Pro file: Yvonne Van Vlerken

Yvonne Van Vlerken set a new course record at Ironman
70.3 Wiesbaden this year.
Photo courtesy Thomas Vonach at Endurance Team

Yvonne Van Vlerken would undoubtedly be the best female Ironman in the world if she hadn't had the bad luck to come along at exactly the same time as a sprightly, winsome freak of nature from England. As it stands, Van Vlerken is still a sensation, although perhaps missing out on the kudos that her talent deserves.

There are four women who have gone below nine hours in an Ironman three times or more in their careers: Paula Newby-Fraser, Lori Bowden, Chrissie Wellington, and Yvonne Van Vlerken. Of that list, only Wellington and Van Vlerken will be on the start line in Kona on Saturday.

What makes Van Vlerken's first sub-nine performance in 2007 at Quelle Challenge Roth all the more shocking is that it was her first iron-distance race ever. Not only did she win, but she also missed the then-world record by a hair over a minute. The following year, Van Vlerken returned to Roth, this time finishing in 8:45:48 and setting a new world record in her sophomore iron distance race. To say that Van Vlerken set off the cascade of world records isn't exactly true, as Sandra Wallenhorst was next-door in Austria knocking down Paula Newby-Fraser's 14-year-old world record at the same moment. Because Yvonne went almost two minutes faster, and because her race began first, Wallenhorst lost the world-record race that was going on over 500 miles and two events. Yvonne's record was the one that sat on the books for the next year, taunting the likes of Rebekah Keat and Chrissie Wellington to destroy the record at Roth the following year. Performances like Yvonne's have provided the impetus for seventeen sub-nine female performances in 2008 and 2009 alone, nearly half of the sub-nine's since Newby-Fraser first broke the barrier in 1991. Again, had Van Vlerken turned up just a few years earlier, she would be a superstar rather than being lost in the shuffle of a rapidly-improving women's field.

To add to the heroics, Van Vlerken is a crappy swimmer–or she was at the time anyway. In her debut at Roth, she swam a paltry 57:55, over six minutes slower than overall runner-up Jo Lawn (although still a time that many age groupers would be thrilled about). Since then, Van Vlerken has been working hard to improve her swim, but it remains the chink in the armor that allows other athletes to take cheap shots.

Yvonne's real prowess is on the bike, where she insists that her 650cc wheels allow her to ride "under the wind." "[I] guess [riding along the Netherlands' rivers] made my biking so strong because I always had to deal with the hard winds we usually have in Holland," says Van Vlerken. Perhaps there is some truth to it, because in Hawaii last year she had the fastest female bike split of the day. That Hawaii race turned out to be another earth-shattering debut, as Van Vlerken held onto second place in the toughest Ironman field of the year. It is a shame that the cameras were fixed on Wellington, because the sequil to Van Vlerken's battle with Sandra Wallenhorst was hot only 15 minutes down the road. The race between the two women, who were finally racing each other on the same course, boiled down to only ninety-two seconds and probably would have made for much more interesting television as Wallenhorst bore down on Van Vlerken.

If her athleticism isn't enough to win over American triathletes' hearts, then consider her willingness to laugh at herself. Her new white racing kit raised some concerns about "visibility" before Ironman Frankfurt this summer, so her partner Thomas pulled out a video camera, and Yvonne stepped into the shower. The result (which was nothing you can't see on many beaches in Europe) is posted on YouTube. You don't need to understand German to catch the phrase "wet t-shirt contest," nor do you need much imagination to catch an eyeful of something else. If Anglophones can get over a name that falls on our ears like a recipe by the Swedish Chef, then Van Vlerken's story has the makings of a gratifying underdog story (something that Americans always cotton to).

This year the flying Dutchwoman is poised to destroy the field once more. She has narrowed the gap in the swim, her cycling is a strong as ever from a season of training in the mountains of Austria, and her hematocrit is soaring from an extended stay in Tahoe leading up to zero hour. On a bad day, Van Vlerken will be the boogie man who pushes strong performances out of the top of the field. On a good day, she could be the first woman to go sub-nine in Hawaii, or overthrow the indomitable Chrissie Wellington to finally take her deserved place in the sun.

Yvonne Van Vlerken's Statistics

Nationality: Dutch
Age: 31
Career highlights: