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Ironman Texas 2017 (April 22nd) – Seedings

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IM Texas is the second of the 2017 Regional Championship races – a lot of Kona points (4.000 for the winner), a large prize purse (150.000 US$) and automatic qualifier slots for the winners practically guarantee strong Pro fields. This year’s lists of participants are very interesting, as both the male and female fields do not seem to have a clear favorite.

Update April 13th: On the latest start list Kyrill Kotshegarov is a late addition while Haley Chura and Kyle Buckingham have withdrawn.

Update April 17th: A few more updates: Jens Petersen-Bach, Nikki Bartlett, Kirsty Jahn and Mackenzie Madison are no longer racing.

Previous Winners

Year Male Winner Time Female Winner Time
2011 Eneko Llanos (ESP) 08:08:20 Catriona Morrison (GBR) 08:57:51
2012 Jordan Rapp (USA) 08:10:44 Mary Beth Ellis (USA) 08:54:58
2013 Paul Amey (GBR) 08:25:06 Rachel Joyce (GBR) 08:49:14
2014 Bevan Docherty (NZL) 08:09:37 Kelly Williamson (USA) 08:54:42
2015 Matt Hanson (USA) 08:07:03 Angela Naeth (CAN) 08:55:19
2016 Patrick Lange (GER) 07:13:13 Julia Gajer (GER) 08:11:01

Last Year’s TOP 3

Last year’s race had a shortened bike leg when there were problems getting the necessary permits and bad weather created the additional need for some last-minute scrambles. Therefore, the winning times are not eligible as course records.

Male Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time
1 Patrick Lange GER 00:48:57 03:39:28 02:40:01 07:13:13
2 Matthew Russell USA 00:56:41 03:31:47 02:48:14 07:21:56
3 Terenzo Bozzone NZL 00:48:59 03:39:27 02:52:53 07:25:55

Female Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time
1 Julia Gajer GER 00:54:51 04:01:44 03:08:49 08:11:01
2 Jodie Robertson USA 01:07:21 04:01:55 02:59:26 08:16:30
3 Lisa Roberts USA 01:06:52 04:06:18 02:59:03 08:17:58

Course Records

Leg Gender Record Athlete Date
Total overall 08:07:03 Matt Hanson 2015-05-16
Swim overall 00:46:20 John Flanagan 2011-05-21
Bike overall 04:10:07 Joe Skipper 2015-05-16
Run overall 02:41:38 Matt Hanson 2014-05-17
Total female 08:49:14 Rachel Joyce 2013-05-18
Swim female 00:51:49 Kelly Williamson 2014-05-17
Bike female 04:40:39 Corinne Abraham 2015-05-16
Run female 02:51:46 Caitlin Snow 2012-05-19

Course Rating

The Course Rating for IM Texas is 11:51.

Race Adjustments for IM Texas

Year Adjustment Swim Adj. Bike Adj. Run Adj. # of Finishers Rating Swim Rating Bike Rating Run Rating
2011 11:41 -02:11 19:12 -02:48 41 11:41 -02:11 19:12 -02:48
2012 14:02 -00:50 15:23 03:36 27 12:51 -01:30 17:18 00:24
2013 07:03 -01:11 16:44 01:16 30 of 46 10:55 -01:24 17:06 00:41
2014 17:00 01:02 17:51 03:54 44 of 55 12:26 -00:47 17:17 01:30
2015 09:29 -01:19 19:29 -04:34 33 of 52 11:51 -00:54 17:44 00:17

KPR points and Prize Money

IM Texas is a P-4000 race. It has a total prize purse of 150.000 US$.

Estimated Time Plan

The following table shows the time plan for the race start and the estimated times for the first athlete in the transition zones or across the finish line. The estimates are based on the start time and my time estimates, these times can change based on how fast or slow the race ends up:

What Est. Racetime Est. Local Time
Male Pro Start 06:25
Female Pro Start 06:30
Age Group Start 06:40
First Male in T1 0:48  07:13
First Female in T1 0:50  07:20
First Male in T2 5:07  11:32
First Female in T2 5:51  12:21
Male Winner 8:14  14:39 (2:39pm)
Female Winner 9:09  15:39 (3:39 pm)

The Woodlands is on Central Daylight Time, 5 hours ahead of UTC. Here are the conversions to a few other time zones:

  • + 15 hours: Sydney (AEST), race starts at 21:25
  • +7 hours: Central Europe (CEST), race starts at 13:25
  • +6 hours: United Kingdom (BST), race starts at 12:25
  • +1 hour: US East Coast (EDT), race starts at 7:25am
  • – 2 hours: US West Coast (PDT), race starts at 4:25am

Male Race Participants

The strength of the field is 31% of a typical Kona field.

