Race Conditions
The weather in Port Elizabeth was great, but the lack of wind did not create fast times. Overall, the adjustments were typical for IM South Africa: a slow Ocean swim, followed by “normal” bike and run conditions.
Lucy Charles posted a new female swim course record (beating Lucy Zelenkova’s 2009 swim by 8 seconds). Camron Wurf was very close to setting a new bike course record, he missed Ray Tissink’s 2011 time by just 3 seconds!
Male Race Results
The swim and bike unfolded as expected: Josh Amberger was taking the lead in the swim, he was two minutes ahead of the rest of the field. But Cam Wurf wasn’t too far back and by 90k he had taken the lead, starting the run with a seven minute lead on Josh and about ten minutes to a larger group of stronger runners. That group included defending champion Ben Hoffman but he quickly had back issues and was forced to walk almost the complete marathon (still finishing in just over 12 hours, but adding an IM finish to his KPR points to be eligible for a Kona slot).
Cameron Wurf has improved his run and he was holding on to his lead for almost three of the four run legs. By then South African Kyle Buckingham had methodically worked his way to the front, first running away from the others in his bike chase group, then overtaking Josh Amberger and eventually taking the lead. In the end, his solid 2:48 marathon was good enough for a three minute win over Josh Amberger who also ran well. Third place went to the young German Maurice Clavel who executed a smart race in the big bike group followed by a 2:54 marathon, edging out Cam Wurf for the podium.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to exp. | Prize Money | KPR Points |
| 1 | Kyle Buckingham | ZAF | 00:48:22 | 04:31:51 | 02:48:42 | 08:13:00 | -15:39 | US$ 30,000 | 4000 |
| 2 | Josh Amberger | AUS | 00:46:24 | 04:31:35 | 02:53:43 | 08:16:01 | -16:10 | US$ 15,000 | 3400 |
| 3 | Maurice Clavel | GER | 00:48:21 | 04:31:56 | 02:54:01 | 08:18:51 | 04:09 | US$ 8,000 | 2890 |
| 4 | Cameron Wurf | AUS | 00:50:15 | 04:19:44 | 03:05:10 | 08:20:07 | -08:34 | US$ 6,500 | 2455 |
| 5 | Ronnie Schildknecht | SUI | 00:53:53 | 04:35:37 | 02:49:03 | 08:23:09 | -01:33 | US$ 5,000 | 2090 |
| 6 | Jonathan Shearon | USA | 00:53:56 | 04:35:48 | 02:49:15 | 08:23:57 | -16:50 | US$ 3,500 | 1670 |
| 7 | Alessandro Degasperi | ITA | 00:48:30 | 04:42:43 | 02:48:33 | 08:25:10 | 01:03 | US$ 2,500 | 1335 |
| 8 | Giulio Molinari | ITA | 00:48:19 | 04:37:53 | 02:54:57 | 08:25:29 | -02:48 | US$ 2,000 | 1070 |
| 9 | Philipp Koutny | SUI | 00:50:44 | 04:40:33 | 02:50:35 | 08:26:18 | -16:16 | US$ 1,500 | 855 |
| 10 | Eneko Llanos | ESP | 00:48:28 | 04:31:48 | 03:07:07 | 08:31:56 | 06:21 | US$ 1,000 | 685 |
| 11 | Peru Alfaro | ESP | 00:48:12 | 04:44:57 | 02:58:07 | 08:36:18 | 09:24 | 515 | |
| 12 | Michael Ruenz | GER | 00:57:42 | 04:47:55 | 02:48:17 | 08:38:21 | -04:53 | 385 | |
| 13 | Matt Trautman | ZAF | 00:49:53 | 04:42:56 | 03:09:25 | 08:47:14 | 25:33 | 290 | |
| 14 | Sebastian Norberg | SWE | 00:53:52 | 04:46:57 | 03:15:27 | 09:00:39 | n/a | 215 | |
| 15 | Alberto Casadei | ITA | 00:48:20 | 05:03:44 | 03:07:54 | 09:05:18 | 29:30 | 160 | |
| 16 | Darby Thomas | FIN | 01:00:55 | 04:47:19 | 03:14:22 | 09:07:29 | 15:23 | 120 | |
| 17 | Gerhard De Bruin | ZAF | 00:53:44 | 04:51:41 | 03:22:03 | 09:11:47 | -08:48 | 90 | |
| 18 | Bekim Christensen | DEN | 01:05:56 | 04:46:32 | 03:28:53 | 09:27:13 | 08:48 | 70 | |
| 19 | Hans Muehlbauer | GER | 00:55:31 | 05:22:21 | 03:11:41 | 09:34:55 | 15:18 | 50 | |
| 20 | Philippe Lamberty | LUX | 00:53:49 | 04:56:48 | 04:16:20 | 10:11:19 | n/a | 40 | |
| 21 | Ben Hoffman | USA | 00:49:17 | 04:30:57 | 06:42:00 | 12:06:48 | 3:53:55 | 25 | |
| Evert Scheltinga | NED | 00:48:14 | 04:41:29 | DNF | |||||
| Pedro Gomes | POR | 00:49:15 | 04:46:04 | DNF | |||||
