terça-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2013

sexta-feira, 11 de outubro de 2013

IRONMAN World Championship Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i OCT 12 2013


 







                                  Oct 12         2013


IRONMAN World Championship

 

Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i





terça-feira, 1 de outubro de 2013


Sunday, October 2th 2013


                  À vossa espera a partir do dia 8 de Outubro na ProRunner........apareçam......

domingo, 21 de abril de 2013

San Diego ITU World Triathlon Series 2013

Silva takes third place and leads the WTS ranking....


 

Highlights of the 2013 San Diego World Triathlon Men's Race
Great Britain’s Alistair Brownlee hadn’t raced an ITU event since the London 2012 Olympic Games, but the Gold medallist showed nothing had changed when he led from start to finish in his 13th ITU World Triathlon Series win in San Diego on Saturday in a performance that was simply breathtaking in it’s complete dominance over a quality field.





Silva’s third place means he is now leading heading into the event he has already won twice, Yokohama. Mario Mola’s fifth place puts him in second, while Javier Gomez sits in third in the overall 2013 ITU World Triathlon Series rankings.
“Yes I am really happy with this third place, it has been an amazing beginning of the season, I have had a good winter of training without many injuries. Mostly I am happy to be returning home after this race because I have been out since Auckland so it will be great to go home.
“In Auckland I played a little bit defensive so this one I thought why not, see what I get and Alistair is too strong so not yet. I love Yokohama so next I will be there, I have a connection with the place so we will see what happens there.”


Rankings Men

1.Joao SilvaPOR{country:alpha2}1370
2.Mario MolaESP{country:alpha2}1326
3.Javier GomezESP{country:alpha2}1264
4.Laurent VidalFRA{country:alpha2}902
5.Steffen JustusGER{country:alpha2}801
6.Alistair BrownleeGBR{country:alpha2}800
7.Richard MurrayRSA{country:alpha2}740
8.Clark ElliceNZL{country:alpha2}706
9.Matt ChrabotUSA{country:alpha2}629
10.Aaron RoyleAUS{country:alpha2}598



Elite Men

1.Alistair BrownleeGBRGB01:47:16
2.Richard MurrayRSAZA01:47:38
3.Joao SilvaPORPT01:47:52
4.Steffen JustusGERDE01:48:14
5.Mario MolaESPES01:48:18
6.Adam BowdenGBRGB01:48:22
7.Dmitry PolyanskiyRUSRU01:48:28
8.Javier GomezESPES01:48:38
9.Sven RiedererSUICH01:48:47
10.David McnameeGBRGB01:48:54

sábado, 16 de março de 2013

2013 Sarasota ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup


João Pereira vence e Miguel Arraiolos é terceiro em Sarasota, EUA  United States




Prestação brilhante dos atletas portugueses hoje na Taça Continental de Sarasota, na Flórida. João Pereira venceu, Miguel Arraiolos foi terceiro, Bruno Pais foi 7º e Hugo Ventura 14º.
João Pereira averbou a primeira vitória da carreira numa prova deste nível e Miguel Arraiolos também obteve o seu melhor resultado numa prova da categoria Elite.


Depois de uma natação não muito conseguida os 4 portugueses assumiram o controlo do pelotão e anularam a desvantagem dos fugitivos, com Hugo Ventura a sacrificar-se pela equipa e a controlar o andamento do pelotão. Na corrida final Pereira e Arraiolos estiveram sempre na frente e chegou a sonhar-se com o Ouro e Prata, mas Tommy Zaferes resistiu bem e obrigou Pereira a um grande sprint para vencer a prova. Arraiolos ficou com o Bronze e Bruno Pais, sempre regular, foi 7º classificado. Depois do trabalho no ciclismo, Hugo Ventura ainda conseguiu terminar na 14ª posição e pontuar pela primeira vez para o ranking mundial da ITU.

