It’s almost time for Hawaii’s Big Dance, the Ironman race that defines careers and make legends of its champions, which starts with the firing of a cannon and shot unknown Chrissie Wellington to multisport immortality back in 2007.
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It’s the battleground of the most famous triathlon of them all, the Iron War, and year-on-year it provides feats of superhuman endeavour and industrial scale meltdowns in equal measure.
From its roots as the birthplace of Ironman, there is nothing like Hawaii’s Big Island, and next month the 2015 edition is set to be bigger and better than ever. 220 columnist Tim Heming casts his eyes over the Kona contenders and makes his picks for Ali’i Drive glory. First up, the women…
10. Meredith Kessler (USA)
Past results: Seventh in 2013; 26th in 2010; DNS in 2011 and 2012; DNF in 2014
Solid, dependable and successful – just not on the Big Island. Kessler’s transformation from an age-group triathlete with insatiable training needs to top-end professional is a testament to her perseverance, but she’ll have to keep working at it a little longer if she’s to crack the tough nut of Hawaii.
No doubt wily San Francisco-based coach Matt Dixon will have a plan to keep shaving the necessary seconds from the overall time that will give his star pupil and strong swim-biker a chance, but it’s doubtful whether the American has the run speed over a marathon to compete for the win.
Fortunes will at least look to be improved from last year where Kessler dropped out on the run, although her 5:11 bike split – while still the seventh quickest in the women’s field – was a good 15mins slower than she would have wanted.
This year Kessler has been back on the winning trail including six victories and wins in her favourite Antipodean hunting ground at Ironman New Zealand and in the Asia-Pacific 70.3 championship in Auckland – her only blemish being a DNF in last month’s Ironman 70.3 World Championship where she dropped out on the run.
It’s a similar build-up to the 2014 season, with an Ironman win early season to top up the qualifying points followed by a series of middle distance races. Her camp will just hope for a happier ending this time around.
9. Leanda Cave (GBR)
Past results: Champion in 2012; third in 2011; eighth in 2007; 10th in 2010; 12th in 2013; 18th in 2014; 20th in 2009; DNS in 2008
This promises to be Cave’s most competitive outing since taking the title in 2012. Since then the globetrotting star who was born in the UK, brought up Australia and now resides in Miami Beach, Florida has had to deal with press commitments, injuries and a debacle of a Commonwealth Games selection process that meant briefly flirting with a return to short course draft-legal races.
There was even a skin cancer scare to throw to into the mix. After a forgettable 12th in 2013 and 18th last year, Cave looks back in business, racing for a new Middle Eastern tri team, Alameda o.n, on a new bike, the quirky looking Ventum, and back with coach Cliff English.
Second in a fiercely contested North American Ironman Championship in Texas behind Canada’s Angela Naeth shows she is back in racing shape too. A rangy triathlete, Cave has proved she can cope with hot conditions despite the fair skin, and with a glut of experience, she’ll not be fazed by opposition tactics.
The biggest question marks are whether she has both the footspeed and desire for one more world title. Cave is already an ITU long distance champion, won the Ironman 70.3 title in the same year as her Kona win and even took the ITU world short course crown in Cancún, Mexico way back in 2002.
Expect better than the last two years, but at 37, there are a lot of miles on the clock for Cave to be much more than a top-10 contender.
8. Heather Wurtele (CAN)
Past results: eighth in 2011; 14th in 2012; 15th in 2014; DNF in 2013
One half of Canada’s first couple of triathlon, Wurtele is no longer a mere top-10 contender. The swim remains a weakness, which will not be helped by the absence of wetsuits from the warm Pacific waters, and it has to be disheartening running into T1 alongside Mirinda Carfrae as Wurtele did last year.
That said, as long as she’s not exiting T2 with Carfrae, Wurtele can at least match her best result to date on the Big Island. Her bike leg is strong and although the run did not hold up last year as she dropped to 15th, she consistently ducks under 3:10 for Ironman marathons.
