(Image: Chris Hitchcock)
Britain's Jodie Swallow won Ironman 70.3 South Africa for the fourth time last weekend, going all out from start to finish to cross the line in 4:37:01, while her compatriot Will Clarke took silver in the men's race.
Swallow posted splits of 23:52mins for the 1.9km ocean swim off the coast of Buffalo City (Eastern Cape Province), 2:38:50 for the 90km out-and-back bike leg, and 1:29:57 for the 21km run. Lucie Reed (CZE) and Simone Brändli (SUI) followed in 4:40:48 and 4:42:40 respectively.
It was also a great day for the newly-formed Uplace-BMC pro team, with Will Clarke and his teammate Romain Guillaume (FRA) holding position near the front of the pack to take silver and bronze respectively, behind South African athlete James Cunnama (4:05:01).
Bob De Wolf, team manager of Uplace-BMC, said: “During our team launch earlier this week, we said we wanted to be the best squad in the world. To show we have the performances to back up that ambition right from the beginning, is extremely gratifying. All our athletes are so motivated and ready. It is going to be a great year for the Uplace-BMC Pro Triathlon Team.”
Full results can be found here.