Big money and smiles on day 3
Javier Gomez and Gwen Jorgensen held on to the top positions on the third and final day at the Island House Invitational Triathlon, and they were rewarded nicely. Each champion walked away with a $60,000 check for the overall win, but they also collected individual day podium checks plus primes. Jorgensen won the Coca-Cola run prime, and Gomez captured the Roka swim and Coca-Cola run primes. Cameron Dye moved past Tim Don to grab the Cervelo bike prime, and in the women's race Lisa Norden earned that Cervelo bike prime. As predicted early on, Lauren Brandon walked away with the Roka swim prime.
The men
The stage 3 sprint triathlon was a non-drafting affair and athletes had to tackle a 750 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike, and 5 kilometer run, but in a chase format with each athlete starting based on their time deficit after the day 2 stage.
Gomez was thus first into the water and he again showed his swim prowess. His 9:18 time was best on the day and that meant 23 more seconds of advantage over his closest pursuer Richard Murray. Tim Don also lost more time, but all three maintained their overall podium positions. Cam Dye had the 2nd best swim time of 9:24 but he started the day 4 minutes behind Gomez, 3:02 behind Murray, and 2:40 behind Don.
Once on the bike, Dye rode like a possessed man and had the race best bike split of 29:57 for the 20km segment. He gained time back on Gomez, Murray and Don, but more importantly he moved past Hoffman and Griffin into 4th place. Murray took back 15 seconds from Gomez with his 31:07 bike split, which was second best in Highbourne Cay. Don meanwhile lost more time to Murray but inched 5 seconds closer to the race leader. Leon Griffin, Luke McKenzie and Ben Hoffman all rode solid 31:14 splits, but they were not on the road together.
Gomez closed out his day and his 3 day adventure in the Bahamas with a race best 14:43 run and grabbed the win and the $60,000 check. Richard Murray deservedly earned 2nd place and won $45,000, and Tim Don rounded out the podium with a $30,000 check for his effort.
The women
Gwen Jorgensen started the swim with a 41 second advantage over Flora Duffy and 1:02 over Lisa Norden, and she added a few more seconds to her lead after the 750 meter swim. Lauren Brandon, who started the swim on this last stage 7:08 behind Jorgensen, recorded the fastest swim split in 9:58, but the leaders were well up the road when Brandon hit the beach.
Norden went full throttle on the bike and managed to reel in Jorgensen with a race best 33:34 bike split. That gave her a small advantage into T2 over Jorgensen, who biked 34:48.
Duffy took back 7 seconds from the race leader, and further back Heather Wurtele rode a speedy 33:58. The battle for fourth place between Alicia Kaye and Rachel Klamer continued on this final day, and Kaye added a few seconds during the bike leg.
Jorgensen ran a race best 16:39 to take the win and the $60,000 check, but she had a tough challenge from Lisa Norden who ended up with the runner-up position and a $45,000 check. Flora Duffy finished 3rd and earned $30,000.
2015 Island House Invitational Triathlon
Highbourne Cay, Exuma
Top women final
1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 3:27:47
2. Lisa Norden (SWE) + :34
3. Flora Duffy (BER) + 1:06
4. Alicia Kaye (USA) + 3:37
5. Rachel Klamer (NED) + 3:57
6. Heather Wurtele (CAN) + 7:44
7. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) + 8:37
8. Lauren Brandon (USA) + 8:54
9. Rachel Joyce (GBR) + 10:12
10. Leanda Cave (GBR) +10:43
Top men final
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 3:08:21
2. Richard Murray (RSA) + 1:22
3. Tim Don (GBR) + 2:52
4. Cam Dye (USA) + 3:38
5. Leon Griffin (AUS) + 4:34
6. Ben Hoffman (USA) + 5:52
7. Luke McKenzie (AUS) + 8:36
8. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) +10:19
9. Barrett Brandon (USA) +11:08
10. Tim O’Donnell (USA) + 15:51
Images © Nils Nilsen/Island House Triathlon