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Time Rating Exp. Swim Exp. Bike Exp. Run Consistency Overall
1 1 Matt Hanson USA 08:14:16 08:33:01 00:54:42 04:28:39 02:45:55 37% +27% -36% (11) 37
2 40 Ivan Tutukin RUS 08:15:19 08:36:37 00:49:33 04:35:54 02:44:52 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (55)
3 18 Will Clarke GBR 08:15:41 08:38:01 00:50:57 04:29:52 02:49:53 12% +44% -44% (5) 62
4 8 Bas Diederen NED 08:16:03 08:30:12 00:49:18 04:22:15 02:59:29 39% +6% -55% (18) 29
5 2 Jordan Rapp USA 08:17:07 08:32:17 00:53:28 04:19:52 02:58:47 69% +6% -25% (21) 35
6 4 Ronnie Schildknecht SUI 08:17:37 08:27:20 00:54:18 04:25:01 02:53:18 80% +1% -19% (31) 23
7 22 Joe Skipper GBR 08:18:02 08:31:46 00:55:32 04:21:21 02:56:09 42% +24% -34% (15) 33
8 3 Matthew Russell USA 08:18:51 08:33:40 00:56:41 04:22:48 02:54:22 45% +40% -15% (41) 39
9 7 Tyler Butterfield BMU 08:21:38 08:40:22 00:50:38 04:22:57 03:03:03 47% +15% -38% (13) 70
10 12 Callum Millward NZL 08:21:46 08:34:52 00:50:26 04:29:22 02:56:59 41% +0% -59% (6) 46
11 6 Kyle Buckingham ZAF 08:22:03 08:33:44 00:51:00 04:26:10 02:59:53 51% +17% -32% (12) 40
12 16 Paul Matthews AUS 08:22:23 08:34:55 00:48:52 04:28:14 03:00:16 45% +0% -55% (12) 47
13 13 Andrew Starykowicz USA 08:23:25 08:31:01 00:50:39 04:11:04 03:16:43 60% +0% -40% (7) (31)
14 11 Jens Petersen-Bach DEN 08:23:30 08:39:30 00:52:14 04:32:20 02:53:57 54% +0% -46% (18) 66
15 14 David Plese SLO 08:25:38 08:37:25 00:54:15 04:27:29 02:58:55 83% +12% -6% (20) 57
16 19 Daniel Fontana ITA 08:26:02 08:36:45 00:51:56 04:31:10 02:57:56 55% +0% -45% (14) 55
(16) 42 Kirill Kotshegarov EST 08:26:31 08:37:12 00:55:07 04:24:45 03:01:39 57% +29% -13% (14) 55
17 21 Stephen Kilshaw CAN 08:26:32 08:55:37 00:54:01 04:30:33 02:56:57 39% +60% -1% (9) 118
18 10 Chris McDonald AUS 08:27:57 08:43:39 00:54:14 04:24:56 03:03:47 65% +15% -20% (44) 79
19 29 Marc Duelsen GER 08:32:26 08:44:04 00:54:34 04:31:32 03:01:20 82% +0% -18% (9) 80
20 28 Trevor Delsaut FRA 08:33:20 08:54:04 00:55:23 04:35:15 02:57:42 36% +7% -57% (25) 111
21 9 Jozsef Major HUN 08:34:02 08:53:16 01:00:20 04:29:44 02:58:59 61% +24% -16% (32) 108
22 38 Jonathan Shearon USA 08:34:15 08:52:47 00:54:58 04:26:45 03:07:33 57% +10% -33% (16) 105
23 5 Paul Ambrose AUS 08:34:39 08:42:17 00:52:14 04:29:20 03:08:05 49% +3% -48% (21) 74
24 17 Matic Modic SLO 08:37:55 08:53:17 00:57:25 04:35:23 03:00:07 63% +16% -20% (10) 109
25 27 Karl-Johan Danielsson SWE 08:38:30 08:58:30 00:52:35 04:26:02 03:14:53 33% +34% -33% (12) 131
26 15 Harry Wiltshire GBR 08:39:43 08:56:45 00:49:12 04:37:58 03:07:34 34% +23% -43% (19) 124
27 32 Philipp Koutny SUI 08:40:39 09:00:58 00:52:45 04:32:12 03:10:42 26% +0% -74% (4) (145)
28 30 Adam Gordon AUS 08:45:07 09:05:27 00:56:21 04:38:55 03:04:51 31% +39% -30% (6) 156
29 20 Leon Griffin AUS 08:54:52 09:23:53 00:52:39 04:30:19 03:26:53 10% +9% -81% (7) (203)
30 34 Tomas Mika CZE 08:56:13 09:14:55 00:56:38 04:49:33 03:05:03 67% +8% -25% (7) 180
31 26 Antony Costes FRA 09:00:16 09:34:04 00:50:16 04:29:16 03:35:44 16% +0% -84% (5) 234
32 41 Hendrik-Jan Verhaegen BEL 09:08:59 09:26:43 00:57:21 04:47:11 03:19:26 60% +0% -40% (7) 218
33 33 Colin Laughery USA 09:10:41 09:23:03 01:00:50 04:46:57 03:17:54 100% +0% -0% (5) 200
34 24 Jarrod Shoemaker USA 09:12:50 09:36:35 00:48:08 05:08:49 03:10:52 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (238)
35 36 Patrick Schuster USA 09:15:51 09:43:21 01:04:54 04:40:38 03:25:18 64% +18% -17% (8) 249
36 37 Matt Shanks USA 09:25:06 09:43:42 01:01:17 04:57:18 03:21:31 67% +33% -0% (4) 250
37 31 Peter Kotland CZE 09:34:32 09:53:23 01:00:27 04:52:30 03:36:35 62% +23% -15% (23) 264
23 Robert Wade IRL n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (1 IM Pro race) (n/a)
25 James Capparell USA n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)
35 Timothy Nichols USA n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)
39 Frank Souza BRA n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (1 IM Pro race) (n/a)

Female Race Participants

The strength of the field is 20% of a typical Kona field.

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Time Rating Exp. Swim Exp. Bike Exp. Run Consistency Overall
1 71 Jocelyn McCauley USA 09:08:57 09:35:14 00:58:11 04:56:20 03:09:25 21% +49% -30% (6) 37
2 51 Kelly Williamson USA 09:10:14 09:33:32 00:54:38 05:10:02 03:00:34 83% +9% -8% (13) 35
3 65 Malindi Elmore CAN 09:13:24 09:37:12 01:03:00 04:57:31 03:07:54 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (41)
4 52 Tine Deckers BEL 09:15:59 09:32:15 00:59:47 04:48:30 03:22:42 55% +6% -39% (20) 32
5 55 Lauren Brandon USA 09:16:24 09:40:19 00:50:17 04:55:16 03:25:51 59% +0% -41% (2) (44)
6 57 Michaela Herlbauer AUT 09:18:42 09:29:27 00:58:07 05:01:29 03:14:05 71% +18% -11% (7) 26
7 53 Haley Chura USA 09:20:14 09:39:36 00:50:49 05:02:58 03:21:27 64% +14% -22% (9) (44)
8 61 Maja Stage Nielsen DEN 09:24:14 09:48:29 01:00:29 05:00:38 03:18:07 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (57)
9 60 Celine Schaerer SUI 09:29:11 09:42:04 00:52:43 05:06:32 03:24:56 86% +0% -14% (7) 48
10 56 Amber Ferreira USA 09:31:19 09:57:43 00:57:45 05:03:06 03:25:29 44% +15% -41% (17) 73
11 63 Kirsty Jahn CAN 09:31:41 10:02:13 01:01:06 05:12:27 03:13:08 32% +0% -68% (2) (82)
12 74 Darbi Roberts USA 09:31:55 09:49:55 00:55:46 05:08:09 03:23:00 64% +0% -36% (7) 60
13 59 Jodie Robertson USA 09:33:53 09:52:38 01:06:02 05:10:18 03:12:34 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (68)
14 64 Nikki Bartlett GBR 09:34:09 09:55:09 01:02:08 05:01:00 03:26:02 100% +0% -0% (2) (71)
15 54 Alicia Kaye USA 09:38:27 09:51:35 00:54:07 05:04:12 03:35:08 100% +0% -0% (2) (66)
16 62 Jessica Jones Meyers USA 09:41:15 10:06:13 01:00:54 05:06:44 03:28:37 100% +0% -0% (5) (90)
17 72 Leslie DiMichele Miller USA 09:41:21 10:02:05 01:00:10 05:15:31 03:20:40 73% +0% -27% (5) 81
18 70 Mackenzie Madison USA 09:41:48 10:03:03 01:01:46 05:05:19 03:29:42 35% +7% -58% (13) 83
19 58 Shiao-yu Li TWN 09:45:38 09:58:45 01:07:52 05:10:20 03:22:26 56% +17% -27% (13) 75
20 68 Caroline Livesey GBR 09:51:47 10:06:41 01:03:33 05:09:53 03:33:22 68% +0% -32% (7) 90
21 66 Annett Finger GER 09:54:58 10:10:59 01:03:19 05:12:43 03:33:56 92% +0% -8% (4) 99
22 73 Ashley Paulson USA 09:59:40 10:14:08 01:15:03 05:21:11 03:18:26 100% +0% -0% (3) 104
23 67 Erin Green USA 10:06:04 10:30:35 01:03:33 05:24:45 03:32:46 46% +54% -0% (2) (132)
24 69 Nicole Luse USA 10:19:22 10:45:29 01:11:49 05:32:52 03:29:41 48% +52% -0% (2) (144)
25 75 Francesca Sanjana GBR 10:37:39 11:05:04 01:08:34 05:27:06 03:56:59 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (149)