A prova até nem começou da melhor forma já que os 4 atletas nacionais ficaram integrados num grande pelotão que via um canadiano e três norte-americanos isolarem-se nos 1500 metros de natação. No entanto, os quatro portugueses trabalham em equipa, especialmente Hugo Ventura que trabalhou muito tempo na frente do grupo, e conseguiram levar o pelotão até os homens da frente.
A partir desse momento, Ventura e Pais assumiam a cabeça do pelotão não permitindo qualquer fuga. Desta forma, foi sem surpresa que à entrada para o segmento de corrida final se viam as cores nacionais na cabeça do pelotão. Bruno Pais na frente, João Pereira na sua roda, Hugo Ventura em quarto e logo atrás Miguel Arraiolos, um pouco mais resguardado mas dentro do top 8.
Nos 10Km de corrida finais os portugueses voltaram a estar em grande nível. Ao cabo da primeira das quatro voltas de corrida surgia na frente um grupo com 6 elementos. Eram eles Zaferes, Maloy, Murphy, Yorke e os portugueses Pereira e Arraiolos. No grupo seguinte vinha Pais, Godoy, Fanius e Lagerstrom em 10º.
Na volta seguinte o ritmo aumentou e na frente ficavam apenas Miguel Arraiolos, João Pereira e, teimosamente, Tommy Zaferes. O norte americano resistiu muito bem às investidas nacionais e conseguiu mesmo relegar Miguel Arraiolos para fora da luta pela vitória. A vitória só se decidiu num vigoroso sprint final em que João Pereira, "Puras" como é conhecido, bateu o norte-americano e averbou a primeira vitória da sua carreira numa Taça Continental ITU. Excelente prestação também, a sua melhor de sempre, de Miguel Arraiolos que ficou com o bronze. Sempre muito regular Bruno Pais terminou no 7º lugar e Hugo Ventura, na 14ª posição, pontuou pela primeira vez para o ranking mundial ITU.




Men Results

sexta-feira, 15 de março de 2013

2013 Sarasota ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup

2013 Sarasota ITU Triathlon Pan American Cup





ITU logo               Race Date: March 16, 2013
                 Featuring the following races:
               ITU Pan American Cup - Olympic Distance

              Event Schedule

    SAT, MARCH 16   12:00 Elite Men Start Time



                                                                       Men Start List




terça-feira, 26 de fevereiro de 2013

Recharging the Engine - "Snowy"

Emma Snowsill – Recharging the engine


Phil Wrochna
From standing on top of the Beijing podium with a gold medal around her neck, to being the unlucky woman who missed out on a ticket to London, Emma Snowsill has seen it all. Firstoffthebike.com sat down with ‘Snowy’ last week to find out how she is progressing in her return to competition, and get some insight into where she sees women in elite triathlon.

The dust has settled after the London Olympics. Where are you now in terms of your racing and how was it standing there in London taking a look at it?
Yeah as far as after London, like you said, the dust is settling. I think the first decision, regardless of the outcome of London and everything in the process that went on, is that I wanted to step away from ITU racing and I wanted a break, or a change from that. So, that’s definitely not on the cards. In terms of racing, it’s more the non-drafting, Olympic-distance and try out [an Ironman] 70.3. But, to be honest, first and foremost is getting back to being healthy enough to put all those plans in motion.
I think over the last year, I’ve sort of got away with it a lot in a sense. When you push your body and you’re always at the extreme on that knife’s edge, I think your body at some point says enough and that’s really where I found myself. It was a combination of a lot of the things that have just compounded on top of having a pretty serious virus at the end of the season, which meant I couldn’t be  doing anything for a couple of months. I got a seriously severe parasite, and on top of that, slowly my health couldn’t keep up with the extra fighting. I think after not making the team it was a combination of the stress I’d put myself through, but I just felt like I needed some time out. My body saying enough was enough. I was constantly getting colds where I knew it wasn’t normal and I just knew that my immune system had really taken a battering and if I didn’t change and do something about it then there was no way I would be able to continue the way I was.

