Buckingham, Bleymehl Best at Ironman South Africa
After windy weather and choppy water forced race officials to shorten the swim to 700 meters, the Ironman Africa women’s race was won on the bike and the men’s contest was settled with a fierce duel on the run.
Women
Eight months after the birth of her second child Alicia, Daniela Bleymehl smashed open the women’s field with a bike split that was 9:28 better that her nearest rival, finishing in 8:22:34 with a 11:25 margin over fellow German Elena Illeditsch and 15:11 over third place finisher Magda Nieuwoudt of South Africa.
The 2018 Challenge Roth victor, who earned three Ironman titles before this race, began with a 20 seconds deficit after the swim and broke away with Susie Cheetham of Great Britain and Sarissa de Vries of Netherlands to a large lead on the bike. While Cheetham and de Vries dropped out, Bleymehl aced the bike leg with a 4:56:24 split that gave her an 11:55 lead starting the run. Bleymehl then capped her day with a 4th-best 3:11:41 marathon.
In a post-race interview with race announcer Paul Kaye cited in a Tri247 article, Bleymehl said “I was so much dying in the last hour, I can’t remember the last time I suffered so much.”
Men
In a tight race with completely different dynamics, 2018 Ironman Africa winner Kyle Buckingham eked out the men’s win by a 19 seconds margin over fellow South African Bradley Weiss. Buckingham began with a 7th-best 8:08 swim that left him 13 seconds back of Nils Frommhold, 15 seconds ahead of daylong rival Bradley Weiss, and 37 seconds ahead of pre-race favorite Joe Skipper of Great Britain.
On the bike leg, Jesper Svensson of Sweden led a breakaway pack of seven men separated by a total of 37 seconds. Svensson took a 1 second lead on Skipper, 22 seconds on Matt Trautman of South Africa, 24 seconds on Frommhold, 30 seconds on Buckingham, 32 seconds on Bradley Weiss, and 37 seconds on Samuel Huerzeler of Switzerland.
The run developed into a three-man duel won on the run. Buckingham unleashed a winning race-best 2:41:35 marathon that brough him to the line in 7:16:31 with a 19 seconds margin over Weiss (2:41:51 run split) and 22 seconds over Trautman (2:42:40 split).
Skipper, who went into this event as the favorite thanks to a stellar Ironman record that includes wins the UK in 2018, Florida in 2019, New Zealand in 2020, and the UIK and Chattanooga in 2021, took fourth place,3:11 back of the winner, thanks to a race-best 4:21:44 bike split and 4th-fastest 2:45:13 run.
Ironman Africa
Nelson Mandela Bay
April 3, 2022
S 700m / B 112 mi. / R 26.2 mi.
Women
1. Daniela Bleymehl (GER) S 10:00 T1 2:25 B 4:56:24 T2 2:05 R 3:11:41 TOT 8:22:34 $25,000
2. Elena Illeditsch (GER) S 11:02 T1 3:09 B 5:07:40 T2 2:22 R 3:09:48 TOT 8:33:59 $15,000
3. Magda Nieuwoudt (RSA) S 9:57 T1 2:33 B 5:0:59 T2 1:58 R 3:12:20 TOT 8:37:45 $9,000
4. Natia Van Heerden (RSA) S10:02 T1 2:30 B 5:09:51 T2 1:55 R 3:14:18 TOT 8:38:33 $7,500
5. Jade Nicol (RSA) S 9:40 T1 2:47 B 5:1q9:24 T2 2:27 R 3:06:45 TOT 8:41:01 $5,500
6. Katharina Grohmann (GER) S 12:08 T1 2:45 B 5:05:52 T2 -2:06 R 3:21:52 TOT 8:44:42 $4,000
7. Emma Bilham (SUI) S 10:00 T1 3:01 B 5:25:02 T2 1:56 R 3:10:04 TOT 8:50:01 $3,000
8. Margrit Elfers (GER) S 11:19 T1 2:47 B 5:07:40 T2 2:04 R 3:32:21 TOT 8:56:09 $2,500
9. Gabriele Obmann (AUT) S 11:47 T1 3:16 B 5:19:43 T2 2:13 R 3:25:03 TOT 9:02:00 $2,000
10. Mariella Sawyer (RSA) S 10:48 T1 2:27 B 5:22:57 T2 1:49 R 3:35:15 TOT 9:13:15 $1,500
Men
1. Kyle Buckingham (RSA) S 8:08 T1 2:08 B 4:22:52 T2 1:49 R 2:41:35 TOT 7:16:31 $25,000
2. Bradley Weiss (RSA) S 8:23 T1 2:13 B 4:22:35 T2 1:51 R 2:41:51 TOT 7:16:50 $15,000
3. Matt Trautman (RSA) S 8:23 T1 2:10 B 4:22:28 T2 1:58 R 2:42:40 TOT 7:17:37 $9,000
4. Joe Skipper (GBR) S 8:46 T1 2:10 B 4:21:44 T2 1:52 R 2:45:13 TOT 7:19:42 $7,500
5. Collin Chartier (USA) S 7:57 T1 2:12 B 4:27:23 T2 1:54 R 2:47:19 TOT 7:26:43 $5,500
6. Franz Löschke (GER) S 7:56 T1 2:15 B 4:29:06 T2 1:53 R 2:49:43 TOT 7:30:52 $4,000
7. Kevin Maurel (FRA) S 8:30 T1 2:02 B 4:28:43 T2 1:54 R 2:50:09 TOT 7:31:15 $3,000
8. Samuel Huerzeler (SUI) S 8:30 T1 2:20 B 4:22:24 T2 2:09 R 2:56:52 TOT 7:32:13 $2,500
9. Stenn Goetstouwers (SUI) S 8:38 T1 2:26 B 4:33:35 T2 2:06 R 2:49:56 TOT 7:36:38 $2,000
10. Jesper Svensson (SWE) S 7:57 T1 2:16 B 4:22:24 T2 1:53 R 3:06:24 TOT 7:40:53 $1,500
