Southern Western Australia is one of my favorite places in Australia. It’s quite beautiful, though I’m still not convinced about swimming in all the ocean beaches. Busselton is just over an hour drive south of Perth, and just slightly south of the Margaret River wine district.

Arriving in the pre-dawn hours again for an Ironman triathlon, the nerves and anticipation are everywhere. All of the athletes are going through their mental preparation, some thinking through their race pacing or their nutrition schedule, and others are just trying not to vomit, before it even starts. The swim in Busselton in a wetsuit race, heading out into the cool waters of the antarctic Indian Ocean for a lap around the end of the pier. At this race the swim exit leads almost straight into transition. The bike course here is a fairly flat, it leads out of the heart of beachfront Busselton, slightly inland through the national park. The ride had a couple of detours and turnaround points, but is fairly flat and very fast for the four laps that make up the 180km course. The run leg is another four lap course, taking athletes along the shoreline, past the iconic Busselton Pier before winding it’s way back through the main streets of town to the finish.

From the time I arrived, Western Australia had provided amazingly good weather. This only continued come race day. As the early morning might broke through behind us at the swim start, we could see just a few light clouds in the sky. The wetsuit laden athletes gathering at the water’s edge in anticipation of the start. The red caps, the pros go first. Called out into the water one by one, they take their position for the deep water start. The story on the swim is becoming a familiar one in Australian triathlon, Clayton Fettell was out in front and coming up the beach first. The young upstart was closely followed by more seasoned, Luke McKenzie, with Englishman Dion Harrison and fellow Aussie Guy Crawford leading the chase pack. One out of transition one Fettell was looking to extend his lead. The emerging swim/biker’s talent is ever present, as he sets a phenomenal pace.

Australian Michelle Mitchell lead the women’s field out of the water after the 3.8km swim, in front of American Hilary Biscay and Aussie Yvette Grice. Clayton Fettell is a strong rider and led for much of the 180km course, though his pace proved too much too sustain, as the male group closed up and German, Maik Twelsiek pushed Fettell hard for the rest of the bike race. The women’s field was seeing an emergence of a new talent, with first time Ironman competitor, Michelle Bremer working her way from a 7th place out of the water, to lead the bike leg. New Zealander, Michelle Bremer is new to the sport of triathlon, recently moving to train in Mooloolaba, Queensland, she has chosen Ironman Western Australia to make her debut. Other women looking noticeably strong out on the bike are Elly Franks, who appeared to have her own dedicated cheer squad and fellow Aussie, Carrie Lester.

Fettel held up under pressure from the German onslaught. This didn’t hold up on the run though, as in a coordinated attack, Twelsiek had pushed Fettell hard on the bike course, setting his German Commerzbank team mate, Timo Bracht to chase them down on the run course. At this stage of the day, the weather turned, coming out with passing showers and very hot, humid conditions punishing the runners. Notably, the most senior athlete in the field, Jason Shortis, who had been in the mid-pack for most of the race, was proving strong on the run. Shortis had very probably the best run of the day, coming into transition two at the tail end of the male pro group, to finish in third place, behind youngster Clayton Fettell and German international Timo Bracht.

The female field was proving consistently strong, with Michelle Bremer leading from Carry Lester and Elly Franks into transition two. And all three women had very strong run legs and held station into the finish.

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