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

A lot of dark red in the “Expected Time” column and the winning percentages below show that there isn’t a clear favorite in the field. 2015 winner Matt Hanson is my top pick, but he only has a slim margin over last year’s second place finisher Matthew Russell who has been consistently on the podium in his last IM-distance races but hasn’t won an IM since 2012. Add in 2012 winner Jordan Rapp (always a contender for a top finish), the two sub-8 Brits Joe Skipper (likely disappointed with his 12th place from IM South Africa) and Will Clarke and veterans Ronnie Schildknecht and Bas Diederen and you end up with a list of potential winners that’s extremely long and could easily be extended!

  • Matt Hanson: 17% (5-1)
  • Matthew Russell: 15% (6-1)
  • Joe Skipper: 14% (6-1)
  • Ronnie Schildknecht: 12% (8-1)
  • Bas Diederen: 10% (9-1)
  • Will Clarke: 9% (10-1)
  • Jordan Rapp: 8% (12-1)

Female Race Participants

The situation on the female side is also anything but clear. Jocelyn McCauley has won her last two Ironman races in Mallorca and New Zealand, but she has only had seven weeks to freshen up and rebuild. Tine Deckers has had a crash in one of her recent prep races and it’s unclear wether she’ll be able to race. Kelly Williamson (winner in 2014) didn’t have the 70.3 results this season to build much confidence going into Texas – quite in contrast to Haley Chura who won 70.3 Buenos Aires but has to recover from traveling all the way to China for 70.3 Liuzhou. (Since the original post, Haley has withdrawn.)  So maybe it’s time for a surprise winner? Michi Herlbauer was probably an unknown in the US before this year (even though she was second at IM Austria in sub-9 last year), maybe her second place at 70.3 Texas helped her gain some new fans. Malindi Elmore has only raced one IM before – finishing third in Arizona in sub-9. Finally, Lauren Brandon has shown with her second place at IM Cozumel that she is more than “only” a fast swimmer over the IM-distance.

  • Jocelyn McCauley: 41% (1-1)
  • Tine Deckers: 17% (5-1)
  • Kelly Williamson: 15% (6-1)
  • Haley Chura: 9% (10-1)
  • Michaela Herlbauer: 8% (11-1)
  • Malindi Elmore: 2% (40-1)
  • Lauren Brandon: 2% (49-1)

Ironman South Africa 2017 – Analyzing Results

Race Conditions

Even if it was hot and windy, the conditions were quick this year: An adjustment of 8:21 was about five minutes quicker than last year which had been pretty typical for South Africa.

The winning time by Ben Hoffman of 7:58:40 was the first sub-8 finish ever in South Africa – even with the course changes last year this was a great new course record (the old fastest time was 8:05 by Raynard Tissink from 2011). Ben also posted a new run course record of 2:42:52, improving on the 2007 time by Gerrit Schellens. Nils Frommhold was also under both old course records, but was just a touch slower than Ben.

On the female side both Daniela and Kaisa finished sub-9 and were clearly under last year’s winning time, but the course records are still held by Chrissie Wellington from her 2011 win in 8:33 (including a 4:45 bike and a 2:52 marathon).

