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Results of the 2019 Ho’ala Swim

HoalaSwimThis year, the Ho’ala swim is held six days before the Kona race on the swim course. There are slight changes towards the end, the finish is on the small beach at the King Kam hotel instead of back on “Dig Me Beach”, usually resulting in slightly quicker times compared to the Kona swim. It is used by a lot of athletes as an excellent open-water training session, the table below shows just the Kona Pros that I have been able to identify in the results, comparing their times in this year’s swim, their expected swim times for this year’s Ironman race (plus the difference, usually faster) and the same results (as long as they are available) for last year’s Ho’ala swim and Ironman Hawaii swim. (There were probably a few more Pros in the swim, for example, Matt Hanson and Matt Russell posted about their swims.)

Some observations:

  • On average, the Kona Pros swam about three minutes quicker than their “expected swim times” for Kona.
  • The first three athletes swam a time that would have been under the current male Kona swim course record (46:29 by Jan Sibbersen). There were two more age-groupers between Alistair and Josh.
  • With Ali beating Josh, it’s likely he is going to be a front group swimmer next Saturday, probably coming out of the water in a potential Amberger/Frodeno group. As expected, Daniel Baekkegard might also be in that group.
  • Another interesting data point is that Lionel Sanders was about 30 seconds in front of Cam Wurf – that would create an interesting dynamic in the Ironman race.
  • Lucy Charles was on the start list and posted on Instagram that she was looking for a re-match with Josh, but in the end she did not race (neither did husband Reece Barclay).
  • In the absence of Lucy, the fastest female Pro was Sarah Crowley who had a great swim (6 minutes quicker than seeded). Other good swims (relative to the expected swims) were by Jen Annett (5:30 quicker), Nikki Bartlett and Els Visser (about 5 minutes quicker). There were quite a few female Pros with great swims, they might have benefitted from the bigger swim groups.
Athlete Ho’ola Swim Expected Swim Faster By 2018 Ho’ola 2018 Race
Alistair Brownlee 00:46:07 00:50:34 00:04:27
Josh Amberger 00:46:14 00:48:40 00:02:26 00:47:08 00:47:39
Daniel Baekkegard 00:46:19 00:49:21 00:03:02
Andi Boecherer 00:49:20 00:50:16 00:00:56
Frank Silvestrin 00:49:35 00:52:30 00:02:55
Sarah Crowley 00:49:40 00:55:46 00:06:06 00:54:19
Nils Frommhold 00:49:41 00:50:47 00:01:06
Joe Gambles 00:49:41 00:52:29 00:02:48
Philipp Koutny 00:49:47 00:52:23 00:02:36
Ben Hoffman 00:49:50 00:50:45 00:00:55
Timothy O’Donnell 00:49:50 00:49:48 (-00:02) 00:49:41 00:47:45
TJ Tollakson 00:49:50 00:52:44 00:02:54
Will Clarke 00:51:54 00:51:43 (-00:11) 00:50:37 00:50:39
David Plese 00:51:55 00:55:13 00:03:18 00:54:02
Lionel Sanders 00:51:56 00:55:49 00:03:53 00:51:22 00:53:59
Jeanni Seymour 00:52:14 00:55:15 00:03:01
Cameron Wurf 00:52:24 00:53:28 00:01:04 00:50:58 00:50:51
Kimberley Morrison 00:54:33 00:58:37 00:04:04
Kaisa Sali 00:55:08 00:59:46 00:04:38 00:55:47 00:58:23
Els Visser 00:55:54 01:00:59 00:05:05
Mareen Hufe 00:56:58 01:01:17 00:04:19 00:58:47 00:58:34
Jen Annett 00:57:37 01:03:13 00:05:36 00:58:47
Annah Watkinson 00:57:37 01:01:36 00:03:59
Nikki Bartlett 00:57:46 01:02:57 00:05:11
Stefan Schumacher 00:58:05 01:01:30 00:03:25
Mirinda Carfrae 00:58:38 01:00:01 00:01:23 00:59:03 00:58:18
Bianca Steurer 01:01:31 01:03:22 00:01:51
Gurutze Frades Larralde 01:01:52 01:05:47 00:03:55 01:03:02 01:05:03

Kona 2019 Kings & Queens: Carrie Lester

Kona Kings & Queens is a collaboration project with sports photographer James Mitchell to highlight some of the Pros racing in Kona. James supplies his awesome pictures (for more check his Instagram account), I add some data and commentary.

JM QoK Carrie Lester

CazzaPoints

CazzaBibF12

So far, Carrie has had a stellar 2019 season. She was disappointed when her 2nd place at Arizona with an 8:44 wasn’t good enough for Kona qualifying, but she got her slot without a problem with a win at IM France in June and then also set a new course record at IM Mont Tremblant in August. Look for her to work hard on the bike to start the run in a good position – and if she can improve her marathon time (so far her best Kona run is a 3:15 from 2016), she might have her career-best Kona finish.

This is an excerpt from my “Kona 2019 Rating Report”. You can download your copy here.

