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China 70.3 - Balding

Amanda Balding took her first 70.3 win, leading from start to finish. Her partner, Luke McKenzie, came second in the pro men's race.

Ironman 70.3 Women

1. Amanda Balding 5:28:55

2. GEMMA KEOGH PETERS 5:53:40

3. Jutta Wessling 5:59:52

4. Anne Knecht -Boyer 6:01:23

5. Laura Walsh 6:08:34

6. Joey-Lynn Musselman 6:13:26

7. Alicja Szapowal 6:18:17

8. karen fairley 6:31:15

9. Min-Amy Xu 6:41:57

10. Annemarie Munk 6:42:44

China - Mdot .. Paul prevails

Charlotte Paul won her second Ironman title, persevering on a day of high humidity to post the fastest overall run split, a 3.35 marathon. She won the women's race by more than 12 minutes and was fourth overall.


Ironman: Women

1. Charlotte Paul 9:48:14

2. Edith Niederfriniger 10:01:39

3. Tereza Macel 10:13:43

4. Donna Phelan 10:25:15

5. Kim Loeffler 10:29:53

6. hillary biscay 10:39:14

7. Lidia Rekas 10:50:13

8. Yvette Grice 11:05:43

9. Jocelyn Sui-Yee Wong 11:08:10

10. Megumi Kobayashi 11:14:26

If only ..

If only the water wasn't so cold ..

the rain so hard ..

the drafting that everyone else was doing ..

having had six flats ..

losing all my nutrition ..

barely being able to get the finish line standing ..

and,

not to mention the competition,

She's back .. Natascha Badmann wins!!!!

And she had a respectable swim, a superb bike (fastest split) and a decent run (fourth fastest).

1 BADMANN, NATSCHA 00:30:55 02:15:52 01:27:50 04:17:50

2 MORRISON, CATRIONA 00:29:24 02:23:11 01:22:41 04:18:43

3 ZEIGER, JOANNA 00:26:35 02:23:02 01:29:37 04:22:25

4 SNOW, CAITLIN 00:29:31 02:27:32 01:21:58 04:22:51

5 KRAFT, NINA 00:26:44 02:27:55 01:25:22 04:23:17

6 TISSEYRE, MAGALI 00:29:19 02:23:02 01:28:31 04:24:30

7 CORBIN, LINSEY 00:29:34 02:20:26 01:32:57 04:26:28

8 MAJOR, KATE 00:29:18 02:26:17 01:29:06 04:28:02

9 BENTLEY, LISA 00:29:17 02:26:29 01:29:43 04:28:57

10 MEYERS, JESSICA 00:29:37 02:24:54 01:34:01 04:31:34

Chrissie - another Mdot, another win

Chrissie Wellington put to rest any questions about the challenge of changing coaches and bike sponsors with a dominating performance at Port Macquarie.

The Brit crossed the line in 8:57 for her second consecutive M-Dot Australia.

Her splits:

swim 50:48

bike 5:03

run 2:59

She was 11th overall and less than a minute behind reaching the top 10.

The victory keeps her streak of Ironman race wins intact. She has won every Ironman she's entered in the last three seasons.

***

In reviewing the field, the start line was not very deep. Michellie Jones dropped out ahead of the start due to illness.

That left Rebekah Keat as the one experienced athlete to race against Chrissie. Yet Rebekah trailed Chrissie after the swim and was further behind after the bike, and Chrissie ran away from the Aussie during the marathon.

Chrissie had a margin of victory of almost half an hour.

Port Mac - Three champs

Chrissie vs Michellie vs Rebekah

Team TBB and Chrissie

Odd isn't it how the official site of Team TBB is still dominated by photos of Chrissie?

http://www.teamtbb.com/

Singpore results

1 SWALLOW, Jodie 00:27:32 02:21:20 01:28:05 04:19:10
2 HEWITT, Andrea 00:28:03 02:23:02 01:37:07 04:30:24
3 MACEL, Tereza 00:28:42 02:22:25 01:37:06 04:30:41
4 ZELENKOVA, Lucie 00:28:05 02:32:41 01:36:34 04:40:38
5 MAJOR, Kate 00:31:39 02:34:47 01:35:13 04:44:29
6 LANGIT, Lea 00:30:42 02:40:47 01:35:42 04:50:32
7 OHARA, Erin 00:35:15 02:39:16 01:40:50 04:58:21
8 WONG, Jocelyn 00:42:37 02:45:45 01:40:02 05:11:58
9 KEAT, Rebekah 00:30:52 00:00:00 00:00:00 00:00:00
10 VAN VLERKEN, Yvonne 00:35:33 00:00:00 00:00:00 00:00:00