| Reece Barclay | GBR | 00:48:21 | 04:50:00 | DNF | |||||
| Alain Djouad-Guibert | MOR | 01:05:48 | 05:26:27 | DNF | |||||
| Markus Fachbach | GER | 00:49:13 | DNF | ||||||
| Artem Parienko | RUS | 00:51:29 | DNF |
Female Race Results
The female race was “The Lucy Show”: Lucy Charles posted the fastest swim and started the bike with a five minute lead. She was also riding well (the only female sub-5 bike split), by T2 she was eleven minutes ahead of Rachel McBride, twelve ahead of Susie Cheetham and 19 ahead of Linsey Corbin. All four leaders were running well, and even though Rachel fell back to fourth place, her 3:16 run was a new marathon PR for her. Linsey finished third with the best marathon in the field, her best marathon since 2014 season when she finished the fastest North American Ironman. Susie Cheetham set a new marathon PR, just missing the 3-hour mark but finishing a very solid second an continuing her streak of four podium finishes in Port Elizabeth in a row. But the undisputed winner by six minutes was Lucy, who also set a new marathon PR while winning her first Regional Championship and securing an Automatic Qualifier slot for Kona.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to exp. | Prize Money | KPR Points |
| 1 | Lucy Charles | GBR | 00:47:32 | 04:57:21 | 03:05:45 | 08:56:06 | -11:39 | US$ 30,000 | 4000 |
| 2 | Susie Cheetham | GBR | 00:55:48 | 05:01:54 | 03:00:47 | 09:02:58 | -07:31 | US$ 15,000 | 3400 |
| 3 | Linsey Corbin | USA | 00:55:48 | 05:08:14 | 02:58:16 | 09:07:10 | -09:12 | US$ 8,000 | 2890 |
| 4 | Rachel McBride | CAN | 00:52:47 | 05:04:06 | 03:16:55 | 09:18:34 | -13:50 | US$ 6,500 | 2455 |
| 5 | Manon Genet | FRA | 00:59:43 | 05:06:05 | 03:11:21 | 09:21:59 | -22:45 | US$ 5,000 | 2090 |
| 6 | Gurutze Frades Larralde | ESP | 00:59:18 | 05:11:02 | 03:14:38 | 09:30:14 | -06:34 | US$ 3,500 | 1670 |
| 7 | Katharina Grohmann | GER | 01:10:06 | 05:13:17 | 03:06:53 | 09:35:07 | -14:35 | US$ 2,500 | 1335 |
| 8 | Martina Kunz | SUI | 01:02:04 | 05:16:01 | 03:13:27 | 09:36:40 | -03:26 | US$ 2,000 | 1070 |
| 9 | Maja Stage Nielsen | DEN | 00:58:06 | 05:17:11 | 03:16:59 | 09:37:21 | 18:57 | US$ 1,500 | 855 |
| 10 | Annah Watkinson | ZAF | 00:59:17 | 05:20:44 | 03:12:15 | 09:38:30 | 05:54 | US$ 1,000 | 685 |
| 11 | Leslie DiMichele Miller | USA | 00:59:54 | 05:27:53 | 03:12:17 | 09:45:19 | 00:39 | 515 | |
| 12 | Saleta Castro Nogueira | ESP | 00:55:42 | 05:29:38 | 03:17:26 | 09:47:58 | 02:50 | 385 | |
| 13 | Corina Hengartner | SUI | 01:04:25 | 05:38:38 | 03:09:36 | 09:58:59 | 06:31 | 290 | |
| 14 | Patricia Bueno Perez | ESP | 01:06:41 | 05:55:17 | 04:03:38 | 11:12:58 | 26:03 | 215 | |
| Charlotte Morel | FRA | 00:52:58 | 05:14:11 | DNF | |||||
| Emma Pallant | GBR | 00:55:47 | 05:13:39 | DNF | |||||
| Judith Corachan Vacquero | ESP | 00:55:46 | 05:15:35 | DNF | |||||
| Katja Konschak | GER | 00:55:50 | 05:24:41 | DNF | |||||
| Lina-Kristin Schink | GER | 01:07:29 | 05:21:00 | DNF | |||||
| Carolin Lehrieder | GER | 00:55:48 | DNF |
Kona Qualifying Implications
This early in the season, a lot of athletes are looking to position themselves for an early Kona slot or at least a good path towards a slot. Here’s where the top finishers are currently placed.
Men
- Automatic Qualifier: Kyle Buckingham
- Safe for a July slot: Cameron Wurf, Maurice Clavel, Josh Amberger, Ben Hoffman
- On the Bubble: Jonathan Shearon (at 3.290 he will probably need more points)
- Close, but will need more points: Ronnie Schildknecht
Women
- Automatic Qualifier: Lucy Charles
- Safe for a July slot: Susie Cheetham, Linsey Corbin
- All others will still need a good number of points to get to the projected cutoff of 4.400 points, the best placed are Manon Genet (3.370 points), Maja Stage Nielsen (3.335) and Rachel McBride (3.295).