Race Conditions & Course Records
As always, IM Western Australia has been a fast course. Last year there was some wind that lead to a slower swim and a “less fast” bike, this year’s conditions were quick even for WA (adjustment of 17:32 leading to a new course rating of 13:57). Not surprisingly, we’ve seen a large number of fast results.
First of all, Terenzo Bozzone had a fantastic race and posted a new overall course record with a balanced race. He improved on Luke McKenzie’s time from last year, which was also the fastest Ironman on Australian soil. In addition, Terenzo improved on the Australian continental record (meaning Australia and New Zealand) – until today it was held by Chris McCormack (7:54 from Challenge Roth 2007). Andy Potts’ 7:55:12 finish was a new US fastest time, he improved 10 seconds on Andy Starykowicz’s 7:55:22 from IM Florida 2013.
The female side saw some fast times as well. After IM Arizona this was another race where the Top 3 women finished under 9 hours – for Melissa, Mareen and Sarah it was the first time they finished that quick. Melissa also improved Britta Martin’s 2014 overall course record, and Mareen’s bike time was faster than her own bike course record by almost three minutes.
Male Race Results
So far Terenzo’s Ironman results haven’t been quite up to his stellar 70.3 racing, but there can be no doubt that he absolutely nailed Ironman Western Australia. It wasn’t a surprise to see him come out of the water close to the lead, but then he posted a massive new personal bike best: His 4:10 was more 20 minutes faster than ever before and gave him a solid lead in T2. In addition he almost posted a marathon PR (his 2:50 was just a minute off his best time from his first race at IM New Zealand 2009) to win his first Ironman race.
After a somewhat disappointing 11th place in Kona, Andy Potts showed that you shouldn’t write him off for a Kona podium just yet: He biked and ran faster than ever before, improving on his IM PR (dating back to IM Cozumel 2010) by 20 minutes. Even with Terenzo’s fantastic performance, he was able to keep the race interesting with a 2:44 marathon, slowly eating into the lead and closing the gap to less than four minutes at the end.
Nick Kastelein showed that training with Jan Frodeno (and as far as I know Terenzo as well) helped him developed into a good Ironman athlete. In only his second IM-distance race he finished on the podium in front of a number of Kona caliber athletes. Jens Petersen-Bach finished 4th after his DNF in Kona, while 2014 winner Denis Chevrot took 5th place.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected | Prize Money |
| 1 | Terenzo Bozzone | NZL | 00:46:23 | 04:10:49 | 02:50:38 | 07:51:26 | -26:28 | US$ 10000 |
| 2 | Andy Potts | USA | 00:46:21 | 04:20:05 | 02:44:41 | 07:55:12 | -11:54 | US$ 5000 |
| 3 | Nick Kastelein | AUS | 00:46:10 | 04:22:12 | 02:53:01 | 08:05:24 | -01:39 | US$ 3250 |
| 4 | Jens Petersen-Bach | DEN | 00:49:54 | 04:28:34 | 02:48:45 | 08:11:20 | -09:29 | US$ 2500 |
| 5 | Denis Chevrot | FRA | 00:46:22 | 04:28:39 | 02:56:03 | 08:15:23 | -03:56 | US$ 1750 |
| 6 | Esben Hovgaard | DEN | 00:50:02 | 04:25:31 | 02:58:21 | 08:18:00 | -16:27 | US$ 1250 |
| 7 | Michael Fox | AUS | 00:46:17 | 04:29:58 | 02:57:55 | 08:18:07 | -04:21 | US$ 750 |
| 8 | Konstantin Bachor | GER | 00:49:59 | 04:18:17 | 03:07:02 | 08:19:51 | -05:12 | US$ 500 |
| 9 | Courtney Ogden | AUS | 00:50:03 | 04:31:00 | 03:01:45 | 08:27:46 | 00:42 | |
| 10 | Levi Maxwell | AUS | 00:53:08 | 04:38:11 | 02:52:59 | 08:28:28 | -19:35 | |
| 11 | Giles Clayton | AUS | 00:47:40 | 04:33:04 | 03:02:40 | 08:28:40 | n/a | |
| 12 | Luke Martin | AUS | 00:50:11 | 04:30:52 | 03:06:44 | 08:32:10 | -08:55 | |