This year performances have taken a step up. Wurtele was runner-up – albeit a distant second – behind Daniela Ryf in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Austria which matched the one-two of the stacked field in the $300,000 Challenge Dubai in February.
She also won the 70.3 North American title in St George, Utah. The final piece of the puzzle could be the dedicated support crew – because on the men’s side, husband Trevor hasn’t made the cut.
We continue our countdown for women’s glory at Kona 2015…
7. Caroline Steffen (SUI)
Past results: Second in 2010 and 2012; fifth in 2011, 2013 and 2014
One of a remarkable ten 37-year-olds on the professional women’s start-line, the twice Kona runner-up is a model of consistency in Hawaii. In 2013 Steffen battled stomach issues to finish fifth, a position she also held in 2011 and repeated again last year.
But if Steffen still has any chance of scenting victory on the Queen K again (she was just 64secs behind Leanda Cave in 2012) then she needs to rediscover the cycling prowess that saw her spend two years on the Swiss national cycling team before triathlon, and also led her to set an Ironman bike course record in Melbourne in 2012 of 4:35:29.
The Swiss does not shirk big race challenges and two third places at the 2015 regional championships in Melbourne and Frankfurt represent a steady return, but while it’s a harsh comparison to draw, in 2012 she won both. Steffen’s successes this year have also not been without incident.
She won Ironman 70.3 Philippines by more than five minutes — and for the fourth time — but collided with a spectator on the bike and was left with bruising and abrasions. Thankfully, on the predominantly spectator-free Queen K she should only have the opposition to deal with, although they will be handful enough.
6. Jodie Swallow (GBR)
Past results: Fourth in 2014; DNF in 2013
A thoroughbred racer, Swallow – by her own admission – overcooked it this year and was left walking through the run leg of Boulder 70.3 in June with plenty of time for soul-searching.
The Bahrain Endurance 13 athlete rested up to recover before returning for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Austria, only to crash thanks to a blowout on her time trial bike leading up to the race, which ultimately led to a DNF.
The 2004 Olympian from Essex, who now resides in South Africa and Boulder, Colorado, will hope the enforced break works to her benefit. But while compromised preparation isn’t always the curse it first appears, any chink in the armoury can become a gaping hole when exposed to the fierce conditions of Hawaii.
Swallow, 34, has the capability to be competitive at all non-drafting distances and is one of the most experienced and prolific racers on the circuit, and last year’s fourth place after a disastrous 2013 where she collapsed with hyponatraemia 20km into the run will be an additional fillip.
As always, she will be driving from the front in the swim and pushing the pace on the bike, but to stay in contention thereafter she needs favourable conditions, a fuelling strategy that works, her body to be 100 per cent rejuvenated and those capable of unleashing sub-three hour runs to have an off day. That’s a lot of ducks to line up.
5. Julia Gajer (GER)
Past results: Sixth in 2014
When Chrissie Wellington set the world iron-distance record of 8:18:13 in Roth in 2011, you could be forgiven for not remembering who came second – especially as it was 38mins later.
Yet that performance gave Julia Gajer (then Wagner) the belief she could make a professional career out of the triathlon and it has been steady improvement since as she returned to Roth for two more podiums and to take five minutes off her personal best.
German women may not deliver the same long-course dominance as their male counterparts but the 33-year-old is a willing flagbearer as she returns to Hawaii after an impressive sixth place on debut last year. Where Gajer looks a threat is on the marathon.
Last year she posted a 3:04:39 split in running down Heather Wurtele and Mary Beth Ellis and it was quick enough to hold off the fleet-footed Liz Lyles and Gina Crawford. Since then Gajer has taken more notable scalps, such as Caroline Steffen at Ironman Frankfurt in July. Under the tutelage of new coach Wolfram – who also works with the Raelert brothers – Gajer is eyeing a top-five finish.
4. Liz Blatchford (AUS)
Past results: Third in 2013, tenth in 2014
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