Swim
Sophie Howell and Emma Jeffcoat shared the top split of the day as they emerged in 8:37. One interesting point was just how much faster the sea swim was in Wollongong than at the Napier World Cup earlier in the year. In Napier, the top women’s time was a 9:54, highlighting the dramatic effect conditions and wearing a wetsuit (and possibly course measurement) can have on the eventual times.
The next quickest women were Sian Rainsley and Tara Sosinksi. They completed the 750m in 8:40 while Tereza Zimovjanova was another 3 seconds back in 8:43. Sharon Spimi was another second back as the sixth fastest swimmer. However, the race winner, Tilda Månsson, exited the water 29 seconds down on the leaders in 9:06. While her race certainly turned out well, it was touch and go in the early stages.
On the men’s side, the top split also earned a 3 second gap over the chasers. Diego Moya’s time of 8:16 established him at the front of the race and set him on the path to his bronze medal. His time was also 43 seconds quicker than the top split at the Napier World Cup, again indicating the difference caused by conditions and wearing a wetsuit.
Lachlan Jones and Martin Demuth were the next quickest in 8:19 while Jonas Schomburg followed in 8:21. Tayler Reid was another second back in 8:22 while the men’s race winner, Luke Willian, was fairly close to the front with his time of 8:26.
Bike
Fresh off a maiden Senior international medal at the Oceania Championships, Richelle Hill showed few signs of being over-awed by the occasion on her World Cup debut. The Australian athlete produced the fastest bike split of the day in 33:09. Rachel Klamer and Romana Gajdošová had similarly quick splits in 33:11 while Charlotte McShane clocked 33:12.
Bridget Theunissen managed a time of 33:13 and Charlotte Derbyshire stopped the clock at 33:14. Månsson used a time of 33:17 to make up for ground lost in the swim.
One thing to note is that Rainsley technically was awarded a time of 33:11. However after the race she reported that she took a wrong turn during the bike and then unfortunately fell and lost her timing chip. Her chip was returned to her in T2 which means her bike split was likely different to that which was officially noted.
Meanwhile, Gregor Payet nabbed the top men’s bike split in 28:39. Unsurprisingly, the top splits in the men’s field all came from the breakaway pack at the head of the race.
Schomburg had the next best time in 28:42 while Payet’s compatriot, Stefan Zachaeus, produced a time of 28:43. David Martin and Willian were two others to record fast times as they shared the next quickest split of 28:44.
Everyone in the lead group produced a sub-29 minute split (Moya was the slowest in 28:50 as the rest of the front pack rode up to him). The fastest rider in the chase pack was Richard Murray (29:03) and the gap between him and the top splits shows where the medals were essentially decided.
Run
Månsson’s win was primarily earned in the run, notwithstanding the work she did to regain time on the bike, and it was no surprise that she took the joint-fastest split of the day. She and Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto, the silver medallist in Wollongong, ended the race with 5km times of 16:56.
Roksana Slupek had a big run and pulled herself up to the select group of leaders. While her work early on the run would compromise her finishing speed a little, she was nonetheless the only other woman to run under 17 minutes (16:59). The running speed she showed builds upon her recent success at the Continental Cup level and, with perhaps a little better timing within races, she will likely be a threat to World Cup podiums in no time.
Klamer was narrowly denied a medal in the sprint finish. Her 17:01 split was 2 seconds quicker than that produced by bronze medallist Ainsley Thorpe but it was not quite enough at the finish.
Over in the men’s field, the top splits actually went to men in the chase pack. Jacob Birtwhistle ripped a 14:31 5km and Callum McClusky popped a 14:32 split. Both, however, had left themselves a little too much work to do after the bike. Had the chase pack ridden 5 or so seconds quicker, Birtwhistle and McClusky probably would have run onto the podium. Indeed, they certainly looked to be the fastest men down the finishing straight.
At the same time, no one was catching Willian. His split of 14:35 was the third quickest of the event and earned a commanding 23 second victory. Such was his form, and considering that he slowed a little to celebrate his win, he possibly could have out-run Birtwhistle and McClusky in a foot race from T2.
Murray managed a split of 14:42 while Bradley Course made it three Australian men in the top-5 run splits as he equalled Murray’s split.
Moya was actually the only other man in the lead pack to run under 15 minutes (14:57) and the difference in running times lends weight to the idea that the top runners lost their shot at medals on the bike.