Male Race Results

As expected Cameron Wurf was leading on the bike, but when he lost some of his advantage towards the end of the bike leg, it was clear that he’d have a hard time to hold on to his lead on the run. Defending champion Ben Hoffman quickly went to the front on the marathon and even though Nils Frommhold was running strong and didn’t let Ben get away too far, he was never able to completely close the gap. In the end, Ben won by 50 seconds over Nils. Third place went to David McNamee who had the best run of the athletes in the second bike chase group, closely followed by South African Kyle Buckingham and Jan Van Berkel who were both having great days including strong marathons.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to exp. Prize Money KPR Points
1 Ben Hoffman USA 00:49:14 04:22:33 02:42:52 07:58:40 -19:14 US$ 30,000 4000
2 Nils Frommhold GER 00:49:05 04:22:31 02:43:43 07:59:30 -12:12 US$ 15,000 3400
3 David McNamee GBR 00:49:09 04:28:45 02:45:36 08:07:31 -10:07 US$ 8,000 2890
4 Kyle Buckingham ZAF 00:49:15 04:28:38 02:47:09 08:08:58 -21:27 US$ 6,500 2455
5 Jan Van Berkel SUI 00:49:12 04:28:41 02:50:46 08:12:35 -22:21 US$ 5,000 2090
6 Boris Stein GER 00:53:57 04:23:49 02:54:05 08:16:12 -00:48 US$ 3,500 1670
7 Frederik Van Lierde BEL 00:49:05 04:28:32 02:57:02 08:19:10 07:18 US$ 2,500 1335
8 Giulio Molinari ITA 00:49:07 04:28:34 02:59:16 08:21:09 01:25 US$ 2,000 1070
9 Andrej Vistica CRO 00:53:53 04:34:43 02:50:01 08:23:21 -09:20 US$ 1,500 855
10 James Cunnama ZAF 00:49:10 04:28:47 03:02:46 08:24:42 -01:34 US$ 1,000 685
11 Cameron Wurf AUS 00:49:13 04:20:11 03:11:44 08:25:31 -31:04 515
12 Joe Skipper GBR 00:53:59 04:32:04 02:57:57 08:28:46 04:13 385
13 Evert Scheltinga NED 00:49:12 04:28:40 03:08:59 08:31:04 n/a 290
14 Eneko Llanos ESP 00:49:19 04:28:31 03:11:44 08:34:15 16:35 215
15 Mario De Elias ARG 00:53:58 04:34:47 03:03:29 08:36:22 -07:15 160
16 Johann Ackermann GER 00:49:06 04:34:37 03:07:56 08:39:44 13:12 120
17 Roman Deisenhofer GER 00:49:18 04:33:46 03:15:34 08:43:30 -01:00 90
18 Josh Amberger AUS 00:48:02 04:29:29 03:23:11 08:44:41 n/a 70
19 Diego Van Looy BEL 01:05:44 04:46:28 02:51:42 08:49:32 09:01 50
20 Erik-Simon Strijk NED 00:53:54 04:34:39 03:27:10 09:00:36 21:10 40
21 Gerhard De Bruin ZAF 00:55:46 04:53:50 03:13:00 09:07:31 -16:55 25
22 Freddy Lampret ZAF 00:55:50 04:53:26 03:58:22 09:52:28 42:16 25
23 Emanuele Ciotti ITA 00:53:56 04:58:15 03:54:46 09:53:08 32:22 25
24 Petr Vabrousek CZE 01:00:07 05:41:27 03:11:04 09:59:52 54:39 25
25 Valentin Zasypkin RUS 01:12:27 05:23:03 03:33:42 10:13:45 -32:17 25
Carlos Aznar Gallego ESP DNF
Christian Kramer GER 00:49:10 04:37:07 DNF
Jens Petersen-Bach DEN 00:49:11 04:42:34 DNF
Fredrik Baeckson SWE 00:56:28 04:46:25 DNF
Balazs Csoke HUN 00:49:02 04:55:57 DNF
Greg Close USA 00:59:42 04:56:49 DNF
Harry Wiltshire GBR 00:48:05 05:17:49 DNF
Ivan Risti ITA 00:49:11 DNF
Vinicius Canhedo BRA 00:53:51 DNF
Victor Del Corral ESP 00:53:55 DNF
Toumy Degham FRA 00:54:00 DNF
Bekim Christensen DEN 01:05:14 DNF

Female Race Results

When Daniela Ryf was second out of the water (same time as Kate Comber) it looked like another start-to-finish win for her. But then Kaisa Lehtonen, Susie Cheetham and Julia Gajer were able to overtake her and build a two-minute lead towards the 90k mark. After the race Daniela revealed that she had back issues and almost didn’t start. After about three hours the pain eased and Daniela was able to take the lead in the second half of the bike, posting the fastest bike split of the day. She also posted a 2:57 marathon – the fastest run of the day – and won in 8:47. Kaisa Lehtonen also had a strong run and though she was five minutes back it never looked as if Daniela could just cruise home. Kaisa improved on her winning 9:06 finish from last year by more than 14 minutes. Third place went to Susie Cheetham who finished on the podium for the third time in three years of racing South Africa. When Julia Gajer started to struggle on the run (she had to dig deep to at least be able to finish the race), there were eight athletes within a few minutes close to the finish line – in the end there were five minutes between 4th and 11th place. Astrid Stienen had the most even race, she rode a 5:01 and was able to run a 3:16 marathon, just 22 seconds in front of Gurutze Frades in fifth.

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time Diff to exp. Prize Money KPR Points
1 Daniela Ryf SUI 00:53:48 04:50:50 02:57:27 08:47:02 06:07 US$ 30,000 4000
2 Kaisa Lehtonen FIN 00:55:29 04:53:03 02:59:10 08:52:26 -12:17 US$ 15,000 3400
3 Susie Cheetham GBR 00:53:56 04:57:43 03:08:36 09:04:49 -02:43 US$ 8,000 2890
4 Astrid Stienen GER 01:01:07 05:01:42 03:16:52 09:24:37 05:58 US$ 6,500 2455
5 Gurutze Frades Larralde ESP 01:00:37 05:11:20 03:08:02 09:24:59 -16:30 US$ 5,000 2090
6 Katja Konschak GER 00:53:57 05:09:48 03:15:01 09:25:40 -16:42 US$ 3,500 1670
7 Alexandra Tondeur BEL 00:58:37 05:08:06 03:13:09 09:26:29 -06:12 US$ 2,500 1335
8 Jeanne Collonge FRA 00:59:47 05:04:58 03:16:09 09:27:18 -12:03 US$ 2,000 1070
9 Nikki Bartlett GBR 00:58:40 05:03:09 03:19:59 09:27:49 -14:47 US$ 1,500 855
10 Katharina Grohmann GER 01:10:04 05:05:47 03:08:56 09:29:20 -19:07 US$ 1,000 685
11 Ariane Monticeli BRA 00:58:45 05:13:11 03:11:48 09:29:27 -06:42 515
12 Kate Comber GBR 00:53:48 05:15:47 03:31:24 09:47:44 01:57 385
13 Manon Genet FRA 00:58:44 05:03:36 03:42:29 09:50:32 n/a 290
14 Diane Luethi SUI 00:58:34 05:17:12 03:31:51 09:52:50 05:41 215
15 Lina-Kristin Schink GER 01:11:31 05:24:17 03:14:13 09:54:47 -06:42 160
16 Julia Gajer GER 00:53:54 04:55:58 04:00:13 09:55:08 47:56 120
17 Jenny Fletcher CAN 00:58:41 05:20:59 03:33:14 09:59:27 12:01 90
18 Steph Corker CAN 01:01:41 05:27:35 03:28:32 10:04:18 n/a 70
Natascha Schmitt GER 00:58:43 05:15:21 DNF
Kristin Moeller GER 01:06:23 05:09:18 DNF
Dimity-Lee Duke AUS 00:58:37 05:25:19 DNF
Danielle Mack USA 01:06:12 05:34:36 DNF
Carolin Lehrieder GER 00:58:29 DNF
Kirsty Jahn CAN 00:58:33 DNF
Annah Watkinson ZAF 00:58:39 DNF
Helena Herrero Gomez ESP 01:09:05 DNF

Kona Qualifying

The points from IM South Africa allowed a number of athletes to improve their chances for Kona qualifying.

