On September 18th, 2011, Memmert triathlon ace Matthias Grosser took part in his first TriStar 111 in Split and delivered a top performance, finishing 6th in the overall ranking. The TriStar distance of 111 kilometres is a mixture of Olympic triathlon and medium distance, as athletes have to swim 1 km, cycle 100 km and run 10 km.
The competition took place under summer like conditions: 35 °C and wind speeds between 3 and 4. Split, the Croatian jewel at the Adriatic Sea, showed its most beautiful face under a blue sky. After the swimming course in the harbour of Split, athletes had to overcome an altitude of 1600 m on the cycle course through the Croatian surroundings. The heat was overwhelming, so Matthias had to mobilise all his strength on the final running course, which could not be compared with a tartan track at all. Stairs, winding roads and a total altitude of 500 m had to be conquered before the athletes could see the finishing line in the historical city centre.
With a stunning time of 04:10:04h (00:19:29h; 03:22:47h; 00:46:26h), Matthias Grosser crossed the finishing line only 20 minutes and 13 seconds behind winner Andreas Fuchs, triathlon professional and multiple Austrian champion. Places 2 to 5 were also held by four professionals. We owe you our deepest respect, Matthias. Congratulations!