With qualifiers, heats and multiple rounds in the final, WTCS Hamburg had a smorgasbord of splits to survey.
Across two days of racing, the athletes were often separated by mere seconds. An improvement of 1 or 2 seconds, then, had the potential to cause major ramifications, whether through consigning an athlete to the repechages, putting them into the final or even determining a medal.
Moreover, the tactical nature of the competition meant that when an athlete deployed their best split was often as important as how fast it was. As will be seen below, the individuals that managed to save their quickest showings for the later stages were the ones that fared the best.
Swim
Hamburg was the event at which Brock Hoel really announced himself as a swimmer to watch on the world stage. In both the first qualifier and the first repechage, he was the quickest athlete in the water and no one was able to match his times across the competition.
Matthew Hauser impressed in the swim in his qualifier and he was able to equal his best split in the second round of the final. However, he did not have the same speed in the third and most important round.
Márk Dévay did not have the best swim in his qualifier and was somewhat shockingly down the field. He rallied in his repechage as he emerged on Hoel’s feet. Still, it was unusual not to see him lead out his races. Hoel will therefore be someone for him to take note of going forward.
From the rounds not listed in the above graphic, Dylan McCullough had the fastest swim in the second repechage with a time of 3:38. Hauser also clocked 3:38 in the first round of the final while Csongor Lehmann led the third round of the final in a time of 3:41.
Three women managed to record two swims inside the eight fastest splits.
Vittoria Lopes led the way overall. Her brilliant 3:55 in the second qualifier was the best of the women’s competition and resulted in her breaking away from the field. Zsanett Bragmayer’s 3:58 helped her get close enough to Lopes to join her breakaway and played a very helpful role in putting her in the final.
Lopes would later clock a 3:59 in the second repechage while Bragmayer hit the same time to open her account in the final.
The overall winner in Hamburg, Cassandre Beaugrand, recorded splits of 3:58 in both her qualifier and the opening round of the final. The swim proved a major weapon for Beaugrand throughout. In the final, she was at the head of the race into T1 in every round and used her speed to control the race.
As Lopes did not make the final, she did not get to swim against Beaugrand. Those watching were therefore deprived of seeing whether the Brazilian athlete could have been the only athlete to beat her French counterpart head-to-head.
Only three races saw the fastest split exceed 4 minutes. In the second repechage, Summer Rappaport was the quickest swimmer in a time of 4:03. Then, in the second round of the final, Beaugrand, Laura Lindemann and Bragmayer all exited in 4:04. In the subsequent round, Beaugrand, Lindemann and Rappaport each clocked 4:05 for the 300m.
Looking at the top times across the final, it was fair to say that there was a slight drop off in swimming speed as the racing took its toll.
Bike
All bar two of the top-6 bike splits came from the first round of the final. The exception, though, proved to be the quickest split of the whole event.
Jawad Abdelmoula did not have the best swim in the first repechage however he came roaring back to reconnect with the lead pack. In doing so, he surpassed the efforts of everyone else in Hamburg.
In the first qualifier, Simon Westermann produced the best split on the bike with his 10:02. His compatriot, Max Studer, then had the fastest split in the second qualifier; Studer was 5 seconds quicker than Westermann on his way to a 9:57 split.
In the second repechage, Richard Murray clocked 10:07 to earn the leading split.
Alex Yee was the quickest cyclist in the second round of the final as he hit 10:01. Miguel Hidalgo then claimed the top spot on the bike in the third round with a 9:56 split.
The women’s bike splits also heavily leaned towards the first round of the final.
In that regard, Lisa Tertsch topped the fastest splits. She had been forced to stop in T1 to re-buckle her helmet which likely prompted an adrenaline-fuelled start to her final.
Lotte Miller and Dominika Jamnicky also were among the best splits in Hamburg after huge performances in the second repechage. Both were unlucky to miss out on the final after impressive work on the bike.
Miller’s teammate, Solveig Løvseth, had the best split in the first qualifier and recorded a time of 10:48. Anja Weber then had the best split in the second qualifier with her 10:58. In the second repechage, Lena Meißner clocked 10:57.
When it came to the final, the bike portion was Cathia Schär’s time to shine. She hit 10:51 in the second round and 10:50 in the third round as she twice rode her way up to the leaders. In doing so, she launched herself to a personal best WTCS finish
Run
Max Studer was the only man to log a top-6 run split from outside of the third round of the final. In both the first and second rounds, he was the fastest runner. At the last, though, his speed was not quite there.
Studer had also clocked the fastest time in the second qualifier (4:57). Interestingly, the only race in which did not run sub-5 minutes was the third round of the final (when he clocked 5:00).
One of the biggest things to note from the fastest run splits was that Vasco Vilaca and Alex Yee out-split Hayden Wilde in the third round of the final. The seconds Wilde had gained at the end of the bike and through T2 were therefore enough to carry him home.
Jacob Birtwhistle was the quickest runner in the first qualifier with a time of 4:59. None of the fastest runners in the repechages, though, dipped under the 5 minute mark.
In the first repechage, Lasse Nygaard Priester ran 5:01 to win the race. Meanwhile, the fastest split of the second repechage was a 5:08 which was shared by Valentin Wernz, Henri Schoeman and Janus Staufenberg.
Cassandre Beaugrand was untouchable in the third round in the final. With time to accept the French flag on her way to the line, she cruised to a 10 second win.
Gwen Jorgensen provided a real throwback performance in the second repechage. In an outstanding run, she overcame a significant deficit off the bike to bound into the final. Aside from Beaugrand, no one else dipped under the 5:40 barrier in Hamburg and so Jorgensen’s repechage split indicated that her running speed remains extremely competitive. If she can find the missing elements in her swim and bike, the level she is targeting may yet be on the horizon.
One intriguing point to note was how many women clocked their best times in the second round of the final. Among this group were Summer Rappaport, Nicole Van Der Kaay, Cathia Schär and Jolien Vermeylen, all of whom logged splits that were inside the eight fastest of the entire competition.
On the other hand, the three medallists were the only women to place themselves among the eight best splits with their showings in the last round. Beaugrand, Potter and Lindemann saved their best for the end and it paid off handsomely.
Previously, Potter had clocked the fastest run of the first qualifier in 5:50. Lindemann was also the fastest runner in the second qualifier after recording a time of 5:44.
In the first repechage, Emma Jackson made a stirring comeback on the second lap of the run akin to that of Jorgensen. As a result, she shared the fastest split with Vermeylen in a time of 5:56.
Nicole Van Der Kaay was the fastest runner in the first round of the final and split 5:44.
