A change to a bike-run did nothing to alter the result as the 2016 winners Melissa Hauschildt and Terenzo Bozzone successfully defended their titles at IRONMAN Western Australia.
Organizers made the prudent call to can the swim after a shark sighting off the Bay, with Bozzone and Hauschildt working their way through the field from the rolling start for the bike.
After early leader Tim van Berkel found the heat too tough to manage on the run, the 2:53 marathon from Bozzone was significantly faster than all the key challengers. He won in 7:12.30, more than six minutes clear of compatriot Dougal Allan, a noted bike-runner, and 15 minutes clear of van Berkel in third. Evergreen Cameron Brown was the only other pro under 3hrs, running 2:53.45 to climb to fourth.
It marked a brilliant late season for Bozzone who was sixth at Kona, with 70.3 wins at Cozumel and Los Cabos, second at Bahrain and Island House before repeating in Busselton.
Hauschildt is another to find late form after an injury-fraught year, winning the IRONMAN 70.3 Asia-Pac title last week. A noted bike-runner, Hauschildt swept through the field with her 4:37 effort on the bike only matched by the 4:38 from fellow Australian Carrie Lester.
She closed on Hauschildt midway through the run but ran out of fuel as the 2016 winner ran a 3:10 to win in 7:52:04, more than 7 minutes clear of Lester with Sweden’s Camilla Lindholm Borg producing a run-best 3:09 marathon for third.
While many found the hot conditions challenging, Hauschildt was a full 7 minutes quicker for the bike-run that her combined effort for the two disciplines in the full IRONMAN last year.
Top 5 Pro Men
1 Bozzone, Terenzo NZL 7:12:30
2 Allan, Doug NZL 7:18:07
3 Van Berkel, Tim AUS 7:27:07
4 Brown, Cam NZL 7:32:22
5 Shearer, Nathan AUS 7:35:02
Top 5 Pro Women
1 Hauschildt, Mel AUS 7:52:04
2 Lester, Carrie AUS 7:59:07
3 Lindholm Borg, Camilla SWE 8:01:59
4 Van Vlerken, Yvonne NLD 8:11:02
5 Hill, Meredith AUS 8:24:01