IM Cairns 2016 Swim and Bike
Ironman Cairns boasts one of the most spectacular venues in the world, in beautiful TNQ (Tropical North Queensland), on Australia's northeast coast. Slowtwitch photographer Eric Wynn was on site and captured lots of great images from the oceanfront rainforest paradise.
The Cairns bike course is deceptively hard, gaining relatively little elevation in any one go, but the road from Palm Cove to Port Douglas is constantly rolling and also has constant wind off the ocean.
Clayton Fetell and Luke McKenzie are both among the strongest swimmers and cyclists in the sport. Fetell was first into T2, though it was certainly a day of "what if" for McKenzie who double flatted in the rain.
"On your right" when passing is something that takes some getting used to for the internationals, though much of the field on both pro and AG side comes from Australia. Here Luke McKenzie leads Clayton Fetell past an AG athlete on the second loop of the bike.
The roads were actually drier than expected despite the constant rain thanks to the also constant wind.
A podium finish was a welcome return to form for 2012 Ironman World Champion Pete Jacobs, who, as usual, was one of the first out of the water. How do you get your initials on your wetsuit? Win Kona…
Race day was a huge change for athletes that showed up even well in advance of race day. For most of the lead in, the swim course in Palm Cove was like a giant swimming pool. But on race day, it was more like a giant washing machine.
Only 10 women started the pro race, and in the rough surf, that left most athletes swimming all alone for 3.8km.
Sign posts give seed times for AG swimmers. The different time splits and colors are because Cairns hosts both a 70.3 and 140.6 race on the same course on the same day. The 70.3 athletes go first.
As the Asia-Pacific Championships, Cairns had plenty of media on site. Here, one of two TV crews sets up on the pier in Palm Cove as the sun rises.
With two races and a relatively limited esplanade for transition, T1 can be a very long walk. But Cairns rolled out the red carpet – a lot of it – for the athletes.
Glen Murray of Korupt Vision chats with Linsey Corbin's husband and manager Chris, who is himself quite a good photographer and videographer.
After a superb swim, Jodie Swallow spent most of the day riding among the pro men. In many cases, she was seen at the front of the group setting the pace.
Jordan Rapp heading back to town a long way down after a flat tire.
The skies were angry on race day after blessing athletes with sunny blue skies for many days prior.
Pete Jacobs proudly sports the green and gold colors of Australia with his custom Louis Garneau kit.
Luke McKenzie chose to put on socks in T1, a rarity in the pro field. His distinctive black and neon yellow kit and bike are easy to spot out there.
Cameron Brown has won this race before, but the legend from New Zealand called it a day after the bike this year.
American Matt Hanson came to Cairns looking to punch his ticket to Kona after hitting the wall hard late in the run in Texas four weeks ago. Unfortunately, three crashes on the slick roads left Hanson unable to finish here.
Late in the morning, for the slower swimmers, the rough conditions led water safety to truncate the swim and pull athletes out of the water to get them on the bike. With so much of Australia living on or near the beach, they have some of the most experienced lifeguards in the sport keeping watch over the 3,000 plus athletes who race here.
Many athletes opted for sleeveless wetsuits due to the very warm 78F (25.5C) water. Cairns has an exemption on temperature because of jellyfish, which are present for more of the year as ocean temperatures rise.