DNF . Keat, medical
Van Vlerken, mechanical

Angela Naeth profile

Opportunity Knocks by Timothy Moore in the March & April issue of Triathlon Magazine Canada, page 26

Singapore - Sunday

From ironmanlive:

In the women’s race it’s no different as Australia's Rebekah Keat, the defending champion, doesn't have an easy road to victory in the women's race. The 2009 Aviva Ironman 70.3 will see Keat mix it up with Yvonne van Vlerken, holder of the fastest time ever for an Ironman distance race, back in Singapore and looking for a win.

And the two top seeds will be watching the challengers very closely, especially third seed, Kate Major, the Aussie who has three times finished third in Kona, Lucie Zelenkova who just weeks ago won Ironman 70.3 South Africa and Tereza Macel, who has won Ironman Korea.

Then there are two Olympians in New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt and Great Britain’s Jodie Swallow and a trio of new faces who have also cut into the top ten placings in recent Ironman events, including Joceslyn Wong (top ten in Ironman China) and Erin Ohara, top ten in Ironman Malaysia. And watch out for newcomer LC Lingat from the Philippines who could lead the women from the water!

Jo Lawn - slowtwitch/xtri links

Jo Lawn

slowtwitch link

xtri link

Ferguson - Lawn dominate NZ

1 FERGUSON, Gina 00:52:05 05:12:47 03:08:11 09:18:25
2 LAWN, Joanna 00:52:21 05:09:51 03:15:22 09:23:07
3 PAUL, Charlotte 00:54:42 05:21:54 03:08:14 09:30:24
4 KRISTENSEN, Lisbeth 00:54:39 05:04:30 03:28:40 09:32:50
5 BAYLISS, Bella 00:55:10 05:17:42 03:22:28 09:41:03
6 SHIONO, Emi 01:11:05 05:05:31 03:32:16 09:54:16
7 WARD, Nicole 00:54:39 05:32:40 03:23:42 09:56:03
8 MARTIN, Britta 01:03:14 05:12:54 03:34:02 09:56:17

Granger on Langkawi

1 Granger, Belinda 00:53:56 04:48:08 03:36:10 09:21:10
2 Leder, Nicole 00:58:29 05:16:31 03:17:56 09:36:40
3 Nishiuchi, Maki 00:53:12 05:08:28 03:52:44 09:57:13
4 Phelan, Donna 00:55:12 05:05:40 03:59:12 10:03:18
5 Waitz, Christine 01:02:26 05:29:09 03:30:26 10:05:32
6 Streiter, Ute 01:06:15 05:17:05 03:45:33 10:12:51
7 Miyazaki, Yasuko 01:01:42 05:42:56 03:29:17 10:17:05
8 Shigaki, Megumi 00:58:29 05:30:12 03:50:06 10:22:27
9 Kinnegim, Irene 01:06:15 05:07:36 04:10:33 10:29:04
10 O'hara, Erin 01:02:35 05:29:00 04:06:28 10:41:25

NZ field

NZ will be held on March 7. Here's the pro women on the start list as of today.

Bella Bayliss United Kingdom FPro
Britta Martin New Zealand FPro
Celia Kuch Germany FPro
Charlotte Paul Australia FPro
Diana Riesler Germany FPro
Emi Shiono Japan FPro
Gina Ferguson New Zealand FPro
Joanna Lawn New Zealand FPro
Kerryn Bell New Zealand FPro
Lisbeth Kristensen Denmark FPro
Melissa Holt New Zealand FPro
Miranda Alldritt Canada FPro
Miranda Stacey-Davidson New Zealand FPro
Nicole Ward Australia FPro
Rebekka Essmüller Germany FPro

Lawn has won for six years in a row on her home course.

http://www.ironman.co.nz/main.cfm?id=1

Malaysian field

Feb 28 Malaysia. It has drawn a much deeper field than in recent years.