Watching the Olympic games, how was that for you? How were your interactions with some of the people, the TA people etc. while you were at the races?
Actually during the women’s race, I was back out towards the village on top of a shopping centre building doing some Channel 10 work for all the coverage back in Australia and I didn’t get time to get back to the actual site. I watched it all on TV, and look, athletically it’s the hardest thing that I’ve ever sort of put myself through. I think, even now, it does affect your guts, you know get that feeling where you wish you were there, you wish things were different and would’ve loved to have been competing.
I thrive on competing for my country. I thrive on competing at the top level. It’s different when you are in the ball game and you’re there [competing] and if something happens then sobeit. But when you’re not there, when you don’t have the chance, it’s really hard. It’s really hard to come to terms with, but in the same breath, I had to look at what I’ve had, the experience I had in Beijing and I had to take away from the fact that, well, if I only got to go once then I made the most of it. That’s all part of reasoning. I found another reason to be there and to broaden my horizon in the sport. But I did manage to get out to the men’s race and it’s an atmosphere and a feeling that I’m probably glad I didn’t go out there for the women’s because it was incredible. I mean, there’s no denying that being at an Olympics is just something special. It’s a feeling which, like I said, probably was good. I did enjoy it for a bit, but it was a feeling that I love. I loved being there and the men’s race obviously was phenomenal to watch, but I think going back to the whole Olympics and obviously not being a competitor there and my experience shortly after the men’s race really reiterated to me some of the biggest problems we have in terms of not just the fact that I missed out, but the unanswered questions. In particular, why, and the process in which it occurred, and I think that was probably what was actually more saddening for me.
You know, frustration obviously comes into it, but I think my thought process from there on in was this just shouldn’t happen this way. Athletes do well with clear cut. You know, they can reason with themselves if it’s something like a mechanical issue or something that they didn’t do on the day. I think for me that was something that I felt really upset by. The more questions I seemed to ask, the more greyer it seemed to get and there’s obviously many, many people involved in not only the process of high performance and selecting a team, but within our sport, and I think if you’re dealing with elite athletes you really need to know how to deal with them. And I understand, there’s plenty of people in those jobs that are very good at what they do, and they run an organisation, which is something I’m not interested in doing and have no idea about. But if they want to feel a part of an elite athlete reaching for the pinnacle of their sport, I just really think they’ve got to be more involved if they choose to be in that process. You know, obviously age group [racing] is what makes our sport, but at the other end of the spectrum, you also need to have an understanding of when it comes to Olympic selection, the [Olympic] processes and how best to deal with athletes and where they’ve come from, what they’ve done, sometimes it can come across as maybe not all that diplomatic.
Would you be happy with a one or two race selection criteria where basically you are given two dates to show up to and if you do your best and get the results you go straight into an Olympic team?  Would you be onboard with that, yes or no?
Yes, definitely. It’s something that, as athletes, racing is pressure. When you want to perform you put a pressure on yourself and given Olympic selection, sure that’s another pressure, but to race in an Olympics is another pressure again. If you’re not able and prepared to handle that pressure, then it’s something you need to look at to work upon and I think, like I said, it gives you reasoning as an athlete.
If you stuff up on the day, you walk away and you go, you know what, I didn’t get it right. Sure, you’re going to beat yourself up for a bit. You’re going to be upset and feel all the normal things, but you walk away and say, well, it was down to me, and you can change that. When it’s not, it’s just more questions, it’s more grey. I don’t really see how any other young and up-and-coming athlete looks at it and doesn’t say, “what do I really have to do?” It’s all about setting goals and putting the process in place, that’s what athletes work off, and, like I said, everybody takes a step back, everybody learns. Unfortunately, at times, there are probably more lows than highs in that respect, but you get to understand that about yourself and how you work through that, and as an athlete, you can walk away from that a lot, lot better than these constant grey areas.

