Burton, Simpson Capture IM Western Australia
Perth native Matt Burton overcame a 1:58 deficit after the swim with race-best bike and run splits that brought him to the finish in 8:01:23 with a 9:11 margin over Steven McKenna and 10:27 over 3rd place finisher Fraser Walsh at Ironman Western Australia. The win capped Burton’s gradual ascent to the top of the podium at Busselton after a third place in 2019 and second place at this race in 2020.
Burton took pride in his achievement. “You do something for so long, you never think this day will come,” he told the Busselton Dunsborough Times. “Today was the big win, and now I’ve finally put my name on a trophy.”
The victory capped a momentous week for the Burtons, as his wife Kim gave birth to the couple’s first child, Thomas, on Monday.
“I really battled today, and it didn’t feel like it went my way at all,” he told the Busselton Dunsborough Times. “But I wrote on my bike bottle of ‘Be like Tom’ because he didn’t know what was going on Monday to come into the world. So, I was like, ‘You know what, I just got to a cop it today and who would have thought I’d run to win?”
Brisbane triathlete Kylie Simpson dominated a small field of female pros with a creditable 9:06:14 finish that gave her a 48:36 margin over Sarah Thomas and 1:07:05 gap over 3rd-place Kate Bevilaqua. Simpson’s victory added to her strong 2021 season which featured a midseason win at Ironman Cairns.
Men
Steven McKenna led the men’s first wave with a 49:33 split that gave him a one second margin over Lachlan Kerin and Caleb Noble and 6 seconds on Fraser Walsh. Leading the second pack 1:55 back was Tim van Berkel, followed by Blake Kappler (+1:56) and Burton (+1:58).
On his way to a second-fastest 4:15:44 bike split, Kerin led into T2 by 16 seconds over Burton, who notched the day’s fastest 4:14:13 split. McKenna arrived 3rd, 3:36 arrears, then Walsh, 5:38 down.
Burton disposed of all rivals with a stellar 2:50:49 marathon that brought him to the line in 8:01:23 with a 9:11 margin over McKenna (2:55:57 run) and 10:27 over 3rd-place Walsh (2:55:00 run split).
The win secured Burton a start at the Ironman World Championship, and he will also start at the Ironman 70.3 Worlds as well. ““Tommy boy we’re going to Hawaii,” Burton said.
Women
Kate Bevilaqua led the pro women’s swim wave with a 59:11 split that gave her a 9:11 margin over Sarah Thomas and 9:22 over Kylie Simpson. Simpson erased her deficit with a women’s-fastest 4:48:53 bike split that gave her a 7:20 lead on Bevilaqua (5:05:11 bike split) and relegating Thomas (5:20:19) to the back of the field.
With a women’s by-far-best 3:02:12 marathon, Simpson finished in 9:06:15 with a 48:36 lead on Thomas (3:20:26 run split) and 1:07:05 on 3rd place finisher Bevilaqua (4:00:36 marathon).
Ironman Western Australia
Busselton, Australia
December 5, 2021
S 2.4 mi. / B 112 mi. / R 26/2 mi.
Men's Results
1. Matt Burton (AUS) S 51:32 R1 2:26 B 4:14:13 T2 2:25 R 2:50:49 TOT 8:01:23
2. Steven McKenna (AUS) S 49:33 T1 2:28 B 4:19:29 T2 3:09 R 2:55:57 TOT 8:10:34
3. Fraser Walsh (AUS) S 49:40 T1 2:22 B 4:21:31 T2 3:19 R 2:55:00 TOT 8:11:50
4. Blake Kappler (AUS) S 51:29 T1 2:24 B 4:33:01 T2 3:02 R 3:05:11 TOT 8:35:05
5. Courtney Ogden (AUS) S 51:40 T1 2:37 B 4:46:43 T2 2:40 R 3:02:27 TOT 8:46:04
6. Caleb Noble (AUS) S 49:34 T1 2:29 B 4:39:44 T2 3:15 R 3:14:43 TOT 8:49:44
7. Lachlan Kerin (AUS ) S 49:34 T1 2:36 B 4:15:44 T2 2:35 R 3:46:57 TOT 8:57:24
Women
1. Kylie Simpson (AUS) S 1:08:34 T1 2:54 B 4:48:53 T2 3:44 R 3:02:12 TOT 9:06:15
2. Sarah Thomas (AUS) S 1:08:22 T1 2:43 B 5:20:19 T2 3:04 E 3:20:26 TOT 9:54:51
3. Kate Bevilaqua (AUS) S 59:11 T1 3:20 B 5:05:11 T2 5:05 R 4:00:36 TOT 10:13:20
