Ironman Cairns 2016 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

Cairns in July has always had relatively cold conditions and even a chance for some rain. It’s been a relatively slow course (course rating of 3:26), and this year it’s been a bit slower than that (adjustment of 0:20). Some swells on the swim made it a bit tricky for those that are not used to it, but on average not slower than what is typical for Cairns. Rain on the bike slowed things down a bit – it probably also contributed to a number of flats that slowed down some of the racers. The colder temperatures allowed a quicker run than normal.

Jodie Swallow was not slowed down at all by the conditions, she posted a new swim record of 49:06 (improving on Liz Blatchford’s 49:54 from last year), a new bike course record (4:50:40, the only female sub-5 bike split in Cairns) and new overall course record of 9:06:18 (bettering Liz’s old record of 9:11:49). Linsey Corbin set a new run record, her 3:02:01 takes another record from Liz Blatchford. Tim Berkel also set a new men’s course record, his 8:15:03 improves the old record by David Dellow from 2012 by one second!

Male Race Results

Luke McKenzie showed that he wanted to defend his title, he was first out of the water and was also leading on the bike. But two flats cost him some time and he didn’t have the run legs to make up the time he lost. His 6th place finish was enough to score the KPR points he still needed to secure a slot. After T2 leader Clayton Fettell struggled with cramps, Tim Berkel took the lead on the run and his race best 2:46 marathon gave him a four minute cushion at the finish. For some time on the run, David Dellow was within two minutes of Tim, and even though he couldn’t quite close the gap he finished a strong second. Third place went to Pete Jacobs who had his first “competitive” Ironman in a long time.

Winner Tim Berkel receives an Automatic Qualifier slot, as does Pete Jacobs who validated his Kona Champion slot. David Dellow and Luke McKenzie added enough points to be safe for a July slot.

Jens Petersen-Bach is “on the bubble” with 3.610 points while Brad Kahlefeldt (2.695), Romaine Guillaume (2.535) and Jordan Rapp (2.510) are still well short of the projected cutoff of 3.500 points.

Female Race Results

As was to be expected, Jodie Swallow took control of the race on the swim, posted the fastest bike and was then able to hold on to her lead on the run. She won by more than six minutes even as Linsey Corbin had a 3:02 marathon and ran almost 20 minutes into Jodie. Linsey had already lost a lot of time on the bike due to a crash and a penalty, she’ll be happy with her second place (and Kona slot) after her injury-plagued 2015 season. Sarah Crowley was sold all day and took third place in front of Michelle Bremer who finished her third Ironman within three months. Veteran racer Bek Keat was well placed after the swim and first half of the bike, but she re-injured her calf and wasn’t able to run well enough to contend for the podium,  but she still fought on to finish.

Similar to last year, Jodie Swallow wins a Regional Championship and receives an Automatic Qualifier slot. Linsey Corbin, Sarah Crowley and Michelle Bremer have scored enough points to be safe for a July slot.