Moving away from the Olympic and the selection criteria, etc., I want to talk to you about the business of triathlon because you’re someone who has been at the top end. You’ve done the TV commercials; you’ve been on billboards; you’ve been a poster girl for both your sport and for your sponsors. First, in your experience, how tough, as a woman, is it to go and get yourself sponsored to a point where you are full-time and you make a living out of it?
I think there are two aspects in my experience. [The first] is one that you’re dealing with Australia in an Olympic sport, which when you get to be involved [with an Olympics] you are privy to seeing other Olympians and what differentiates them in terms of sponsorship – and every sport’s different. I think we’re far better off than I would say what rowers get. But in terms of swimmers, who can win, what, five gold medals, you constantly look at where value is and what value is and I think in terms of a whole, I think I’ve been very fortunate to receive what I have. And to be able to also promote the sport, to say look out, our sport is up there.
Our sport is just as big and as great as any other of the Olympic sports, but in terms of within the sport, I think the same. Honestly, it is. It’s a huge market in terms of what exposure you can get, what branding you can get within the sport itself, but I think it’s always going to be a hard one counteracting against males because I honestly I don’t look to compare. I can’t really worry about it because unfortunately I’m worried about my results and I think I’ve always been a fairly big believer in, if I do well and I promote my results, then hopefully then people will continue to support me and in return then I try and work with them as best as I can.
I honestly don’t have a direct correlation between what the top man earns and what the top woman earns because I’m not going to sit and worry about it. I do the sport for what it is and it’s why I love it. I love supporting the people who support me and I’m very thankful for whatever I get from them. I know it has to be different to some degree, I’m sure, but I also believe that it’s totally market-based in the country we live in.
I think being an Australian competing in the US I found a lot of support there. I was actually surprised with how welcoming they were of a foreign athlete and how much they embraced and wanted to take me onboard. I think you have to promote yourself as being a good sportsperson, but being yourself also helps in terms of sponsorship as well. You obviously can’t deliver the world in a sense that you can be here, there and everywhere for them because they want results as well. There are a few markets, I guess, I always look at in terms of how do I see myself, and I think that constantly adjusts and readjusts too, particularly during the time I’ve been in the sport.

For young women who want to turn professional, given the amount of men in triathlon, do you think that’s a turn off or do you think people will overcome and do what they love?
Well, absolutely not. I see the opportunities for young girls and sponsorship at the ages that are probably younger than when I was in even involved in the sport. I think it’s incredible. I think the support is amazing. I think it’s there for the taking. In some respect, I think the younger guys are up against tougher competition. Unfortunately that’s the nature of any sport. The quality of men, I guess, in a smaller pool is it’s always going to be greater. It’s human nature. It’s the way [our] bodies are built, and I think for the girls, there are so many more women-specific, not just products, but also in terms of women-specific campaigns and advertising for bikes. The fact that bikes are now being designed for women. That’s something where women can corner part of the market and utilise it for their own benefit in racing, and also for their own return in sponsorship. I definitely don’t see that it’s harder by any means.
So where do you see the direction of women in triathlon? Do you think it’s in good shape or does it need more stronger characters like yourself or Chrissie Wellington, who was always so vocal with everything she did and at every race she went to? Where’s the direction for you overall and I guess even more specifically the ITU world given that that’s where you’ve just recently come from?
I probably can’t talk so much on an international level, I know more from my experience on an Australian level. It’s a tricky one. I was thinking about it the other day. I really feel like I’ve almost been in three generations of my sport in the sense that I’ve really came out of an amazing era of women’s triathlon in Australia with Michellie Jones, Loretta Harrop and Nikki Hacket. Trying to make an Australian worlds team of six girls was ridiculous, like it was a catfight. Looking where we are now, sometimes I think, well, what’s happening? Not what’s gone wrong but what’s not happening.
Personally, I don’t know very many of the junior girls. I don’t really know a lot of our young up-and-comers other than the girls like the Ashleigh Gentle and the Emma Jackson, who have come onto the ITU scene. For me, when I really look back to where I was at that age, the biggest gap I see is how do the younger girls learn when they’ve got no-one else there around them to look up to. I mean that in a sense of, there are not really any opportunities where they get to be around and train [with older athletes], and I think the best way to learn is to observe and to be in an environment where the best of the best are there and you are trying to emulate them.
I remember by first ever World Cup and my coach at the time, Bill Davoren, said this is Michellie Jones. You follow her, you shadow her, you watch everything she does in this race and, of course, I was like: Oh my God, no, that’s so scary, that’s just ooh, ooh, ooh.
I think those are the points where young athletes; they need to see what they’re doing. They need to see what it takes. They need to see what’s involved in being the best. I think that probably is one small area that could really be improved with the up-and-coming generation in our sport in Australia, and for females obviously. It’s a tricky one. It is tricky because the type of racing has changed as well in the respect that we have under-23 races and there are big jumps to be made. But I honestly feel that if I wasn’t given the opportunities and experiences to be able to train with Loretta Harrop, Siri Lindley, Lizbeth Kristensen, Annie Emmerson, Bella Comerford and people that were at the top of their game… I was just chasing, chasing, chasing all the time, and I think that was great for me. I think that showed me hunger. Learning and watching what they did and how they prepared in training for races and watching how they raced. I think that was just an invaluable experience that you can’t necessarily just teach.
To the young women who are coming into triathlon not just age groupers, but elites, who are looking to make a living out of it, if you could give them one piece of advice from all of what you know, what would it be?
It’s interesting because I was always of the belief that if you work hard, the results will come, and if the results come the sponsorship will come. I really believe that comes hand-in-hand and I think it’s one thing to work on sponsorship, but you also need to be able to show your credentials as well. So it’s one thing to be out there and marketing yourself, but you can’t let that detract from training, and I think as you progress and you get more results, that’s when you start looking at how do I balance what I now have and how do I improve myself with sponsorship and in the market of triathlon as a female athlete. Realistically, I would look at it and go: work out what your dreams and goals are within the sport and chase after them first because everything else will follow.

