Portuguese Pro Pedro Gomes grabbed the win at Ironman Sweden and a few weeks earlier he won Challenge Vitoria Gasteiz. He currently sits on the bubble of the KPR chase both in terms of points and also financially.

In his 10th year as a pro, Brandon Marsh took dead aim on qualifying for his first Ironman World Championship. He did it with a clutch runner-up finish against a quality field at Ironman Mt. Tremblant last weekend.

In her first year of elite competition, USA Triathlon Collegiate Recruitment Program’s Katie Hursey won two World Cup races – far sooner than U.S. stars Barb Lindquist and Sarah Haskins won their first.

Raleigh, NC resident Thys Wind was the fastest age grouper at Ironman 70.3 Raleigh and is regionally a contender for overall titles. We bumped into him at the Lake Mayo Sprint triathlon – a race where he came away with a big W.

Ottawa resident Ryan Cain stepped up to a Pro license in 2011 and most recently finished 5th at Ironman Lake Placid. That may be his finest Pro result to date, but he now is back at his day job for the Canadian Armed Forces.

Kiwi Callum Millward just finished 3rd at Ironman 70.3 Boulder and is now focused on the big event in Las Vegas. 2012 was a learning experience for that Boulder resident and he is ready to show what he has got.

21-year old Aussie Pro Sam Douglas has New York City as his current training base and he will be there most of the summer. Douglas finished 2nd to Joe Gambles at 70.3 Syracuse and is now getting ready for Rev3 Maine.

Emma Pooley is best known for her road cycling and time trial results, but this former runner competed in triathlon before she was famous. Pooley won Swissman earlier this year and just finished 5th at Ironman Switzerland.

We stumbled upon age grouper Nuno Henrique Luz at the DATEV Challenge Roth swim practice and we knew in an instant that he should be interviewed. He actually came to Roth to do his very first triathlon.

Kristin Möller won Ironman Lanzarote in mid May and followed it up with a podium spot at the European Ironman Championships in Frankfurt, Germany. We however bumped into her in Roth where she took part in a relay.

Dave Scott won 6 Ironman World Championships as a competitor. But as a coach and adviser, his work with Craig Alexander, Chrissie Wellington and now Eneko Llanos may be approaching that high standard.

With victories at Melbourne and Frankfurt, Eneko Llanos has to be a co-favorite to win his first Ironman World Championship; thanks to coach Dave Scott, the Spaniard is faster, stronger and better than ever.