Aussies Thompson and Keat victorious in Singapore
Simon Thompson won the 2008 Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore in hot and humid conditions and narrowly held of Terenzo Bozzone. Rebekah Keat took the women's title.
The men
Pete Jacobs, Bryan Rhodes, Terenzo Bozzone and Luke McKenzie were first out of the water followed immediately by Simon Thompson, Cameron Watt and Reinaldo Collucci.
Once on the bikes, a group of nine formed that included pretty much all the favorites. McKenzie crashed hard at the end of the first of three 30km bike loops but managed to get back on the bike and going again. In the group, a couple of athletes made attempts to get away but any break attempts were quickly shut down. After the race one of the pros in the group was overheard as saying: “Unfortunately they don’t enforce the drafting in the Asia like they do in the USA. Jimmy Riccitello would have had a field day!”
There was quite a bit of running speed represented in the front group, but before too long it came down to Bozzone and Thompson, and the two battled hard all the way to the finish line. Thompson took the win and Bozzone crossed the line 15 seconds later in second place. Jacobs had a superb run to finish third.
The women
Fast swims by Gina Ferguson and Sarah Pollett allowed these 2 athletes to have quite a bit of a lead on some of the other pre-race favorites early on the bike. But strong bike splits by Belinda Granger, Alison Fitch and Rebekah Keat put them in a very good position for the final run. Keat took charge on the run and used a 1:29:45 split to take the win. Ferguson grabbed second place and Fitch earned the final podium spot.
Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore / September 7, 2008
1.2m swim / 56m bike / 13.1m run
Top 10 men
1. Simon Thompson (AUS) 3:55:40
2. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:55:55
3. Pete Jacobs (AUS) 3:57:47
4. Peter Robertson (AUS) 4:03:33
5. Cameron Watt (AUS) 4:03:45
6. Luke McKenzie (AUS) 4:05:17
7. Bryan Rhodes (NZL) 4:08:45
8. Tim Berkel (AUS) 4:09:06
9. Uwe Widmann (GER) 4:12:46
10. Peter Loveridge (AUS) 4:14:06
Top 5 women
1. Rebekah Keat (AUS) 4:25:43
2. Gina Ferguson (NZL) 4:29:46
3. Alison Fitch (AUS) 4:31:45
4. Belinda Granger (AUS) 4:34:11
5. Naomi Imaizumi (JAP) 4:35:12