quinta-feira, 21 de fevereiro de 2013

2013 OTU Sprint Triathlon Oceania Championships in Devonport, Tasmania, Australia



Sexton Looks To Sea Change For Triathlon Turner-round

             TA-Press-Release-BannerA.jpg

Triathlon, February 20, 2013: London Olympian and defending champion Brendan Sexton will return to Tasmania for Saturday’s 2013 OTU Sprint Triathlon Oceania Championships in Devonport for his first race since the disappointment of last year’s ITU World Championships in Auckland.

The Oceania Championships will be the highlight of a full day’s racing at one of Australia’s longest standing Triathlons that will also feature the National Junior Triathlon Championships and Olympic Distance Age Group Championships.
   
brendan-sexton-wins-monterrey-mex-photo-credit-rich-cruse-itu.jpgaaron_royle_wins.jpg
For the Juniors and the Age Groupers it will double as major selection races for the 2013 ITU London World Triathlon Championships in September and the third race in the Scody Australian Junior Triathlon Series.

But for 27-year-old Maitland-born Sexton, Saturday will be the start of a new chapter in his Elite career after some serious soul searching following his 35th-place finish in his Olympic debut and 30th in the ITU Auckland World Championship grand final.

Sexton knew he had to make changes as he prepares for the next four year cycle leading into the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro – which had always been his major goal.

He was the lone Australian Olympic male to back up in Auckland last year and after crashing on the brutal, rain and windswept Auckland course, returned home to a new program.

Enter Wollongong-based Triathlon Australia coach Jamie Turner who stepped in after Sexton’s Olympic campaign as he prepared for his Auckland tilt – and who planned a fresh start for the former Melbourne-based athlete.

First there was the Mark Webber Challenge, with no training under his belt and then two-and-half months of altitude training at Falls Creek, which had so often been his pre-season training base.

“We both knew after London that he had to make some changes and primarily to his swimming and to his overall outlook on the sport if he was to become competitive on the world stage,” said Turner.

“You can’t give away the kind of time he was giving away before the start of the bike and expect to be there at the end of the run.

“And it was all about going back to the basics, back to the fundamentals of swimming and we’ve worked hard at trying to improve his stroke, looking at his catch and rotation in the knowledge that speed is a product of efficiency.

“We are seeing improvements in the pool although I expect it will take some time before we see those improvements in his triathlon but importantly, Brendan is now happy in the water and that’s a positive thing.”

But Turner is not looking to rush Sexton or his training partner and fellow Mark Webber challenger ITU Under 23 World champion Aaron Royle, saying 2013 will be a “building year” – peaking at this year’s ITU World Championships in London.

The pair will be joined by a third training partner in Devonport, in Australian Under 23 representative Ryan Bailie, who paved the way for Royle’s world championship win in the hilly Auckland bike course last October.

Add another Australian team mate from that break-through Under 23 race in Ryan Fisher, the recently crowned Australian Sprint Champion  (in Geelong) and last year’s Noosa Triathlon winner Peter Kerr, Queensland’s former Elite Squad member Dan Wilson, who returns after a run of injuries and leading American  Matt Chrabot (second placed American on last year’s ITU World Series with his 36th place overall) and Devonport presents an exciting field.

And while Sexton will contest both the ITU Mooloolaba World Cup (March 16,l 17) and the opening round of the ITU World Championships in Auckland (April 6,7), Royle will start his Olympic distance campaign in Auckland before heading to the US for round two in San Diego (April 20, 21).

