Swallow, Dreitz win Jönköping
Jodie Swallow and Andreas Dreitz won the pro titles at the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Jönköping.
Swallow combined a women’s-best 24:14 swim in Lake Munksjön, a women’s 3rd-fastest 2:24:59 bike leg, and a women’s 2nd-best 1:24:56 run to finish in 4:19:19 with a 5:39 margin of victory over home country favorite Asa Lundström of Sweden and 6:01 over 3rd-place finisher Kimberley Morrison of Great Britain.
Swallow’s win was her third of 2016, following victories at the Asia–Pacific Ironman Championship at Cairns and her sixth straight triumph at Ironman 70.3 South Africa.
Dreitz overcame a 1:23 deficit after the swim with yet another race-best bike split, this time a 2:05:59 that was 3:03 better than the next-best effort of James Cunnama. Dreitz secured the win with a 4th-fastest 1:14:22 half marathon, bringing him to the finish in 3:49:45 with a 2:55 margin over runner-up Frederik Van Lierde of Belgium and 3:16 over 3rd-place finisher Cunnama of South Africa.
Dreitz took his second win of the year after a victory at Ironman 70.3 Mallorca and Ironman 70.3 and runner-up finishes at Texas and Oceanside.
Women
Swallow emerged from the swim with a 24:18 split which was 8th overall including the pro men, and which gave her a 1:54 lead on Emma Bilham of Switzerland, 1:57 on Laura Parker of Australia, 1:58 on Kimberley Morrison of Great Britain, and 5:38 on Asa Lundström of Sweden.
By 30k of the bike leg, Morrison took the lead and the duo rode together all the way to T2 where they dismounted with a 3:10 lead on Lundström, who rode a women's-best 2:22:33 split which was 19 seconds quicker than Morrison and 2:36 better than Swallow.
By 10k of the run, Swallow had a 3:17 lead on Morrison and 5:43 on Lundstrom. After her women’s 2nd-fastest 1:24:56 run, Swallow extended her lead to finish with a 5:39 lead over Lundström (1:27:25 run) and 6:01 over Morrison (1:30:50 run). Bilham closed with a women’s-best 1:21:35 run to take 4th, 7:02 back of the winner.
Men
Martin Bader of Austria led the swim in 23:04 which gave him a 32 seconds margin over Patrick Dirksmeier of Germany, 34 seconds over Van Lierde, 35 seconds over Fabio Carvalho of Brazil and Paul Schuster of Germany, 37 seconds over Cunnama, 1:13 on Timo Bracht of Germany, 1:19 on Florian Seifert of Germany, and 1:23 on Dreitz.
By the 26k of the bike, Seifert led a closely packed group of six including Bader, Van Lierde, Carvalho, Cunnama and Dirksmeier while Dreitz advanced to within a minute. By 65k, Dreitz took control with a 7 seconds lead on Cunnama, just over half a minute on Van Lierde, Carvalho and Seifert while Bader trailed by 2:29 and Timo Bracht and Mike Aigroz remained 5 minutes arrears. Cunnama fought back and took the lead by 70k, then Dreitz retook control at 80k.
After his race-best 2:05:59 bike split, Dreitz hit T2 with a 1:41 lead on Cunnama and 2:45 on Van Lierde, Seifert and Carvalho.
By 14k, Dreitz remained safely in the lead as Van Lierde passed Cunnama for second place and Dirksmeier charged hard to overcome his 2:16:55 bike leg. After his second-best 1:14:22 run, Dreitz finished with a 2:55 margin on Van Lierde (1:14:47 run), 3:16 on Cunnama (1:15:54 run), and 6:10 on Dirksmeier (race-best 1:10:49 run).
Ironman 70.3 Jönköping
Jönköping, Sweden
July 10, 2016
S 1.2 mi. / B 56 mi. / R 13.1 mi.
Results
Pro Women
1. Jodie Swallow (GBR) 4:19:19
2. Asa Lundström (SWE) 4:24:58
3. Kimberley Morrison (GBR) 4:25:20
4. Emma Bilham (SUI) 4:26:21
5. Anine Hell (GER) 4:42:40
Pro Men
1. Andreas Dreitz (GER) 3:49:25
2. Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) 3:52:40
3. James Cunnama (RSA) 3:53:01
4. Patrick Dirksmeier (GER) 3:55:55
5. Florian Seifert (GER) 3:56:13