1 Streiter, Ute AUT
2 Miyazaki, Yasuko JPN
3 Harsanyi Dr., Zsuzsanna HUN
4 Balding, Amanda AUS
5 Shigaki, Megumi JPN
6 Inoue, Yukako JPN
7 Kinnegim, Irene NLD
8 Bij De Vaate, Heleen NLD
9 Leder, Nicole DEU
10 Granger, Belinda AUS
11 Alldritt, Miranda CAN
12 Niederfriniger, Edith ITA
13 Waitz, Christine Waitz DEU
14 Kubota, Saki JPN
15 Csomor, Erika HUN
16 Phelan, Donna CAN
17 Nishiuchi, Maki JPN
18 Wong, Jocelyn USA

In 2008, Granger won with Yvonne van Vlerken taking second.

http://www.ironmanmalaysia.com.my/home.html

Geelong reviewed

It was a hot day at the recent 70.3 race in Geelong, Australia in more ways than one.

It was one of the highest profile pro women fields outside a major championship. There was Yvonne van Vlerken, the Dutch woman who broke Paula Newby-Fraser's iron distance record last season, as well as the current ITU World Champ Samantha Warriner. Also on the start line were Ironman champions in Kate Major, Charlotte Paul and Rebekah Keat.

Warriner won the race in 4:14:33, almost 10 minutes faster than a year ago with a margin of victory of just 52 seconds. In comparison, Mirinda Carfrae won a year earlier in 4:24:27 with almost three minutes to spare.

In reviewing the top 10 women across the line, there was a gap of 16 minutes and 25 seconds this year. A year ago the difference was 19 minutes and 24 seconds. This year nine women crossed the line in less than 4:30; just three did a year ago.

Third place finisher Keat posted the fastest run split on the day in 1:20:44 - one second faster than Warriner.

Words

“He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.”

Geelong 70.3

1 WARRINER, Samantha 00:22:45 02:27:32 01:20:45 04:14:33
2 VAN VLERKEN, Yvonne 00:27:14 02:22:20 01:21:20 04:15:25
3 KEAT, Rebekah 00:23:19 02:29:44 01:20:44 04:17:35
4 MAJOR, Kate 00:24:47 02:30:36 01:24:10 04:23:48
5 TAYLOR, Pip 00:22:13 02:31:14 01:28:44 04:25:56
6 BEVILAQUA, Kate 00:27:27 02:30:59 01:25:35 04:28:11
7 PROWSE, Tara 00:26:25 02:36:48 01:21:47 04:28:48
8 PEARSON, Amelia 00:24:47 02:31:55 01:29:07 04:29:34
9 PAUL, Charlotte 00:26:32 02:31:59 01:26:51 04:29:48
10 LANE, Renee 00:24:37 02:31:36 01:30:57 04:30:58

More Team TBB changes

Team TBB's personnel changes are continuing with a post on the team's website this week saying that Rebecca Preston and Nicola Spirig have decided to return to school.

That adds to the departures of Chrissie Wellington, Belinda Granger and Hillary Biscay.

So who's still on the team?

Well according to the photos on the website:

Bella (Comerford) Bayliss
Donna Phelan
Erika Csomor
Lisbeth Kristensen
Jocelyn Wong
Lucie Zelenkova
Maki Nishiuchi
Tereza Macel

Who's racing where?

Yvonne Van Vlerken - she has Ironman Germany and Kona on her list as well as 1/2 ironman events in Geelong, Singapore, Barcelona and Germany.

Gina Ferguson - she has Challenge Wanaka, Ironman NZ, Challenge Roth, Challenge France and Kona.

Jo Lawn - she will race Ironman NZ and the Tauranga half.

Hillary Biscay - she will race Wanaka.

Charlotte Paul - she's racing at Ironman NZ, Roth and Kona, then WA as well as the 1/2 event in Geelong.

More to follow ...

Van Vlerken hires Mark Allen

Yvonne Van Vlerken is the latest to switch coaches, today announcing the hiring of Mark Allen.

She also announced today that she won't seek to defend her title in Roth, opting instead to race in Frankfurt at Ironman Germany.