Male Slots

The following athletes have secured their Kona slots:

  • Ben Hoffman (Automatic Qualifier as a Regional Champion)
  • Frederik Van Lierde (Automatic Qualifier as a previous Kona champion, he had already validated)
  • Boris Stein (safe with 5.920 points)
  • David McNamee (safe with 4.790 points)
Nils Frommhold is on the bubble, another 70.3 race should be enough to secure the remaining points he still needs. Kyle Buckingham needs at least another 500 points, he probably needs another Ironman race.

Female Slots

The following athletes have secured their Kona slots:

  • Daniela Ryf (Automatic Qualifier as a previous Kona champion and winner of a Regional Championship)
  • Kaisa Lehtonen (safe with 9.495 points)
  • Astrid Stienen (safe with 5.495 points)

Susie Cheetham has improved her total to 3.480 points, she will likely have to race another Ironman to secure a Kona slot.

Strength of Field

One of the questions I’m often asked is how the fields in a races compares to that of another race (or year) and which one was stronger. I have tried a few different approaches but couldn’t quite figure out how to account for “super stars” in a race and at the same time for the “depth” of the field or “how close” the race is going to be.

As there are no races this weekend I’ve taken another stab at this question. This time I have come up with a relatively simple system that nonetheless yields some good results. This post contains a description of the system, my analysis of the strength for the 2016 IM-distance races and a look forward to the 2017 races.

Points System

For each athlete in a race, I’m assigning a simple points value:

  • 1 point for each athlete that has raced the previous Kona race (so for the 2016 races athletes that have raced Kona 2015),
  • 0.5 points for each athlete that hasn’t raced the previous Kona race but the year before (so for the 2016 races athletes that haven’t raced Kona 2015 but Kona 2014),
  • 0.5 points for each athlete that hasn’t raced Kona the two previous years but who has a rating that places them in the Top 50 (for new promising athletes that haven’t had a chance to race Kona yet, athletes that have declined their Kona slot or athletes that decided to focus on other races).

Based on this scheme, each athlete counts for either a full, a half or no points. (Because Ironman still keeps the female Kona Pro field smaller than the male field, this leads to lower scores for the female fields. I will adjust for this inequality when comparing each field against the typical Kona field in the next section.)

In addition, there are bonus points for having done well in Kona in the past:

  • 1 bonus point for an athlete that has won Kona in the past
  • 0.5 points for an athlete that has finished on the podium in Kona before

For example, Frederik Van Lierde or Daniela Ryf count for two points in the 2016 races: One point because they have raced Kona 2015 (no “extra” points for having raced there in 2014 as well), and one bonus point as they have won Kona (regardless of how often or how long in the past).

Of course you could make this a lot more complicated by coming up with additional points and bonus points for other things, but for now I consider this simple system to be “good enough”.

Comparing Against Kona

The first observation is how much stronger Kona is compared to all the other races:

  • After the introduction of the KPR (limiting the Pro field sizes), the female Kona fields have about 40 points (2016: 40.5 points), the male fields around 55 points (2016: 56.5 points). This is pretty consistent with the number of slots (females: 35 plus 5 Regional Champs, male: 50 plus 5), so you the typical “turnover” (new athletes qualifying for Kona) is offset by the previous winners and podium finishers.
  • Even the strongest non-Kona IM-distance races start have a score of less than 20 points – the 2016 race with the most points was the male field at IM Germany with 17.5 points.

In order to account for the different points available for male and female fields, I calculate a “Kona Strength” for each male and female race by dividing their points by the “typical” Kona points (40 for the females and 55 for the males).

Based on this simple scaling, the strongest 2016 fields were:

  • for the males: IM Germany at 32% Kona strength (results)
  • for the females: IM New Zealand at 25% Kona strength (results)
This “scaling” also creates a meaningful interpretation of the strength  of a field: For IM Germany it means that roughly a third of the male Kona field was racing in Frankfurt, and about a quarter of the female Kona field in New Zealand.

Male Races

Here’s a closer look at the strength for the 2016 long distance male fields:

MenStrength

(Regular Ironman races are shown in blue, Regional Championships in green and Challenge races and the ITU long-distance championship in yellow.)

For the men the best fields are racing in the Regional Championships: IM Germany, IM Texas, IM South Africa and IM Cairns have had the four best 2016 fields (Kona strength between 32% and 25%). IM Brasil wasn’t quite on a similar level, but 15% Kona strength is still better than almost all other “regular” Ironman races.

Challenge Roth (16%) and the ITU Long Distance Champs (15%) also had strong fields while some of the smaller IMs weren’t able to generate much interest among Kona level athletes.

Female Races

Here’s a closer look at the strength for the 2016 long distance female fields:

FemaleStrength

(As for the men, regular Ironman races are shown in blue, Regional Championships in green and Challenge races and the ITU long-distance championship in yellow.)

Interestingly, the strongest field of the year (of course outside of Kona) wasn’t in a Regional Championship but at IM New Zealand – lots of Kona racers started their season early in the year, and Mareen Hufe finished in 7th place with a time of 9:16 – a time usually good enough to win the race or at least finish on the podium. For more details on New Zealand, have a look at my results analysis.

Most of the Regional Championships were able to draw strong fields: South Africa, Brasil and Germany had a Kona strength between 20% and 16%, and only Cairns (with a relatively small field) fell off a bit with 9%. Challenge Roth had a female field comparable to the Ironman Regional Championships, their 2016 female field (18% Kona strength) was slightly stronger than the field in Frankfurt.

2017 Races

The first long-distance races of this year have already been raced, and while the fields at Challenge Wanaka had similar Kona strength as last year, IM New Zealand wasn’t quite able to hold on to their great field strength from last year: The female field was at 18% and the male field at 12%. It seems that the strong 2016 fields led to some athletes making different plans for this season.

With the start lists for the first 2017 races, we can calculate the Kona strength of the fields:

  • Ironman South Africa (start lists and seedings): female Kona strength: 40%, male Kona strength: 37%
  • Ironman Texas (entry lists): female Kona strength: 24%, male Kona strength: 32%

Of course the fields and the corresponding numbers are still preliminary (for example not all the athletes registered for both races will do Texas if South Africa isn’t a complete disaster, also the Texas list isn’t closed yet). But the South Africa number seems quite firm and if they end up anywhere close to where they are now, the fields would already be stronger than for any race in 2016. I can’t wait for the racing season to start!

