Swim
Matthew Hauser was a man on a mission in the swim at WTCS Pontevedra. He took control of the race early on and led for practically the entirety of the 1500. He was the first man out of the water and the only one to dip under 18 minutes; his final time was 17:57.
Much of the drama that followed came from Hauser stretching the field. The likes of Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde lost around 50 seconds to the Australian which changed the complexion of the race and, by extension, the Series.
Pierre Le Corre and Jonas Schomburg were the next fastest swimmers and hit a round 18:00. Henri Schoeman and Kenji Nener then followed in 18:02 while the race winner, Dorian Coninx, was the sixth man out in 18:03.
Csongor Lehmann and Tom Richard were on Coninx’s feet in 18:04. Leo Bergere then made sure that all four Frenchmen made the top-10 out of the water as he swam 18:05. Matching Bergere’s time was Alois Knabl as they completed the top-10.
The women’s swim turned into quite the battle at the front of the race as a handful of swimmers pushed to exit first.
Maya Kingma was fast throughout while Bianca Sergeni performed to her standard high levels. In the end, though, it was Olivia Mathias that led the way. The British athlete clocked 19:42.
Right behind her were Seregni, Kingma and Sophie Coldwell in 19:43. Summer Rappaport had been in the mix throughout and completed the 1500m in 19:44. In doing so, she continued her outstanding record in the water in Olympic distance WTCS races.
Vittoria Lopes was the next woman out in 18:45 and Minori Ikeno followed 1 second later. After a strong second lap, Taylor Spivey moved up the field to complete the course in 18:48.
Cassandre Beaugrand and Sophie Linn then rounded out the top-10 in 18:49. For Beaugrand, the swim went almost as well as she could have hoped as she gained crucial seconds over her world title rival, Beth Potter. It would not prove enough but her race certainly got off to a promising start.
Bike
The European Super Sprint champion, Ricardo Batista, gave a full demonstration of his strength on the bike as he logged the fastest split of the day. He completed the 39.6km course in 52:34.
Dylan McCullough was the next fastest man in 52:38 while Jonathan Brownlee and Brandon Copeland pursued in 52:39.
Lasse Lührs and Miguel Hidalgo clocked 52:41 on their way to positions inside the top-6 at the finish line. Marten Van Riel then produced a split of 18:42.
Gianluca Pozzatti managed a time of 45 and Morgan Pearson stopped the clock at 52:47. Vasco Vilaca and Tyler Mislawchuk then completed the top-10 splits in 52:48.
The top women’s bike splits reflect the massive effort made by the chase pack to whittle down the gap to the leaders over the second half of the bike.
Nina Eim was the fastest rider and one of only two women under 58 minutes. She completed the course in 57:53. Julie Derron was the next fastest athlete in 57:58.
Noelia Juan managed a time of 58:00 which set her up for a personal best WTCS finish. Right with her was her compatriot, Miriam Casillas Garcia, who rode a time of 58:02. Eva Goodisson and Melanie Santos were the next quickest women in 58:03 and 58:05, respectively.
Kate Waugh produced the best split of the front pack in 58:09. Like Juan, her efforts on the bike were later rewarded with a best ever finish.
Kirsten Kasper, Yuko Takahashi and Lizeth Rueda Santos then made up the rest of the top-10 splits as they all recorded 58:10.
Run
The men’s run was a nail-biting affair. In addition to four men being in contention for the win going into the finish, Hayden Wilde was flying through the field and threatened to overcome a challenging day and claim the world title.
The three medallists were ultimately separated by only 2 seconds when it came to the 10km splits. The silver medallist, Tim Hellwig, had the best split of the day in 29:44. Pierre Le Corre then followed in 29:45.
The race winner, Coninx, actually had the third fastest split in 29:46. Crucially, though, he had the best sprint of the leading trio.
In the final kilometre, Leo Bergere faded a little and fell back to 4th place with a split of 29:55. Wilde was right behind with a time of 29:57. Having served a 15 second penalty during the run, Wilde was technically the fastest man on the course in terms of moving time. However, the balance between his split and that of the medallists highlights just how well the leading trio ran.
Lasse Nygaard Priester came close to dipping under the 30 minute barrier in 30:03. He did, however, out-split his compatriot, Lührs. Lührs completed the course in 30:09 to take 5th place and confirm his place on the German Olympic team.
Alex Yee concluded a difficult day with a 30:12 split. In a tale of contrasting fortunes, Hidalgo almost matched Yee’s split (hitting 30:13) yet will be infinitely happier with his result. In finishing 6th, Hidalgo matched his best ever WTCS performances.
Antonio Serrat Seoane was then the tenth fastest runner in 30:16 having spent much of the run pacing Yee.
Beth Potter was imperious over the run in Pontevedra. On the first lap, she distanced her world title rival, Beaugrand. Emma Lombardi was eventually dispatched and then finally Potter cut loose from Waugh to seal her victory. In a superbly paced effort, she completed the course in 33:26.
Waugh was the next quickest woman in 33:44 as she unloaded perhaps the best run of her career. Lisa Tertsch then followed in 33:53. Like Wilde, Tertsch served a 15 second penalty during the run. Whereas Wilde served his at the end of the first lap, Tertsch opted to serve hers at the end of the race.
Even with the penalty, she managed to out-split Beaugrand by 1 second as the French athlete clocked 33:54.
Rachel Klamer was the final woman under 34 minutes as she hit 33:59 in her best WTCS performance of the season.
Derron put together a 34:09 split to earn yet another top-8 finish in the Series. Having kept pace with Potter and Waugh for much of the run, Lombardi drifted behind at the end and finished with a 34:18 split.
Coldwell and Juan were the next quickest women in 34:19 and 34:20. Claire Michel then rounded out the top-10 splits in 34:25.
