It was a rain-soaked day of racing that saw Viktor Zyemtsev and Danielle Mack claim the titles with late passes on the run.
Zyentsev wins at 42
Barrett Brandon's (USA) 48:22 swim placed him six seconds ahead of Luke Bell (AUS) and 19 seconds on Kyle Buckingham (ZAF) as the lead trio exited the waters of Alta Lake at Rainbow Park. Paul Ambrose (AUS), Jeff Symonds (CAN),
Justin Daerr (USA), Viktor Zyemtsev (UKR) and Chris McDonald would be next into transition, but were looking at deficits ranging from +3:27 to +4:43 to the leader as they headed out on the rain soaked roads.
Buckingham would prove he could tolerate the wet and cool conditions better than most as he stormed to the lead in the open km’s of the bike. Bell, Ambrose, Symonds, McDonald, Swen Sundberg (DEU), Zyemtsev and Derek Garcia (USA) were in the mix early, however, Symonds, Ambrose and Bell would succumb to the weather and would eventually abandon the race. Heading into the second transition, Buckingham managed to build up advantages of over five minutes on McDonald, Garcia, Zyemtsev and Daerr.
Once the run started, Zyemtsev went on a steady march towards Buckingham up front while Daerr and Garcia were hovering in third and fourth as McDonald faded out of contention. Zyemtsev bridged the gap to Buckingham at 28 km’s and the pair appeared they were both content letting the race be determined later. There were a few occasions when the two tested each other, but no one could make a move that would stick. The cat-and-mouse game continued until 38 km’s when Zyemtsev put in a surge Buckingham couldn’t respond to and Zyemtsev went on to capture his 12th IRONMAN win of his career. Buckingham's gallant attempt to race off the front for most of the day came up one short, and the South African had to settle for second while Daerr finished off the podium in third.
Mack steady all day
Karen Thibodeau (CAN) and Laurel Wassner were first to emerge from the lake within three seconds of each other. Mel McQuaid (CAN), Liz Lyles (USA), and Cait Snow (USA) were almost four minutes off the pace as they headed out on the wet roads.
Wassner would lead the women early, but would be overtaken by McQuaid 35 km’s into the bike. Behind McQuaid,Thibodeau and Liz Lyles would drop out of the race while Danielle Mack (USA) and Jessica Flemming (AUS) seemed to relish the harsh weather. Upon completion of the bike McQuaid carried over five minute leads on Mack and Flemming with the remainder of the field well off the pace.
Early on the run, McQuaid looked solid as did Mack. Flemming started to go backwards as the field shuffled behind the lead pair. Once on the second half of the run, McQuaid started to fade and Mack began to chewing into her lead. At 38 km’s, Mack caught McQuaid and never looked back. Mack went on to claim the second IRONMAN title of her career, while McQuaid held on to second. Jen Annett (CAN) stormed through the field in the second half of the run to finish off the podium.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Zyemtsev, Viktor UKR 0:53:03 4:58:32 2:54:28 8:49:46
2 Buckingham, Kyle ZAF 0:48:40 4:56:18 3:01:24 8:50:30
3 Daerr, Justin USA 0:53:02 4:58:35 2:59:13 8:54:45
4 Garcia, Derek USA 0:53:30 4:57:54 3:08:05 9:02:55
5 McDonald, Chris AUS 0:53:04 4:57:37 3:14:20 9:08:45
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Mack, Danielle USA 1:01:49 5:23:53 3:16:09 9:46:19
2 McQuaid, Melanie CAN 0:57:47 5:22:43 3:23:44 9:48:23
3 Annett, Jen CAN 1:02:01 5:32:14 3:16:03 9:55:06
4 Madison, Mackenzie USA 0:58:17 5:33:05 3:23:54 9:59:34
5 Fleming, Jessica AUS 1:01:09 5:25:02 3:30:11 10:00:18