Ironman South Africa 2017 (April 2nd) – Seedings

IMSA_LogoWith Ironman South Africa, the first Regional Championship of 2017 is coming up, offering direct Kona slots for the winners. The resulting fields are very strong, both defending Champions Kaisa Lehtonen and Ben Hoffman are back. On the male side we have the three last winners (Nils Frommhold, Frederik Van Lierde and Ben Hoffmann), on the female side we have Kona winner Daniela Ryf and three of the five Regional Champions from last year (Kaisa Lehtonen, Julia Gajer who won IM Texas and Jodie Cunnama who won IM Cairns).

Update March 28th: Jodie Cunnama announced she won’t be racing “for health reasons”.

Update March 27th: On Twitter Rachel McBride said “Wish I was there! Alas not racing”.

Update March 17th: Mareen Hufe (planning to race IM Brasil) and Laura Siddall won’t be racing.

Update March 20th: Alessandro Degasperi has announced on his blog he’ll focus on IM Lanzarote.

Previous Winners

Year Male Winner Time Female Winner Time
2006 Gerrit Schellens (BEL) 08:36:06 Natascha Badmann (SUI) 09:46:38
2007 Gerrit Schellens (BEL) 08:33:05 Natascha Badmann (SUI) 09:22:01
2008 Stephen Bayliss (GBR) 08:18:23 Bella Bayliss (GBR) 09:27:48
2009 Marino Vanhoenacker (BEL) 08:17:32 Lucie Reed (CZE) 09:16:32
2010 Raynard Tissink (ZAF) 08:23:28 Sonja Tajsich (GER) 09:16:55
2011 Raynard Tissink (ZAF) 08:05:36 Chrissie Wellington (GBR) 08:33:56
2012 Clemente Alonso McKernan (ESP) 08:34:45 Natascha Badmann (SUI) 09:47:10
2013 Ronnie Schildknecht (SUI) 08:11:24 Jessie Donavan (USA) 09:10:58
2014 Nils Frommhold (GER) 08:26:07 Simone Braendli (SUI) 09:31:54
2015 Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) 08:16:35 Jodie Cunnama (GBR) 09:26:56
2016 Ben Hoffman (USA) 08:12:37 Kaisa Lehtonen (FIN) 09:06:50

Last Year’s TOP 3

Male Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time
1 Ben Hoffman USA 00:52:58 04:29:36 02:45:50 08:12:37
2 Tim Van Berkel AUS 00:50:00 04:32:33 02:48:15 08:14:51
3 Marko Albert EST 00:49:37 04:30:53 02:54:19 08:18:52

Female Race Results

Rank Name Nation Swim Bike Run Time
1 Kaisa Lehtonen FIN 00:58:21 04:59:41 03:02:34 09:06:50
2 Susie Cheetham GBR 00:58:21 05:04:26 03:02:43 09:09:49
3 Lucy Gossage GBR 01:03:20 04:56:10 03:07:36 09:11:43

Course Records

Leg Gender Record Athlete Date
Total overall 08:05:36 Raynard Tissink 2011-04-10
Swim overall 00:45:22 Anton Storm 2009-04-05
Bike overall 04:19:41 Raynard Tissink 2011-04-10
Run overall 02:45:48 Gerrit Schellens 2007-03-18
Total female 08:33:56 Chrissie Wellington 2011-04-10
Swim female 00:47:40 Lucie Reed 2009-04-05
Bike female 04:45:23 Chrissie Wellington 2011-04-10
Run female 02:52:54 Chrissie Wellington 2011-04-10

Course Rating

The Course Rating for IM South Africa is 02:59.

Race Adjustments for IM South Africa

Year Adjustment Swim Adj. Bike Adj. Run Adj. # of Finishers Rating Swim Rating Bike Rating Run Rating
2006 01:35 -04:53 -01:53 -00:21 28 01:35 -04:53 -01:53 -00:21
2007 01:16 -08:52 03:31 00:49 33 01:26 -06:52 00:49 00:14
2008 15:32 01:13 11:14 04:15 36 06:08 -04:11 04:18 01:34
2009 17:18 02:09 10:45 -01:03 28 08:55 -02:36 05:54 00:55
2010 09:39 -00:15 08:15 01:15 34 09:04 -02:08 06:23 00:59
2011 15:31 00:13 14:40 01:56 36 10:08 -01:44 07:45 01:08
2012 -11:59 -08:35 -08:23 01:54 28 06:59 -02:43 05:27 01:15
2013 06:23 -01:17 11:20 03:07 36 of 44 06:54 -02:32 06:11 01:29
2014 -12:13 -01:05 -08:46 -02:56 29 of 40 04:47 -02:22 04:32 00:59
2015 -13:45 -00:47 -10:09 -00:57 49 of 61 02:56 -02:13 03:04 00:48
2016 03:32 -02:43 09:06 01:34 42 of 53 02:59 -02:16 03:37 00:52

KPR points and Prize Money

IM South Africa is a P-4000 race. It has a total prize purse of 150.000 US$.

Estimated Time Plan

The following table shows the time plan for the race start and the estimated times for the first athlete to end each leg or finish the race. The estimates are based on the start time and my time estimates, these times can change based on how fast or slow the race ends up:

What Racetime Local Time
Male Pro Start 06:30
Female Pro Start 06:35
Age Group Start 06:45
First Male Out of Water 00:50 07:20
First Female Out of Water 00:51 07:26
First Male End of Bike 05:21 11:51
First Female End of Bike 05:49 12:24
Male Winner 08:13 14:43
Female Winner 08:49 15:24

Port Elizabeth is on South Africa Standard Time, 2 hours ahead of UTC. Here are the conversions to a few other time zones:

  • +8 hours: Melbourne (AEST, DST ends on April 2nd)
  • -1 hour: United Kingdom (BST), race starts at 5:30
  • no change: Central Europe (CEST), race starts at 6:30
  • – 5 hours: US East Coast (EDT), race starts at 12:30am
  • – 8 hours: US West Coast (PDT), race starts at 9:30pm on Saturday

