Leiferman, Seymour Victorious at 30th Great Floridian
Chris Leiferman of Longmont, Colorado and Jeanni Seymour of South Africa took the professional honors at the 30th Great Floridian Triathlon in Clermont, Florida. Leiferman overcame a 2:31 deficit after the swim with a race-best 1:28:49 bike split and a second-fastest 45:46 run to finish in 2:34:42 with a 14 seconds margin of victory over Bradley Weiss of South Africa and 1:56 over third-place finisher Benjamin Kanute of Phoenix, Arizona.
Seymour, who is based in Boulder, Colorado, combined a women’s second-best 17:34 swim with a women’s second-fastest 1:42:56 bike split and a women’s third-quickest 55:02 run to finish in 2:59:17 with a 3:23 margin over Lisa Becharas of Boulder and 8:53 over Lenny Ramsey of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
A fairly strong pro field took on the middle-distance central Florida course which consisted of an .8-mile swim in Lake Minneola, a 39.8-mile bike course which included one of the highest hills in the state, and an 8.3-mile run.
Pro Men’s race recap
Top U.S. swimmers Ben Kanute and Timothy O’Donnell and South African Bradley Weiss sprinted out to a 1:12 lead over a chase pack that included Justin Metzler of the U.S. Andre Lopes of Brazil and a U.S phalanx that included Nicholas Chase, Tim Rea and, Leiferman. Matt Russell trailed in 9th, 4:05 back of the leaders.
On the strength of his race-best 1:28:49 bike split, Leiferman found his way near the front, closely following Weiss, Kanute, Andre Lopes, and Metzler. Timothy O’Donnell fell far off the front with a 1:44:59 bike split.
After nearly identical 1:06, 1:08 and 1:06 transitions, Leiferman Weiss and Kanute set out front on the run in a pack of three. After his 45:46 run, Leiferman edged out Weiss by 14 seconds and carved out a definitive 1:56 margin on Kanute, who fell off the pace with a 47:35 run while Lopes closed to 4th place with a race-best 45:40 run.
Pro Women’s race recap
Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the swim with a women’s best 17:27 split that gave her a 7-seconds margin on Seymour, and 2:04 on Becharas, 2:36 on Laura Matthews, 3:07 on Lara Gruden and 4:36 on Lenny Ramsey.
Becharas charged to the front with a women’s best 1:40:52 bike split that gave her a 6 seconds lead on Seymour, and 7:11 on Jennifer Spieldenner with Lenny Ramsey another six minutes arrears starting the run.
Ramsey made a charge with a women’s-fastest 53 minutes run split that was 30 seconds faster than Sarah Bishop and 1:02 better than Seymour’s 55:02 split. After her 2:59:17 finish, Seymour won by a 3:23 margin over Becharas (58:45 run) and 8:53 over Ramsey.
30th Great Floridian Pro Results
Clermont, Florida
October 24, 2020
S .8 mi. / B 39.8 mi. / R 8.3 mi.
Men
1. Chris Leiferman (USA) S 17:17 T1 1:42 B 1:28:49 T2 1:06 R 45:46 TOT 2:34:42
2. Bradley Weiss (RSA) S 17:07 T1 1:45 B 1:28:58 T2 1:08 R 45:55 TOT 2:34:56
3. Benjamin Kanute (USA) S 15:48 T1 1:34 B 1:30:33 R2 1:06 R 47:35 TOT 2:36:38
4. Andre Lopes (BRA) S 17:10 T1 1:50 B 1:31:20 T2 1:23 R 45:40 TOT 2:37:24
5. Nicholas Chase (USA) S 17:11 T1 1:44 B 1:29:04 T2 1:44 R 50:41 TOT 2:39:57
6. Justin Metzler (USA) S 17:09 T1 1:47 B 1:33:06 T2 1:19 R 48:06 TOT 2:41:29
7. Matthew Russell (USA) S 19:46 T1 2:08 B 1:34:03 T2 1:26 R 48:39 TOT 2:46:03
8. Tim Rea (USA) S 17:12 T1 1:49 B 1:37:57 T2 1:39 R 51:02 TOT 2:45:41
9. Luis Ortiz (USA) S N/A T1 N/A B N/A T2 N/A R N/A TOT 2:51:32
10. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) S 15:51 T1 1:42 B 1:44:59 T2 1:16 R 49:12 TOT 2:53:02
Women
1. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) S 17:34 T1 2:03 B 1:42:56 T2 1:40 R 55:02 TOT 2:59:17
2. Lisa Becharas (USA) S TOT D 19:23 T1 2:12 B 1:40:52 T2 1:26 R 58:45 TOT 3:02:40
3. Lenny Ramsey (USA) TOT S 22:03 T1 3:38 B 1:47:36 T2 1:50 R 53:00 TOT 3:08:10
4. Sarah Bishop (USA) S 23:23 B 2:35 B 1:49:36 T2 1:34 R 53:30 TOT 3:10:41
5. Ginger Howell (USA S 20:53 T1 2:22 B 1:51:12 T2 1:28 R 56:47 TOT 3:12:45
6. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) S 17:27 T1 2:06 B 1:50:056 T2 1:33 R 1:02:49 TOT 3:14:02
7. Laura Matthews (USA) S 20:03 T1 2:29 B 1:53:14 T2 1:30 R 1:01:57 TOT 3:19:15
8. Lara Gruden (USA) S 20:34 T1 2:22 B 1:57:17 T2 1:35 R 1:02:35 TOT 3:24:26
9. Tamara Kozulina (UKR) S 22:48 T1 1:59 B 1:55:24 T2 1:31 R 1:04:31 TOT 3:26:15
10. Elizabeth Nyitray (USA) S 21:23 T1 2:26 B 2:26 B 1:56:34 T2 1:33 R 1:08:20 TOT 3:30:18
