Posted: October 29, 2004

Triathlon: Round Six, Ironman Australia Qualifying Series

Meningie Half Ironman, - Meningie, South Australia, (Sunday October 24, 2004)

The lakeside town of Meningie in South Australia, 150km from Adelaide, played host to Round Six of the Ironman Australia Qualifying Series as 121 athletes from around the country attempted to gain one of 25 qualify spots available for the 2005 Snap Ironman Australia.

The whole town came out to watch or volunteer their services to the inaugural event, held over the half Ironman distances of a 1.9km swim, 90km ride and 21.1km run. The biggest field seen at a SA Half Ironman competed over a two-lap swim in Lake Albert, a windy two-lap cycle towards Narrung and a three-lap run alongside the lake.

In a sensational race Matthew Stephens won his fourth SA Half Ironman after a tough head-to-head battle on the run with Scott Green. Stephens was using the event as part of his preparation for next month’s Ironman Western Australia. Stephens was in the first pack of three out of the water before taking the lead on the bike. Stephens led off the bike with a 30- second buffer to Green but was caught early in the run, leading to an ongoing battle. It wasn't until the last five kilometres of the run that Stephens managed to surge away from Green, winning by just over a minute. In third place was Victoria's Darren Franken over nine minutes behind Stephens. Age group athlete Andrew Leyden from Victoria had the fourth fastest time of the day with Darren Pollock fifth over the line.

In the women’s race Helen Roach led out of the swim but was quickly caught by Susan Peter who had the fastest female bike and run splits of the day, helping her to a 12-minute win over Roach. In third was Dani Stephens, wife of men’s race winner Matt. Age group athlete Joanne Parlevliet was fourth with Louise Bower fifth over the line.

The next event of the series is in Forster-Tuncurry, the home of the Snap Ironman Australia triathlon. The race is held over one lap of the famous Ironman course and offers 200 qualify spots for the 2005 event.

Name                          Swim               Cycle               Run                 Total
1 Matt Stephens           0:29:01             2:19:51             1:16:19             4:05:11
2 Scott Green               0:29:39             2:19:43             1:16:56             4:06:18
3 Darren Franken         0:31:12             2:21:57             1:21:44             4:14:53
4 Andrew Leyden         0:35:13             2:23:59             1:23:04             4:22:16
5 Darren Pollock          0:29:33              2:24:49            1:28:15             4:22:37

Name                           Swim              Cycle               Run                 Total
1 Susan Peter               0:37:10             2:30:32             1:32:58             4:40:40
2 Helen Roach              0:31:59             2:43:04             1:37:31             4:52:34
3 Dani Stephens           0:32:28             2:48:14             1:36:52             4:57:34
4 Joanne Parlevliet        0:43:33             2:54:37             1:35:35             5:13:45
5 Louise Bower            0:37:05             2:51:51             1:47:32             5:16:28

Round Seven, Ironman Australia Qualifying Series

Forster Half Ironman, Forster-Tuncurry, NSW, (Sunday October 31, 2004)

The Ironman Australia Qualifying Series moves onto Round Seven on Sunday October 31, for the Forster Half Ironman held at the NSW coastal town of Forster-Tuncurry. The race, which is a half Ironman event, is run over one lap of the course used for the Snap Ironman Australian triathlon. The half Ironman attracts athletes from all over Australia to help them prepare for the Ironman event and the race distance consisting of a 1.9km swim, 90km ride, and a 21.1km run allows both the seasoned athlete and the new-comer the opportunity to experience the famous Forster course.

Headlining this year’s event will again be the Gold Coast’s Jason Shortis who placed third at the 2004 Snap Ironman Australia held last April. Ben Harley, 23, who placed second at last year’s Forster Half Ironman will be hoping to go one step further this year. Also challenging race favourite Shortis will be Nick Saunders, Bevan Leach and Leigh Birch.

In the women’s race, 33-year-old Angela Milne of Western Australia enters the race a favourite but is sure to be challenged by rising star Charlotte Paul, who recently placed second at Ironman Korea to eight-time Hawaii Ironman champion Paula Newby-Fraser.

With 200 qualifying slots for the Snap Ironman Australian triathlon up for grabs, 978 athletes are set to converge on the town known as the ‘Home of the Snap Ironman Australia triathlon’.

Men’s Elite Field:

Jason SHORTIS
Ben HARLEY
Nick SAUNDERS
Bevan LEACH
Steve CROFT
Joel COOK
Heath BETTS
Wim DE DONCKER
Leigh BIRCH
Paul MORRIS
Aaron FARLOW
Tim PORTER

Women’s Elite Field

Angela MILNE
Sarah FIEN
Charlotte PAUL
Miranda STACEY
Rebecca MYERSCOUGH

Busselton Elite Field Finalised

876 athletes have confirmed their positions in the November 28, 2004 dodo Ironman Western Australia triathlon. Included in the field is a group of elite athletes hoping to take out the inaugural men and women’s title.

Athletes such as Jason Shortis of Queensland, Petr Vabrousek from the Czech Republic, Matt Stephens from South Australia and local favourite Stefan Kolm all hope their names will be engraved on the winner’s trophy. The women’s race is set to be a battle between New Zealand’s Karyn Ballance, Great Britain’s Jess Draskau-Pettersson and Australia’s Rebekah Keat.

Elite Men:
1 SHORTIS Jason
2 VABROUSEK Petr
3 RHODES Bryan
4 STEPHENS Matt
5 JACOBS Pete
6 VAN ROOYEN Jan
7 KOLM Stefan
8 McKENZIE Luke
9 SAUNDERS Nick
10 HALL Jonathan
11 DE DONCKER Wim
12 MORRIS Paul
13 TULLETT Robin
14 GREEN Scott
15 BIEMANN Daniel
16 SACCO Nic
17 URWIN Brett
18 STRINI Markus
19 GORE Glen
20 KERN Peter
21 FRANKEN Darren
22 BISHOP Steven
23 CAREY John
24 MATSUMARU Masayuki

Elite Women
31 BALLANCE Karyn
32 DRASKAU PETERSSON Jess
33 ROBBINS Marissa
34 KRISTENSEN Lisbeth
35 DOCHERTY Fiona
36 KEAT Rebekah
37 PAUL Charlotte
38 STACEY Miranda
39 COOKSLEY Caroline
40 PIETSCH Verity
41 COULTER (ROBB) Rebecca
42 KEAN Alison