Clearwater: The swim

Both the male and female professionals finished the swim
course in a pack at the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater.
© serge simo

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The pro women set off on the new swim course at 6:45. Joanna Zeiger, 70.3 world record holder and last year's winner, pushed the pace and several girls fell in single-file behind her. By the end of the swim, the pack had acordioned, and Amanda Stevens, Julie Dibens, Joanna Zeiger, and Mary Beth Ellis piled out of the swim together.

The men left eight minutes behind the women and eagerly swelled over the starting line. They looked "toe-ier than a roman sandal" Greg Welch said of their eagerness to toe (or is it "tow?") the line farther and farther into the water. Finally the gun went off and the men left together. Then they swam together through the harbor. The new harbor-side swim course was calm, if a bit shallow. In mid-swim, all the athletes stood up and dolphin dove over a sandbar where the water was less than waist deep. Finally, Marko Albert of Estonia pulled away from the pack as the men approached the shore, taking American Brian Fleischmann with him and opening up a 10 second lead.

The new time-trial age-group start lead to a trickle rather than a deluge of age groupers emerging from the swim. Clearwater is a "[f]ast course suited to short course athletes," explained former 70.3 World Champion Craig Alexander. Because of the flat course, the swim becomes incredibly important, almost as important as in a draft-legal race. As race commentator and eleven-time Ironman winner Lisa Bentley pointed out, though, the time-trial start will probably mean a cleaner non-drafting age-group race on the bike.

Women's swim times

1. 24:07 Amanda Stevens
2. 24:08 Sarah Groff
3. 24:08 Jodie Swallow
4. 24:09 Joanna Zeiger
5. 24:12 Julie Dibens
6. 24:27 Laura Bennett
7. 24:29 Leanda Cave
8. 24:31 Mary Beth Ellis
9. 24:49 Brooke Davison
10. 25:42 Caroline Steffen

Men's swim times

1. 21:59 Marko Albert
2. 22:01 Brian Fleischmann
3. 22:11 Brent McMahon
4. 22:12 Fraser Cartmell
5. 22:15 Timothy O'Donnell
6. 22:16 Philip Graves
7. 22:17 Stuart Hayes
8. 22:18 Andrew Russell
9. 22:19 Daniel Fontana
10. 22:20 Sylvain Sudrie