That Ironman Cozumel is a lightning-fast race – mainly due to the swim course, in which athletes swim 3.8 kilometers with the strong current from behind – was already apparent yesterday when Kristian Blummenfelt recorded a time of 7:21:12 and was thus good for the fastest IM ever. Things also went fast in the women’s race, where Sara Svensk claimed victory after 8:22:41.
After the swim, Svensk had to go in pursuit, as the Swedish came out of the water almost four minutes behind Carrie Lester, who with a swim time of 43:12 minutes was the first to head to T1. Five other women followed, before Svensk could also start her 180-kilometer bike ride.
On the bike, Svensk quickly raced to the front in terms of positions, but once she was third, she did not manage to close the gap to the front. Lester and also Dede Griesbauer had found each other and were leading together, after 100 kilometers even more than four minutes ahead of Svensk. In the end, Griesbauer rode away from Lester to be the first towards the marathon. Lester followed 2:22 minutes later as second and Svensk started her run with 5:05 minutes behind.
It didn’t take Svensk long to catch up then because after 15 kilometers into the run she took over the lead in the race and from that point on she also saw her lead only grow. After 8:22:41 she won the race, 8:30 minutes ahead of Spain’s Gurutze Frades Larralde. Lester, who lost her second spot in the closing stages, finished third, 13:59 minutes behind the winner.