| 13 | Jonathan Shearon | USA | 00:53:29 | 04:27:23 | 03:07:02 | 08:32:37 | -00:11 | |
| 14 | Till Schramm | GER | 00:53:35 | 04:40:56 | 03:01:36 | 08:40:59 | -20:45 | |
| 15 | Derek Cross | AUS | 00:49:56 | 04:37:18 | 03:10:34 | 08:42:51 | n/a | |
| 16 | Carl Read | NZL | 00:53:48 | 04:41:29 | 03:05:38 | 08:46:42 | 03:53 | |
| 17 | Petr Vabrousek | CZE | 00:56:58 | 04:47:29 | 03:18:08 | 09:07:50 | 21:28 | |
| 18 | Bryce McMaster | NZL | 00:49:59 | 05:31:33 | 03:34:12 | 10:03:21 | n/a | |
| 19 | Patrick Evoe | USA | 00:53:33 | 04:31:16 | 05:01:15 | 10:30:32 | 1:54:17 | |
| Matt Burton | AUS | 00:50:08 | 04:27:11 | DNF | ||||
| Matthew Pellow | AUS | 00:46:23 | 04:45:08 | DNF | ||||
| Vincent Depuiset | FRA | 01:09:47 | 06:02:57 | DNF | ||||
| Clayton Fettell | AUS | 00:46:10 | DNF | |||||
| Jeff Symonds | CAN | 00:50:03 | DNF | |||||
| Leigh Stabryla | AUS | 00:53:14 | DNF | |||||
| Allister Caird | AUS | 00:56:55 | DNF | |||||
| Michael Louys | BEL | 01:04:15 | DNF |
With his win (and points from 70.3 Champs) Terenzo is safe for a July slot. Andy Potts can also start to plan his 2017 season with a clear Kona focus. Nick Kastelein needs about another 500 points – a win in a P-500 70.3 is probably enough to qualify, but racing another Ironman race is likely a benefit if he want to go to Kona 2017.
Female Race Results
Just a minute behind after the swim Melissa Hauschildt quickly took the lead on the bike. Mareen Hufe exited the swim with an improved Sarah Piampiano and they rode together for some time before Mareen put down the hammer, gapped Sarah, closed the distance to Melissa and finally took the lead with a new bike course record time. But Melissa proved to be the better runner, re-taking the lead by the half marathon mark and winning in course record time – also improving her IM winning record to 4 wins and 1 DNF. Mareen kept the pressure up on the run, and she was less than three minutes behind in second place.
Even though she “only” finished third, Sarah is probably happy with her race: A good swim and the fastest run split gave her the first sub-9 finish of her career. At the end of the season Asa Lundstroem had another solid race, but she probably wasn’t fresh enough to finish higher up than in fourth place in the strong WA field. “Lisi” Gruber lost too much time on the bike to contend for more than fifth place.
| Rank | Name | Nation | Swim | Bike | Run | Time | Diff to expected | Prize Money |
| 1 | Melissa Hauschildt | AUS | 00:54:29 | 04:48:46 | 03:06:39 | 08:54:39 | -05:53 | US$ 10000 |
| 2 | Mareen Hufe | GER | 00:59:12 | 04:41:32 | 03:12:25 | 08:57:36 | -19:47 | US$ 5000 |
| 3 | Sarah Piampiano | USA | 00:59:11 | 04:49:29 | 03:05:13 | 08:58:51 | -13:15 | US$ 3250 |
| 4 | Asa Lundstroem | SWE | 01:00:55 | 04:47:23 | 03:13:20 | 09:06:08 | -05:36 | US$ 2500 |
| 5 | Elisabeth Gruber | AUT | 01:00:50 | 05:04:40 | 03:05:17 | 09:15:59 | 02:59 | US$ 1750 |
| 6 | Kym Coogan | AUS | 00:57:53 | 05:09:21 | 03:23:50 | 09:36:36 | -06:13 | US$ 1250 |
| 7 | Vanessa Murray | NZL | 00:53:33 | 05:10:12 | 03:38:28 | 09:48:05 | 16:42 | US$ 750 |
| 8 | Tracy Morrison | AUS | 01:00:02 | 05:26:08 | 03:32:47 | 10:04:10 | -01:02 | US$ 500 |
| 9 | Emi Sakai | JPN | 01:09:02 | 05:10:53 | 03:39:34 | 10:06:12 | 01:07 | |
| 10 | Georgia Stott | AUS | 00:53:27 | 05:22:59 | 03:49:06 | 10:12:16 | n/a | |
| 11 | Rahel Bellinga | NED | 01:06:58 | 05:00:28 | 04:02:04 | 10:16:11 | 10:55 | |
| Lauren Parker | AUS | 00:52:31 | DNF |
With regards to Kona slots, Mel, Sarah and Asa should be safe for a July slot (being able to use Kona or 70.3 Champs points), while Mareen still needs another podium result in an IM.