Photos by Delly Carr

With some of the hottest and windiest conditions on record in the race’s eighth running, SunSmart Ironman Western Australia saw both defending champions knocked off their thrones as two newcomers to the race stole the show.

The day started with near-perfect temperatures, but a slight wind that left the water somewhat bumpy for the 1,360 athletes competing in Sunday’s event. With an extremely early-morning sunrise here in the Southern hemisphere, by 5:30 a.m. the pros were off and running, with the age-group athletes following 15 minutes behind.

In the men’s race, Australian super-swimmer Clayton Fettell, hot off his win at Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie last month, set the pace for the day, churning out a 45:11-minute swim. Fellow Australian Luke McKenzie was the only one even remotely close to him as they circled the enormous Busselton Jetty, but even he had to settle in a bit at the end, exiting in 47:34. Roughly four minutes behind Fettell sat the largest swim group in the men’s field, which included Germany’s Maik Twelsiek, Aussies Josh Rix and Matty White, and race favorite Timo Bracht. Defending champion Courtney Ogden came out in 51 flat, followed by two-time winner and countryman Jason Shortis.

Once on the bike, Fettell showed no signs of slowing down, but McKenzie was hot on his tail, keeping his gap around three minutes back for the first 75K of the bike. Behind the two leaders sat Twelsiek, Bracht, Rix, White and Aussie Guy Crawford. “I felt good on the bike, but I was really just riding scared all day with Timo out there,” said Fettell.

With 45K to go on the bike course, the wind and heat really began to kick up, and McKenzie started to show signs of wear after his 9th-place finish in Hawaii just 8 weeks ago, dropping to more than 12 minutes back of Fettell. Twelsiek had managed to pull away from the large pack of riders he had been settled in with for much of the day, eventually heading into second place at 8 and a half minutes back of Fettell.

Heading into T2, Fettell looked as strong as ever, but Twelsiek’s second-place wouldn’t last for long once he hit the pavement, and by the 8K mark he had slipped to 13 minutes back of the leader in fifth place. Fast runners White and Rix tried to hold on, but Bracht flew into T2 and quickly made up several minutes, passing them for second place by the time he hit the 16K mark.

Little did any in the men’s field know that slowing creeping his way up the pack for much of the race had been course-record holder and two-time champion Shortis, which was just fine with him. “I suppose I use the fact that people tend to write me off as motivation,” admitted Shortis. “But I know this course really, really well and I know what it takes to do well here.”

White eventually pulled out of the race due to a lingering calf injury, which opened up the way for Bracht to quickly push past Rix and put his sights clearly on Fettell. At the 30K mark, the German passed the young Aussie, offering out a quick handshake and some motivational words to him as he went by. “It was true sportsmanship that Timo showed me out there,” said Fettell. “I’m stoked just to finish near the guy. But his words were really all I needed to help keep me going strong all the way home.” Bracht finished strong in 8:12:39, with Fettell following in 8:19:02. Proving that 40 is the new 30 was Shortis, who at 41-years-old crossed the tape in third place in a time of 8:27:31.

The women’s race was full of surprises as well, starting with New Zealand’s Michelle Bremer. Bremer and her husband, Clay, quit their jobs earlier this year and moved to Australia so Bremer could pursue her professional triathlete dreams full time. This would be her first Ironman race ever (and her first full marathon), and it would be a performance worthy of opening up doors for her in the 2012 racing season.

The day started with a different Michelle, Michelle Mitchell, who blew out of the water in 53:16, more than a minute ahead of super-swimmer Hilary Biscay. The rest of the field quickly followed suit, including defending champion and hometown favorite Kate Bevilaqua in fifth place, Australia’s Carrie Lester in sixth and Bremer in seventh.

Mitchell continued her tear on the bike for a bit, before being stopped with a drafting penalty. By the 45K mark, Bremer had fired her way up to the top position, where she would stay for the rest of the day.

Behind her, however, the seats would change several times, as Aussie Elly Franks, Lester and Bevilaqua battled it out, switching off between second, third and fourth positions before heading into T2. Mitchell, still trying to catch up from her drafting penalty, headed into T2 with several minutes to make up, but she quickly set to work making up time. The heat eventually got the best of Bevilaqua, and she broke off halfway through the run, after staying with Lester for most of the day. Franks held on for some time in third place behind Lester, before Mitchell passed her in the final 15K. Mitchell wasn’t done pushing the pace either. She managed to pass Lester and close the gap between her and Bremer to under two minutes. But it would be the tall, blond Ironman newbie from New Zealand who would cross the line first in 9:25:38—not bad for her first go at the distance. “This is incredible, it’s beyond my wildest dreams. I feel like my decision to move here has definitely paid off,” Bremer said.

Ironman Western Australia, Busselton, Western Australia

December 4, 2011

2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2 mile run 

Top 5 Men

1. Timo Bracht (GER) 8:12:39
2. Clayton Fettell (AUS) 8:19:02
3. Jason Shortis (AUS) 8:27:31
4. Josh Rix (AUS) 8:30:59
5. Aaron Farlow (AUS) 8:34:09

Top 5 Women

1. Michelle Bremer (NZL) 9:25:38
2. Michelle Mitchell (AUS) 9:28:07
3. Carrie Lester (AUS) 9:32:44
4. Elly Franks (AUS) 9:37:51
5. Hilary Biscay (USA) 9:39:41