This Saturday, we’ve had the first Iron-distance Pro race of the year in beautiful Wanaka, New Zealand.
As usual, the conditions for the race were pretty slow – the overall adjustment was -6:02 (leading to a new course rating of -4:39). The adjustments mainly came from a cold swim and a windy and hilly bike, while the run was pretty much comparable to other courses.
Male Race Results
Before the race, overall favorite Chris McCormack was a bit skeptical about his fitness. His fears were justified, his results were okay, but not up to his usual standard. (As a consequence, he slipped to #16 in my ratings, and Jordan Rapp moved into #10.) Instead, the race was won by Iron-rookie Dylan McNeice, who posted a fantastic swim time (close to the course record by Kieran Doe, but well ahead of all other athletes), held steady on the bike and then was still cool enough to shake off Jamie Whyte who managed to close the gap on the run. Another impressive debut!
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Actual Time | Expected Time |
| 1 | Dylan McNeice | NZL | 00:47:56 | 04:58:14 | 02:59:59 | 08:51:18 | n/a |
| 2 | Jamie Whyte | NZL | 00:55:05 | 04:52:42 | 03:03:45 | 08:55:43 | 08:52:35 |
| 3 | Chris McCormack | AUS | 00:55:07 | 04:58:44 | 02:59:52 | 08:58:05 | 08:32:53 |
| 4 | Keegan Williams | NZL | 00:59:09 | 04:56:01 | 03:00:21 | 08:59:50 | 09:06:40 |
| 5 | Bryan Rhodes | NZL | 00:51:38 | 04:56:47 | 03:12:00 | 09:04:12 | 09:20:54 |
| 6 | Carl Read | NZL | 00:59:33 | 05:06:14 | 02:58:10 | 09:08:23 | n/a |
| 7 | Axel Reiser | NZL | 01:02:18 | 05:17:19 | 03:19:56 | 09:44:28 | 09:14:51 |
| 8 | Leon Griffin | AUS | 00:55:10 | 04:54:49 | 03:55:33 | 09:51:14 | 09:02:52 |
Female Race Results
On the female side, race favorite Gina Crawford delivered. Her win faced its biggest danger when she caught some stomach bug in the week before the race, but she was strong enough on race day to win wire-to-wire in a new course record. Her bike was so strong that she opened a 16 minute gap to Jo Lawn, who in turn was run down in the last stretch by Candice Hammond. Kate Bevilaqua struggled a bit on her comeback after more than a year of struggling with injuries – but at least she’s back to finishing Ironman-distance races!
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Actual Time | Expected Time |
| 1 | Gina Crawford | NZL | 00:59:14 | 05:08:30 | 03:11:07 | 09:24:31 | 09:35:52 |
| 2 | Candice Hammond | NZL | 01:06:52 | 05:23:07 | 03:09:43 | 09:44:22 | 09:49:33 |
| 3 | Joanna Lawn | NZL | 00:59:46 | 05:24:20 | 03:15:08 | 09:44:30 | 09:40:40 |
| 4 | Simone Maier | GER | 01:13:10 | 05:20:30 | 03:12:08 | 09:51:23 | 10:06:53 |
| 5 | Tamsyn Hayes | NZL | 01:06:44 | 05:29:15 | 03:39:54 | 10:21:04 | 10:07:57 |
| 6 | Kate Bevilaqua | AUS | 01:00:42 | 05:33:58 | 03:43:11 | 10:22:49 | 10:00:49 |
| 7 | Ali Hollington | NZL | 01:10:04 | 05:49:59 | 03:51:10 | 10:56:53 | n/a |