Sexton is one of a group of nine athletes in the new-look Turner stable that has a second Olympian in its ranks in 26-year-old American Gwen Jorgensen, who also discovered the Turner group after the disappointment of London, when a flat tire ruined any chance she may have had of showing her wares on her trade mark 10km run leg.

The Wisconsin native made the move after finishing second to Olympic silver medallist Lisa Norden (SWE) in last year’s ITU World Championship grand final in Auckland which gave her a top 10 finish overall.

And Turner says being one of the best Elite runners on the ITU circuit has been a positive effect on his group of young charges – four of whom represented Australia in the Juniors/Under 23s at the ITU World titles.

“Gwen was looking for an environment where she could improve her front end (swim/bike) which would allow her to best utilise her best weapon (the run),”said Turner.

“The oldest athletes in NSW are people like Charlotte McShane and Natalie Van Coevorden at around 21, 22 because most of them, like the Emma Moffatt’s head to Queensland.

gentle-wins-edmonton2---credit-richard-lam-itu.jpg


“So to have Gwen come in has been a positive for the rest of my girls.”

Turner will also have McShane, Van Coevorden and the 2013 Australian Sprint Champion from Geelong, 20-year-old Grace Musgrove in the small but select Elite field that also includes Australia’s 2011 winner of this race, Gold Coast-basedAshleigh Gentle (15th in last year’s ITU World Series) – who also has an outstanding run.
Throw in Northern Ireland’s leading triathlete 2012 Olympian Aileen Reid (nee Morrison) and Great Britain’s Canberra-based Jodie Stimpson (5th ITU World Championship grand final, Auckland) and it certainly bolsters the women’s field.

Saturday’s Time Table:
8am – Australian Age Group Triathlon Championships
11.30am – ITU Junior Women
12.45 – ITU Junior Men
2:15 – Elite and Under 23 Women
3:30 – Elite and Under 23 Men
5pm – Presentations (Devonport SLSC)
 
Issued on behalf of Triathlon Australia by
Ian Hanson

For the latest follow @AYOF2013 on Twitter.
Hanson Media Group | P O Box 299 | West Burleigh Qld 4219
Phone: +61 7 5522 5556 | Mobile 0407 385 160 | Fax: +61 7 5522 5557
ian@hansonmediagroup.com.au | www.hansonmediagroup.com.au 

terça-feira, 29 de janeiro de 2013

Kilian Jornet the man machine



Kilian Jornet




During last october I do a exercise test to know my level before start winter season. 
I promise you Exercise test is harder than every race!! Dr Brotons doesn't want to stop the tape running!!!

Here the results of this day:

Spirometry

Lung capacity: 5.3 L
VEMS: 4750
Tiffenneau: 88.28
PEFR: 10,63

Morphology:

weight: 58kg
hight: 171cm
% grass: 8,72
% muscle: 46,1
% bone: 21.01


Test bruce:

max: 12km/h - 24% inclination
sat o2: 94%
VO2 max: 90 l/min/kg
RR: 1.10
FC: 199 b/min
Lactate: 13 (5') mM/L
recovery 1 min: 110p/min
recovery 3 min: 85 p/m
Anaerobic threshold: 95%
Photo: During last october I do a exercise test to know my level before start winter season. 
I promise you Exercise test is harder than every race!! Dr Brotons doesn't want to stop the tape running!!!

Here the results of this day:

Spirometry

Lung capacity: 5.3 L
VEMS: 4750
Tiffenneau: 88.28
PEFR: 10,63

Morphology:

weight: 58kg
hight: 171cm
% grass: 8,72
% muscle: 46,1
% bone: 21.01


Test bruce:

max: 12km/h - 24% inclination
sat o2: 94%
VO2 max: 90 l/min/kg
RR: 1.10
FC: 199 b/min
Lactate: 13 (5') mM/L
recovery 1 min: 110p/min
recovery 3 min: 85 p/m
Anaerobic threshold: 95%

