The Australian team dominated the latest Asia Cup in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, coming away with the wins in both the men’s and women’s events.
The races took place in difficult conditions, with the searing heat proving an issue for some. Although the athletes only had to tackle the Sprint distance, the heat made the challenge considerably sterner.
Men’s race
Lachlan Jones of Australia got out to a great start in the water. Jones clocked 7:47 for the 750m sea swim and earned a solid lead. His compatriot Chris Meegan was the next man out, 8 seconds back, while Ryosuke Maeda of Japan clocked 7:59.
Thereafter, a gap of almost 20 seconds formed, allowing Jones and his fellow leaders to escape up the road once onto the bike.
A seven-man chase pack, led by Kurt Wesley (Australia) and Koki Yamamoto (Japan), set off in pursuit of the leaders. The course was mostly flat aside from one hill that was tackled twice and the front trio rode hard to stay clear.
Wesley, though, seemed particularly comfortable on the incline and helped the chasers to cut the gap. Also in the chase was Thomas Feldmann, one of Australia’s representatives at the 2023 World Junior Championships. The youngest member of the pack, Feldmann did not shy away from contributing. Nor, for that matter, did the third Australian in the group, Yoann Colin.
Shing Him Yu of Hong Kong and Yamamoto added to the efforts of the chase and the leaders were soon caught. The resulting pack of ten was evenly-matched over the rest of the 20km bike and the race came down to the run.
Wesley had the quickest T2 and quickly moved into the lead with Jones and Colin on the run. Feldmann and Yu were also close behind but the rest of the chasers lost time in the opening kilometre.
Later on, Yu would slip back and then Feldmann did too.
With a late burst, Wesley settled the gold. He kicked clear in the final stretch, forcing Colin to lose ground. Jones was able to initially respond but Wesley held him at bay until the finish line and claim his first international win.
Jones settled for silver, finishing 4 seconds later while Colin then rounded out the podium, earning an Australian lock-out.
Women’s race
In a similar manner to the men’s race, the women’s swim was marked by an athlete cruising through the waves to earn a substantial lead. Zoe Clarke of Australia was masterful in the water, splitting 7:46 (1 second quicker than the fastest man). Such was her dominance, she was through T1 before another woman had even completed the swim.
Manami Ijima (Guam) and Wing To Cho (Hong Kong) were the next women to emerge in 8:18. However, Clarke was long gone.
The Australian athlete powered through the 20km, clocking 33:05, to extend her lead. Such was Clarke’s speed, she hit another field-leading split while riding alone.
Cho and Ijima headed up a chase pack containing four other women yet lost over 30 seconds to Clarke in the second discipline alone. With a lead of over a minute, Clarke was all-but assured of the win. Her only remaining challenge was to clock a third field-leading split.
While Clarke chased the clock, Ijima broke clear of fellow chasers early on during the 5km run. No one managed to respond and Ijima was able to cruise away. Perhaps of greater note, Ijima would go on to clock the best split of the field, running 18:24 to Clarke’s 18:44.
Although Clarke was denied a third fastest split, she nonetheless won by 46 seconds. Like Wesley, her victory was her first on the international scene.
Ijima secured the silver medal while Chi Wen Chang of Chinese Taipei took 3rd place having been the next best runner from the chase group. Chang would ultimately finish 59 seconds behind Ijima.
You can view the full results here.
