On Sunday January 20, 2013 Ironman 70.3 South Africa featured several top pros who were sure to make it an exciting day of racing.
With 2012 winner Marino Vanhoenacker opting out of the race and Faris Al Sultan not racing because of injury, it was a wide open event for the pro men.
The favorite going into the race was Ronnie Schildknecht of Switzerland who had hopes of improving on his 2012 race where he was runner-up to the winner Vanhoenacker.
Bart Aernouts was the one considered most likely to mount a serious challenge.
For the pro women it was Jodie Swallow who was the heavy favorite to win considering she was going for her third win in a row in Ironman 70.3 South Africa.
However it was expected that Lucie Reed of the Czech Republic would give her serious competition.
As the race unfolded Ronnie Schildknecht was just just off the pace set by Aernouts in the last half of the bike course and for the entire run.
He simply could not close the gap as Aernouts remained strong through-out and went on to win Ironman 70.3 South Africa 2013.
For the pro women, Jodie Swallow took the lead from the start thanks to her strong swimming ability.
At last report Jodie Swallow had established a five minute lead over the second place woman at the halfway point of the run and seemed well on her was for her third Ironman 70.3 South Africa victory in a row.
For a look at how the race finished for the pro women and all the other top pro results visit IronStruck.com.
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