The fourth and final World Para Series event of 2023 took place in Swansea at the weekend. With the World Para Cup in Long Beach coinciding with the competition, some athletes were forced into strategic choices over where to race to maximise their points.
However, inclement weather meant that the racing in Swansea had to be switched to an aquathlon at the last minute. As a result, the points on offer were reduced by 25%.
The switch also affected the racing itself. With the 20km bike removed, a 750m swim and a 5km run were the remaining disciplines to the chagrin of some of the stronger cyclists.
One athlete’s misfortune proved another’s opportunity, though, and two rising stars claimed their first ever wins in the World Para Series. At the same time, several familiar faces took their customary places atop the podium.
PTVI
One such familiar face was Dave Ellis. The defending world champion had no issues in securing the win in Swansea.
He led the way out of the water with a 9:44 split although his compatriot Oscar Kelly closed the gap in T1. The threat of Kelly proved fleeting as Ellis ran to victory with a field-leading 16:25 5km. The young Brit nonetheless had a very impressive race as he held off the challenge of Thibaut Rigaudeau on the run to seal the silver medal. The Frenchman ended up claiming bronze.
If the men’s race had produced an expected result, the women’s PTVI race was a different matter altogether.
Susana Rodriguez of Spain was heavily favoured coming into Swansea. Like Ellis, she won the world title last season. Such has been her level of dominance, Rodriguez last lost a raced she finished in April 2019.
To call it an upset, then, when Francesca Tarantello, an athlete fourteen years younger than Rodriguez, crossed the line first does not quite do it justice.
Tarantello started well with a speedy 10:27 swim. Although Rodriguez out-split her on the run, the Italian did enough to claim a first World Para Series win. It should be noted that the loss of the bike seemed to hurt Rodriguez. Nevertheless, nothing should be taken away from Tarantello’s performance.
She deserves plenty of acclaim for being the first athlete to beat Rodriguez in over four years and will likely be her closest rival at the world championships in September.
Meanwhile, Heloise Courvoisier backed up her bronze medal in Montreal with another 3rd place.
PTWC
Jetze Plat cruised to victory over his compatriot Geert Schipper in the men’s PTWC race.
He was the only man under 10 minutes in the swim (clocking 9:32) and commanded a healthy lead out of transition. Schipper came back at him with a 12:34 run split (to Plat’s 12:53) but Plat still won by 37 seconds.
Louis Noel of France earned the bronze medal.
Mona Francis triumphed in a blow-out victory in the women’s race. She led out the swim in a time of 11:11 and no one came close to her for the rest of the race.
Jessice Ferreia dropped the fastest run split of the field to overhaul Melissa Nicholls and take the silver medal. Finishing only 12 seconds after the Brazilian, Nicholls settled for bronze.
PTS
The men’s PTS2 event saw one of the tightest races of the day unfold as several men put themselves in a position to potentially win.
Mark Barr led the way in the water and developed a lead of 18 seconds. A trio of Jules Ribstein, Wim De Paepe and Lionel Morales all lurked within striking distance and started to move up out of T1.
However, Geoffrey Wersy, one of the pre-race favourites, emerged from the water 3 minutes down. With no bike leg to recoup his losses, he faced an uphill challenge. Likewise, Maurits Morsink lost over 5 minutes on swim. Whereas he had used a mammoth bike split to regain time and ultimately win in Montreal, he was deprived the chance to repeat his move in Swansea.
Even though Morsink had fastest run of the field (18:13), it was only enough for 6th place. Wersy also clocked a time of 19:17 but that only lifted him to 4th place.
At the front, Ribstein managed to pass Barr and ran away to the win. As De Paepe fell behind, Morales tried to close the gap to the American. However, Barr managed to out-split the Spaniard by a solitary second and held onto 2nd place. Morales crossed 11 seconds later in 3rd place.
Daniel Molina led throughout to win the men’s PTS3 race.
Nico Van Der Burgt had been only 8 seconds back in swim but had no answer to Molina on run. He therefore settled for silver having won the race in Montreal a week prior. Max Gelhaar then rounded out the podium in 3rd.
In the PTS4 category, it was another race, another win, for Alexis Hanquinquant.
He popped a 9:30 swim split and then a 16:40 5km, both of which were the best of the field, to win with ease. His teammate, Pierre-Antoine Baele, had a great race to take the silver medal while Carson Clough came home in 3rd place.
The men’s PTS5 race was a game of cat-and-mouse, much like the PTS2 event.
Filipe Marques struck ahead in the water with a 9:35 split. A group consisting of Martin Schulz, Jack Howell, Ronan Cordeiro and Ugurcan Ozer were all close together out of the water, with a little over 10 seconds covering the quartet.
A slow T1 for Marques put Schulz and Cordeiro right on his heels. Gradually, the pulled away from the Portuguese athlete, leaving Howell and Ozer to try to pass him.
Schulz moved clear of Cordeiro to seal a smooth win by 28 seconds.
Marques, meanwhile, saw off the challenge of Howell and Ozer behind to take the bronze medal.
In the women’s PTS5 race, Grace Norman made it four wins in a row in 2023. More importantly, she beat the Tokyo Paralympic champion, Lauren Steadman for the third straight race.
Norman had the fastest swim and run in the field to ultimately take the win with ease. Steadman, though, found herself in a battle with her fellow Brit, Claire Cashmore.
Only 3 seconds separated the pair in the swim but Cashmore managed to add another 5 seconds to her lead in transition. Then, on the run, Steadman could not find a way to eat into Cashmore’s lead. Cashmore therefore crossed the line to take 2nd place and a big win over her vaunted compatriot.
Steadman crossed 10 seconds later to finish 3rd.
One of the biggest talking points of the weekend came in the women’s PTS4 event.
Emma Meyers, born in 2006, left Swansea with her first World Para Series gold medal around her neck after a fabulous display. She had a difficult swim, losing 2 minutes 9 seconds to the home favourite Hannah Moore in the swim. Meyers, though, did not panic.
Instead, she ran down Moore to take the win in style.
The youngest athlete in the entire competition, Meyers had been building to this kind of result. Last season, she capped her first international season with an 8th place at the world championships. To kick off 2023, she finished 2nd at the World Para Series race in Devonport. A bronze in Yokohama and another silver in Montreal followed.
A win, then, seemed to be on the cards at some point. To achieve it so young, though, was a little unexpected. With a few more years to develop, she could dominate the class.
Kendra Herber rounded out the podium in 3rd place.
Elise Marc won the PTS3 race, beating her only competitor, Sanne Koopman, by over 10 minutes and Alyssa Seely won the PTS2 race. Anu Francis took the silver medal behind Seely while Cécile Saboureau won the bronze medal.
You can view the full results here.