domingo, 20 de janeiro de 2013

Ironman 70.3 South Africa 2013


ironman 703 south africa logo

Aernouts and Swallow
 
beat the competition
 
in South Africa









20 January 2013
The 6th edition of the Spec-Savers IRONMAN 70.3 South Africa saw a new face cross the finish line as well as a very familiar one with Bart Aernouts (BEL) and Jodie Swallow (GBR) reigning victorious on a hot and humid day in East London.
What was otherwise another fantastic race with some impressive displays, the race was rocked early on with the tragic news of two athletes suffering fatal cardiac respiratory arrests during the swim leg of the event. The two athletes, South African males aged 29 and 37 will not be named out of respect for their families and a statement was issued by World Endurance Africa earlier in the day.
The PROs hit the water in the first wave at 06:45 amidst much debate about who would be crowned the new male champion. The news of James Cunnama yesterday deciding against racing, along with Faris Al-Sultan missing the race through illness threw the men’s race wide open. With fast swimmers such as Marko Albert (EST), Tim Don (GBR), Will Clarke (GBR) and Mark Threlfall (GBR) in the field, a fast race was to be expected.
Albert, Threlfall and Belgium’s Axel Zeebroek, made strong starts on the swim creating a substantial gap ahead of the chasing pack. Albert exited the water first in a time of 00:23:43 followed closely by Threlfall (00:23:45) and Zeebroek (00:23:50). The USA’s Kyle Leto and South Africa’s Kent Horner made up the top five into transition.
Onto the bike, hot windy conditions greeted the athletes. Albert made the most of his swim lead at the front of the pack but was chased down Clarke, who stuck close by before passing him shortly ahead of the turnaround point. A second group, consisting of Tim Don, Aernouts, Horner, Leto, Sunberg and Schildknecht, formed some way behind the front two. The strong cycling abilities of Aernouts came into full display as the men reached the turnaround point at 45km, with Aernouts passing both Albert and Clarke for the lead. Meanwhile, Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) was making his move into second place.
The Belgian Aernouts headed into T2 in pole position holding a 2 minute lead over Schildknecht who managed to get ahead of Albert on the bike. Albert trailed by 30 seconds with Don 2 minutes behind, coming in strongly. Sunshine and heat on the run, Aernouts maintained his lead and at the 16km mark was 00:02:30 ahead of Schildknecht – a lead he held all the way to the finish line to win in South Africa for the first time. For the second year running, Schildknecht finished second, 3 minutes behind the winner with Don finishing third after.
Top 5 men (Provisional)
  1. Bart Aernouts (BEL) 04:03:52
  2. Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) 04:06:22
  3. Tim Don (GBR) 04:10:39
  4. Marko Albert (EST) 04:12:10
  5. Will Clarke (GBR) 04:13:46
Swallow bags a hat-trick in fine style
The pre-race favourite once again did the damage as Jodie Swallow (GBR) led the ladies race from start to finish to secure an unprecedented hat-trick of titles in East London. The Briton was the dominant force she usually is and backed up her pre-race confidence with her third title in as many years.
Swallow led in the swim amassing an early lead over Lucie Reed (CZE). Swallow was never challenged for the lead in the water and proceeded to exit with the leading male pack in a time of 00:25:10 with Reed the second female in 00:26:39. Reed’s compatriot, Maria Cze’snik put in a solid swim to emerge third in a time of 00:26:46 with Dianne McEwan giving the locals something to shout about in fourth.
Heading onto the bike with a good lead, Swallow continued to dominate. Fellow Brit, and last year’s 5th place finisher, Susie Hignett managed to bike her way through the early swim leaders to second place. Swallow meanwhile powered on amassing a 5 minute lead over Hignett. Swallow maintained her lead going outward on the bike after the 20km mark. There was movement taking place in the chasing pack with Cze’snik coming back into second after 45k. Reed and South Africa’s Natasha Gorrie kept in touch with Hignett before Gorrie started to move up the rankings on the backend of the bike.
Swallow came into T2 with her lead intact going onto the run with a measure of comfort, but had to dig deep towards the 10km mark on a hot course to regain her full five-minute lead. Swallow powered on in the run to celebrate a hat-trick win in 04:39:39 well ahead of her compatriot, Hignett (04:43:37). Reed claimed yet another podium position with a third place in 04:44:18, followed by South African pair Gorrie and Jeannie Seymour in fourth and fifth place respectively.
Top 3 Women (Provisional)
  1. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 04:39:29
  2. Susie Hignett (GBR) 04:43:37
  3. Lucie Reed (CZE) 04:44:18
                                                                                                                                    ironman.com