Male Race Participants

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Time Rating Exp. Swim Exp. Bike Exp. Run Consistency Overall
1 2 Frederik Van Lierde BEL 08:13:03 08:19:35 00:50:04 04:26:50 02:51:08 80% +9% -11% (22) 8
2 3 Nils Frommhold GER 08:15:45 08:19:07 00:49:53 04:26:42 02:54:10 83% +0% -17% (8) 6
3 1 Ben Hoffman USA 08:16:55 08:25:18 00:51:18 04:31:09 02:49:27 34% +50% -16% (18) 19
4 4 Boris Stein GER 08:20:51 08:24:41 00:54:49 04:29:07 02:51:54 65% +35% -0% (7) 15
5 8 Eneko Llanos ESP 08:23:55 08:25:37 00:50:21 04:29:04 02:59:30 90% +0% -10% (28) 21
6 10 David McNamee GBR 08:25:27 08:25:11 00:49:49 04:41:24 02:49:14 100% +0% -0% (5) 18
7 34 Joe Skipper GBR 08:27:12 08:34:59 00:56:35 04:34:05 02:51:32 32% +29% -40% (14) 48
8 28 Giulio Molinari ITA 08:29:44 08:42:52 00:51:47 04:30:32 03:02:25 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (77)
9 7 James Cunnama ZAF 08:29:55 08:34:05 00:51:37 04:36:20 02:56:57 57% +10% -33% (23) 38
10 5 Alessandro Degasperi ITA 08:30:31 08:35:14 00:53:18 04:42:44 02:49:28 73% +0% -27% (9) 50
11 6 Kyle Buckingham ZAF 08:31:17 08:43:10 00:50:53 04:33:35 03:01:50 62% +0% -38% (11) 78
12 13 Johann Ackermann GER 08:31:19 08:39:43 00:49:58 04:32:09 03:04:12 55% +0% -45% (8) 66
13 25 Christian Kramer GER 08:32:29 08:35:41 00:49:35 04:37:04 03:00:49 77% +7% -16% (19) 54
14 11 Jens Petersen-Bach DEN 08:33:30 08:34:21 00:53:04 04:43:40 02:51:45 63% +0% -37% (17) 42
15 9 Victor Del Corral ESP 08:34:55 08:39:39 00:57:59 04:41:12 02:50:44 51% +0% -49% (15) 65
16 24 Markus Fachbach GER 08:34:58 08:35:48 00:52:40 04:38:06 02:59:12 69% +1% -31% (20) 55
17 38 Jan Van Berkel SUI 08:36:22 08:47:47 00:51:53 04:37:15 03:02:14 56% +9% -35% (13) 92
18 40 Andrej Vistica CRO 08:36:24 08:40:28 00:55:30 04:39:12 02:56:43 83% +0% -17% (12) 71
19 31 Michael Ruenz GER 08:44:23 08:51:13 00:57:17 04:47:07 02:54:59 71% +0% -29% (9) 101
20 29 Ivan Risti ITA 08:46:21 09:04:06 00:50:42 04:46:30 03:04:09 39% +17% -44% (8) 154
21 23 Mario De Elias ARG 08:46:33 09:02:17 00:53:33 04:50:57 02:57:04 2% +54% -43% (7) 146
22 35 Erik-Simon Strijk NED 08:46:38 08:53:05 00:55:36 04:44:50 03:01:11 97% +3% -0% (8) 109
23 30 Roman Deisenhofer GER 08:48:15 08:57:56 00:55:06 04:40:25 03:07:43 32% +68% -0% (6) 126
24 12 Harry Wiltshire GBR 08:48:27 08:51:26 00:49:49 04:48:46 03:04:51 39% +26% -35% (18) 102
25 39 Diego Van Looy BEL 08:50:59 08:54:00 01:08:19 04:46:08 02:51:32 100% +0% -0% (3) 113
26 73 Cameron Wurf AUS 08:58:50 09:15:20 00:52:20 04:21:11 03:40:20 44% +56% -0% (2) (183)
27 21 Balazs Csoke HUN 08:58:59 09:03:32 00:50:01 04:52:33 03:11:26 47% +12% -41% (26) 152
28 26 Freddy Lampret ZAF 09:00:06 09:36:19 00:54:42 04:47:12 03:13:13 1% +30% -69% (9) (237)
29 37 Petr Vabrousek CZE 09:01:44 09:14:30 00:58:43 04:51:43 03:06:18 69% +1% -29% (96) 179
30 20 Greg Close USA 09:08:51 09:22:01 01:01:17 04:57:05 03:05:29 63% +0% -37% (7) (199)
31 22 Gerhard De Bruin ZAF 09:22:53 09:38:37 00:56:48 04:57:32 03:23:33 65% +35% -0% (5) 241
32 18 Bekim Christensen DEN 09:24:39 09:39:12 01:07:39 04:56:41 03:15:19 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (243)
33 15 Carlos Aznar Gallego ESP 09:27:03 09:41:39 01:06:27 05:06:47 03:08:48 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (246)
34 19 Emanuele Ciotti ITA 09:31:03 09:35:39 00:55:03 04:56:38 03:34:22 60% +0% -40% (5) 235
35 41 Valentin Zasypkin RUS 10:35:03 11:02:05 01:15:31 05:26:12 03:48:20 13% +23% -64% (5) (295)
36 33 Drew Scott USA 11:17:09 11:41:33 00:52:08 04:43:27 05:36:33 45% +0% -55% (2) (297)
14 Josh Amberger AUS n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (1 IM Pro race) (n/a)
16 Fredrik Baeckson SWE n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)
17 Vinicius Canhedo BRA n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)
32 Evert Scheltinga NED n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated 0% +0% -100% (2) (n/a)
36 Toumy Degham FRA n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (1 IM Pro race) (n/a)

Female Race Participants

 

