Sam Appleton and Lotte Wilms have claimed victory at Ironman 70.3 Geelong.
Appleton crossed the line in 3.41:15, almost two minutes ahead of defending champion Steve McKenna, with Josh Amberger a further 30 seconds behind in third, on Sunday.
Appleton’s win was his third Ironman 70.3 Geelong title, after going back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, with the 31-year-old only arriving home to Australia from America last week for the first time in two years.
“It feels great to kick off 2022 with a win here in Geelong,” Appleton said.
“I love this race, it’s actually one of my favourite races on the whole circuit, it’s beautiful and the whole town gets behind it, it’s a great atmosphere.”
Appleton came out of the water following the 1.9km swim in Corio Bay just behind Amberger, with the top two extending their lead over the 90km ride.
Appleton started the run just 15 seconds clear of Amberger and powered ahead to claim victory, with McKenna passing Amberger in the final stages of the run to finish second.
“I kind of knew what I needed to do to win and having Josh here is also really good, we play into each other’s strengths,” Appleton said.
“The race plan was to swim hard, bike hard – I knew there were a lot of really fast runners so it was in my interest to get a bit of a gap and fortunately I had good run legs,” Appleton said.
“Last year my run let me down a little bit and [this year] I felt better than any of my runs in all my races last year.
“I made a promise to myself at the end of last year to work on my weaknesses and that was obviously my run and [this] was a step in the right direction.”
The win was Appleton’s first on the international Ironman 70.3 circuit in three years and he said it was special to win in front of family.
“First win in three years, it feels great to get back on and notch another win,” he said.
“It’s important for me to race here … my brother lives in Melbourne and he came here to watch, my Dad flew down from Sydney to watch, it’s really special and I love racing in Australia.”
In the women’s race Lotte Wilms was unstoppable at the front, finishing in 4.07:41, more than three and a half minutes clear of Amelia Watkinson, with Victorian Grace Thek a further five minutes behind in third.
The Australian-based Dutch athlete was the one to beat all day, coming out of the water with an almost 90 second lead and she never looked back, continuing to extend her lead over the 90km ride and 21.1km run.
“[The] swim start was really good, not really choppy so I could have a good swim, the water felt really good, it wasn’t cold like I thought it would be,” she said.
“On the bike I just stayed on my pace that I thought I could hold for the first lap. I got pushed by the other girls, I saw them half way through so I thought I’d just see how far I can push this bike and it went pretty good.
“My heart rate stayed low so I was really happy to come off the bike and then I just ran my own pace.
“It was really unexpected, I was just focused on what I was doing and not where I would place and this is a good start to the year.”
Wilms’ win in Geelong was all the more impressive with it being just her second ever Ironman 70.3 race.
“It’s crazy, really crazy, but absolutely nice … there were a lot of people around and the Geelong spectators were fantastic,” she said.
“I got so much support, I really enjoyed the race.”