Kona 2019 Kings & Queens: Braden Currie

Kona Kings & Queens is a collaboration project with sports photographer James Mitchell to highlight some of the Pros racing in Kona. James supplies his awesome pictures (for more check his Instagram account), I add some data and commentary.

JM KoK Braden Currie

BradenPointsBradenBibM7

Coming off a great fifth place in Kona 2018, Braden’s 2019 season has been a bit up and down. A third place at IM New Zealand in March wasn’t enough to grab a Kona slot, so he had to race IM Cairns in June even though he had already committed to race Challenge Roth in July. He defended his Asia/Pacific Regional Championship title in Cairns, winning by almost twenty minutes, but then was maybe a bit tired to race well in Roth just four weeks after Cairns. The wheels came off in the last part of the bike, and GI issues forced him to end his race after the first half of the run.
While disappointed with that result, his physical recovery has been relatively smooth: “When you don’t run that marathon on tired legs and just do the 20km at a steady pace, the impact physically isn’t significant. It just feels like it’s been a big training day.” He quickly focused on his Kona build, ending with an all-around solid win at 70.3 Sunshine Coast (4 seconds off the fastest swim, 7 seconds off the fastest bike, fastest run by almost two minutes).
It’ll be interesting to see how Braden is going to race with the experience he gained in his last Kona races and if he will be able to finish even higher up. If everything goes well, he should be in a good position at the start of the run, much like in 2018. If he is then able to run sub-2:50, he would be a strong contender for a podium finish.

This is an excerpt from my “Kona 2019 Rating Report”. The Report also has a detailed description of the 2018 race from Braden’s perspective. You can download your copy here.

Ironman Barcelona 2019 – Analyzing Results

IMBarcelonaCourse Conditions

As usual, Barcelona has been a fast course. An adjustment of 28:33 and a new course rating of 23:05 indicate that they were even faster than what is normal for Barcelona. Both the swim and the bike were just a bit quicker than expected, but this year’s run was a bit more than three minutes quicker than normal.

This year’s race had some crazy fast times – both winners posted new overall course records: Sara Svensk improved Laura Philipp’s time from last year by 47 seconds, Florian Angert on the 2017 finish by Antony Costes by just over four minutes. Flo’s 7:45 is now the fastest 2019 Ironman finish (so far it’s been Cam Wurf’s 7:46 from Italy), it’s also a new fastest time by an Ironman rookie (besting Mathias Lyngsoe Petersen’s 7:52 from Sweden this year). Both Sara and Florian also set new bike course records, improving the 2017 times by Mike Philips and  Lisa Huetthaler.

Kona Qualifying

Barcelona had one male and one female Kona 2020 slot, these go to the winners

  • Florian Angert
    and
  • Sara Svensk.