Rank Bib Name Nation Expected Time Rating Exp. Swim Exp. Bike Exp. Run Consistency Overall
1 43 Daniela Ryf SUI 08:49:25 08:41:40 00:53:37 04:50:15 03:00:33 85% +0% -15% (9) 1
2 42 Kaisa Lehtonen FIN 09:10:40 09:12:57 00:58:02 05:05:14 03:02:23 100% +0% -0% (3) 4
3 44 Jodie Cunnama GBR 09:11:43 09:19:34 00:50:53 04:58:51 03:16:59 52% +0% -48% (12) 11
4 45 Susie Cheetham GBR 09:11:52 09:21:32 00:57:29 05:08:02 03:01:21 69% +0% -31% (5) 14
5 46 Julia Gajer GER 09:17:04 09:21:58 00:55:35 05:08:38 03:07:51 60% +0% -40% (12) (15)
6 47 Astrid Stienen GER 09:23:18 09:27:23 01:01:27 05:02:42 03:14:09 35% +28% -36% (10) 21
7 53 Laura Siddall GBR 09:23:29 09:32:32 01:00:04 05:02:08 03:16:16 63% +30% -7% (10) 33
8 48 Mareen Hufe GER 09:29:17 09:30:03 01:03:33 05:02:02 03:18:42 76% +15% -8% (23) 28
9 68 Danielle Mack USA 09:37:51 09:44:37 01:04:43 05:19:19 03:08:48 52% +20% -28% (8) 54
10 52 Kristin Moeller GER 09:40:14 09:42:40 01:06:39 05:25:55 03:02:41 80% +8% -12% (21) 51
11 49 Annah Watkinson ZAF 09:40:46 09:44:35 01:01:09 05:15:17 03:19:19 100% +0% -0% (3) 53
12 64 Kirsty Jahn CAN 09:41:16 09:56:15 01:01:49 05:24:18 03:10:09 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (72)
13 65 Katja Konschak GER 09:42:18 09:51:07 00:56:14 05:25:21 03:15:42 42% +28% -30% (18) 63
14 74 Ariane Monticeli BRA 09:42:58 09:44:58 01:04:36 05:20:56 03:12:26 52% +18% -29% (16) 56
15 69 Rachel McBride CAN 09:42:59 09:58:00 00:59:09 05:07:10 03:31:40 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (76)
16 72 Alexandra Tondeur BEL 09:43:30 09:41:27 01:03:59 05:20:50 03:13:41 100% +0% -0% (3) 47
17 60 Dimity-Lee Duke AUS 09:43:48 09:42:24 01:02:54 05:16:16 03:19:38 83% +17% -0% (11) 50
18 71 Natascha Schmitt GER 09:43:53 09:57:04 00:57:09 05:12:21 03:29:23 44% +31% -25% (7) 73
19 50 Gurutze Frades Larralde ESP 09:44:05 09:50:13 01:04:31 05:21:33 03:13:00 34% +39% -27% (7) 61
20 59 Camille Deligny FRA 09:46:42 09:56:35 01:05:10 05:05:06 03:31:26 100% +0% -0% (2) (72)
21 66 Carolin Lehrieder GER 09:47:19 10:02:14 00:58:10 05:19:25 03:24:44 38% +14% -49% (8) 82
22 56 Jeanne Collonge FRA 09:47:39 09:54:01 01:01:46 05:11:44 03:29:09 50% +5% -45% (10) 68
23 51 Katharina Grohmann GER 09:52:11 10:03:14 01:14:04 05:16:31 03:16:36 100% +0% -0% (14) 84
24 54 Nikki Bartlett GBR 09:54:00 10:09:18 01:06:16 05:17:38 03:25:05 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (95)
25 67 Diane Luethi SUI 09:56:21 10:08:18 00:57:56 05:22:37 03:30:48 100% +0% -0% (2) (94)
26 57 Kate Comber GBR 09:57:34 10:00:50 00:56:51 05:25:21 03:30:23 100% +0% -0% (3) 78
27 61 Jenny Fletcher CAN 09:59:20 10:14:47 00:59:15 05:22:14 03:32:51 n/a (1 IM Pro race) (104)
28 70 Lina-Kristin Schink GER 10:09:34 10:16:48 01:15:23 05:20:25 03:28:46 83% +0% -17% (7) 107
29 55 Rahel Bellinga NED 10:12:34 10:32:18 01:08:48 05:13:20 03:45:27 71% +21% -8% (7) 134
30 63 Helena Herrero Gomez ESP 10:15:44 10:27:56 01:02:51 05:44:14 03:23:39 50% +0% -50% (7) 125
58 Steph Corker CAN n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)
62 Manon Genet FRA n/a unrated unrated unrated unrated n/a (no IM Pro race) (n/a)

Winning Odds

Male Race Participants

The male race has two favorites – the winners from the last two years. Frederik Van Lierde had a fantastic race in Port Elizabeth in 2015, but Ben might have the momentum after a great 2016 season. Nils Frommhold is the 2014 winner, he’s looking for a good result after a frustrating 2016 season cut short by another stress fracture. Boris Stein needs just a finish for a Kona slot, but as last year he’ll be racing aggressively to test for any weaknesses to work on over the summer.

  • Frederik Van Lierde: 33% (2-1)
  • Ben Hoffman: 32% (2-1)
  • Nils Frommhold: 21% (4-1)
  • Boris Stein: 9% (10-1)

There is a number of other strong contenders not shown in the above list, for example I expect Eneko Llanos, Joe Skipper and David McNamee to contend for a podium spot.

Female Race Participants

There can’t be any discussion that two-time Kona champion Daniela Ryf has to be the favorite, even if the race is early in her season. Jodie Cunnama is likely to be leading after the swim, it’ll be interesting to see if she tries to go with Daniela on the bike, trying to reclaim her 2015 title that she lost after crashing under dubious circumstances last year. Kaisa Lehtonen has proven in Kona that her win at IM South Africa in 2016 wasn’t a “fluke result”, I’m looking forward to see her race after deciding to be coached by Siri Lindley last fall.

  • Daniela Ryf: 69% (1-1)
  • Kaisa Lehtonen: 15% (6-1)
  • Jodie Cunnama: 7% (14-1)

Susie Cheetham (3rd in 2015, 2nd in 2016, so what’s in store for 2017?) should be in the mix for at least a podium spot, and I expect a number of German athletes such as Julia Gajer, Astrid Stienen or Mareen Hufe (more likely to racing IM Brasil) to have some good early season form as well. Laura Siddall has already raced two IM-distance races in New Zealand, I’d be surprised to see her on the start line, but watch out for her if she is! (Laura has withdrawn from racing IM South Africa.)

Ironman Australia 2017 (May 7th) – Entry List

At this point, the list is not final yet: Pro athletes have until April 16th to register for the race.

Last Updated: March 21st

  • March 21st: Added Michelle Gailey, Jessica Richards, Laura Siddall, Karen Thibodeau, David Dellow, Clayton Fettell, and Michael Fox

Male Race Participants

Name Nation KPR points KPR races
Nick Baldwin SEY 1790 2+2 (405/15)
Michael Fox AUS 725 1+1
Levi Maxwell AUS 625 2+1
David Dellow AUS 520 1+1
Clayton Fettell AUS 490 1+2 (170/140)
Paul Ambrose AUS 320 0+2 (0/140)
Carl Read NZL 105 2+0

Female Race Participants

Name Nation KPR points KPR races
Laura Siddall GBR 4360 2+2 (1280/640)
Linsey Corbin USA 2415 1+2 (1900/100)
Karen Thibodeau CAN 80 0+1
Michelle Gailey AUS
Lauren Parker AUS
Jessica Richards AUS
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