer.
Maiorano, who finished in approximately 1:45, said triathlons are a bigger challenge than just jogging.
"I got bored with running and road racing. This keeps you interested because you have to train for all three disciplines," she said.