Male Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to exp. Prize Money
1 Florian Angert GER 00:45:56 04:06:13 02:48:55 07:45:05 n/a US$ 8,000
2 Frederik Van Lierde BEL 00:46:44 04:12:31 02:49:57 07:53:25 -03:37 US$ 4,000
3 Nick Kastelein AUS 00:46:00 04:13:26 02:53:53 07:57:32 02:51 US$ 3,000
4 Elliot Smales GBR 00:46:02 04:26:59 02:43:58 08:01:22 n/a US$ 2,500
5 Miquel Blanchart Tinto ESP 00:50:41 04:24:51 02:42:38 08:02:43 -06:17 US$ 1,500
6 Sebastien Fraysse FRA 00:45:57 04:13:22 03:01:24 08:05:16 n/a US$ 1,000
7 Sam Laidlow FRA 00:46:40 04:19:23 02:55:07 08:05:40 n/a
8 Robert Wilkowiecki POL 00:46:46 04:28:32 02:46:25 08:06:45 n/a
9 Stenn Goetstouwers BEL 00:46:54 04:19:09 02:56:55 08:07:53 -05:24
10 Sebastian Najmowicz POL 00:46:48 04:24:38 02:55:10 08:10:54 -06:57
11 Sam Pictor GBR 00:51:59 04:23:02 02:52:57 08:13:00 n/a
12 Allan Hovda NOR 00:51:58 04:23:17 02:53:17 08:13:20 -17:58
13 Anton Blokhin BLR 00:48:52 04:26:35 02:54:04 08:13:56 -10:46
14 Markus Hoermann GER 00:51:54 04:22:52 02:55:38 08:15:23 01:52
15 Mikkel Mortensen DEN 00:51:52 04:28:06 02:50:27 08:15:42 n/a
16 Daniel Niederreiter AUT 00:50:38 04:24:14 03:00:43 08:20:57 -05:17
17 Rasmus Svenningsson SWE 00:51:48 04:23:22 03:04:30 08:25:25 n/a
18 Andreas Borch DEN 00:48:54 04:26:36 03:10:49 08:30:56 -11:44
19 Lucas Amirault FRA 00:50:41 04:24:20 03:11:32 08:31:39 -02:06
20 Nacho Villarruel ESP 00:50:40 04:40:55 02:57:37 08:35:02 -26:01
21 Kacper Adam POL 00:50:42 04:24:05 03:14:07 08:35:17 n/a
22 Bert Verbeke BEL 00:51:48 04:28:34 03:10:03 08:35:48 -05:20
23 Jordan Bryden CAN 00:50:39 04:24:21 03:15:27 08:35:49 -17:35
24 Christian Kramer GER 00:46:52 04:16:56 03:28:34 08:37:01 30:04
25 Jean Eudes Demaret FRA 00:59:07 04:26:47 03:08:45 08:41:52 n/a
26 Erik Holmberg SWE 00:52:05 04:31:33 03:13:51 08:43:08 -05:25
27 Philipp Fahrenholz GER 00:54:11 04:32:46 03:11:39 08:43:28 -20:20
28 Daniel Gomez Hernandez ESP 00:50:38 04:40:56 03:09:16 08:45:48 n/a
29 Rasmus Ahlfors DEN 00:52:03 04:34:37 03:12:34 08:46:18 -17:55
30 Stefan Overmars NED 00:52:01 04:33:59 03:16:02 08:48:51 -02:37
31 Kyle Buckingham ZAF 00:46:52 04:19:29 03:49:11 08:59:58 59:03
32 Emilio Sampedro ESP 00:59:03 04:40:49 03:17:31 09:03:09 n/a
33 David Hanko HUN 00:48:53 04:26:27 03:45:25 09:05:30 31:37
34 Olivier Esser BEL 00:54:19 04:39:34 03:29:12 09:08:39 16:24
35 Ger Redmond IRL 01:09:51 04:45:24 03:08:53 09:09:56 -16:16
36 Toni Pallares Grima ESP 01:01:05 04:46:42 03:15:41 09:10:48 n/a
37 Maciej Chmura POL 00:48:44 04:26:20 03:56:24 09:15:58 36:34
38 Jon Ander Uribarri Ormaza ESP 00:58:30 04:51:37 03:26:09 09:21:59 -11:11
39 Pacome Thibault-Lopez FRA 00:53:59 04:44:28 03:58:59 09:43:18 n/a
40 Marek Nemcik SVK 01:12:22 05:11:35 04:33:15 11:08:41 -14:09
Markus Liebelt GER 00:51:53 04:13:22 DNF
Guillem Rojas ESP 00:45:53 04:27:42 DNF
Domenico Passuello ITA 00:51:55 04:23:17 DNF
Jeremy Morel FRA 00:56:15 04:21:05 DNF
Freddy Lampret ZAF 00:51:59 04:52:38 DNF
Jonathan Ciavattella ITA 00:46:05 DNF
Mathias Lyngsoe Petersen DEN 00:47:41 DNF
Kirill Kotshegarov EST 00:52:01 DNF
Rasmus Fitzner DEN 00:54:21 DNF
Andrej Vistica CRO 00:56:19 DNF

Female Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to exp. Prize Money
1 Sara Svensk SWE 00:56:14 04:36:50 02:56:09 08:34:10 -26:18 US$ 8,000
2 Laura Zimmermann GER 01:02:06 04:36:28 03:05:12 08:49:12 n/a US$ 4,000
3 Katrien Verstuyft BEL 00:55:13 04:41:25 03:16:02 08:58:10 n/a US$ 2,500
4 Dimity-Lee Duke AUS 00:58:09 04:38:11 03:16:06 08:58:10 -10:27 US$ 3,000
5 Gabriella Zelinka HUN 00:56:19 04:47:12 03:14:09 09:02:50 -22:46 US$ 1,500
6 Merce Tusell ESP 01:03:13 04:50:57 03:05:37 09:06:31 -34:51 US$ 1,000
7 Antonina Reznikov ISR 01:06:46 04:44:45 03:09:22 09:07:35 -27:57
8 Simona Krivankova CZE 01:05:11 04:50:58 03:13:29 09:15:59 -00:18
9 Zeljka Saban CRO 00:55:17 04:53:25 03:24:12 09:19:28 -36:57
10 Candice Mizon FRA 00:55:14 05:08:46 03:24:10 09:33:57 n/a
Heini Hartikainen FIN 01:01:54 04:41:23 DNF
Pleuni Hooijman NED 01:01:55 04:44:49 DNF
Ewa Bugdol POL 00:54:58 04:52:50 DNF

Kona 2019 Kings & Queens: Kim Morrison

Kona Kings & Queens is a collaboration project with sports photographer James Mitchell to highlight some of the Pros racing in Kona. James supplies his awesome pictures (for more check his Instagram account), I add some data and commentary.

JM QoK Kim Morrison

KimPoints

KimBibF35

Kim is one of the strongest Ironman athletes on the bike, and when things go well she’s able to quickly overcome her swim deficit. In Texas she was able to make up more than four minutes to Daniela Ryf and Jocelyn McCauley and was the first female on the run. In Kona she’s probably hoping for tough conditions with lots of wind in order to maximize her bike strength. Which position in the strong and deep Kona field will she have when she reaches T2 in her debut race on the Big Island?

This is an excerpt from my “Kona 2019 Rating Report”. You can download your copy here.

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