Sunsmart Western Australia

  • Welcome to Sunsmart Western Australia! A stacked field is ready to compete at this weekend's event. For those in North America, the coverage will begin at 4:30 PM Eastern time.
  • Race Week in Busselton

    This Sunday will see the eighth edition of SunSmart Ironman Western Australia in the picturesque Busselton, Western Australia - approximately 2.5 hours drive South of Perth.

    The state's South-West region features crystal clear waters and the iconic Tuart Forest is again set to host 1,400 athletes from across the globe as they take on an incredibly fast and scenic course.

    Friday night sees the new-look 'Welcome to Ironman' event, held under the big top in Barnard Park, on the waterfront.

    We'll have coverage throughout the weekend - and on race day with live updates, athlete tracking, photos and live video - here on Ironman.com.

  • 'Welcome to Ironman' dinner - Friday night. Australia's Pete Jacobs is the guest speaker here this evening, discussing his recent second place at the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

  • Bevilaqua back to defend the women's crown

    The 2010 SunSmart Ironman Western Australia women’s champion Kate Bevilaqua returns in 2011 to chase down another hometown victory in Busselton. Like the defending men's champion Courtney Ogden, Bevilaqua hails from the home state of Western Australia and feels the added pressure that comes with this race.

    It will be a highly emotional day for Bevilaqua, whose family home was destroyed by the devastating wildfires that swept through the Margaret River region last week. 2010 Ironman Australia champion Carrie Lester sits alongside Bevilaqua as the women’s race favorite.

    Lester won the Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie event last month and has excellent form heading into Busselton this weekend. Both will be pushed by previous Ironman Wisconsin champion Hilary Biscay, who is making her SunSmart Ironman Western Australia debut and heads up the international contingent at this years race.

  • Defending champion Kate Bevilaqua, 2008 Ironman Wisconsin champion Hillary Biscay and 2010 Ironman Australia champion Carrie Lester at Friday's press conference.

  • The men’s professional race will be one of the best ever seen here in Busselton. Defending champion Courtney Ogden will attempt hold off a great men’s pack in a bid to become the first back-to-back winner of the event.

    Ogden will have his hands full on the day with Germany’s Timo Bracht and Australia’s Luke McKenzie being installed as pre-race favorites. Both Bracht and McKenzie are racing in Busselton on the back of top ten performances in Kona this year.

    Past champions including Jason Shortis, who holds the course record at 8:03:56 and uber-biker Mitch Anderson (returning to the professional field after a year as an age-grouper) will be well in the mix come Sunday and will be hoping to lift another Ironman Western Australia trophy aloft.
  • Good morning from Busselton, Western Australia. We're just over an one hour away from the start of the eighth edition of the SunSmart Ironman Western Australia.

    We're set for a baking day here in WA, with a top of 32C/90F expected early on. It certainly does get warm here quickly - so the challenges will come early for the 1350 or so starters this morning.

    The professional field will start the day at 5.30am local time, with the age-group field commencing at 5.45am.

  • Pre-race in transition

  • The water temperature is being announced as 21.1C/70.16F, so it's wetsuit optional this morning. The swim course is straightforward for our competitors - out and around the Busselton Jetty - the longest in the southern hemisphere at almost 2km in length.
  • The professional athletes have been introduced and are in the water awaiting their 5.30am start.
  • Sunsmart Ironman Western Australia is officially underway with the professional field out in the picturesque Geographe Bay

  • The pro race is under way.

  • The pros are away this morning and now over 1300 age group competitors are making their way to the swim start on the foreshore of Busselton. They commence is 15 minutes.
  • Clayton Fettell has a 20m lead on Luke McKenzie trailed by the rest of the field. There is a strong current out there challenging the swimmers.
  • As well as the current, the conditions are choppy towards the end turnaround point of the Busselton Jetty.
  • Clayton Fettell now has an amazing 50m lead on Luke McKenzie.
  • The age groupers are minutes away from starting their swim.
  • Clayton Fettell now has a 100m lead on Luke McKenzie

  • The age group field is now under way.

  • Clayton Fettell continues his 100m lead on Luke McKenzie trailed by the rest of the pack about 50m behind and lead by Dion Harrison from Great Britain.
  • Defending champion Courtney Ogden has taken a much wider line than the rest of the field out there on the swim.
  • Clayton Fettell has just turned around the jetty heading for the home straight.
  • The male professionals have about 1500m to swim. Clayton Fettell is dominating the swim and still well ahead of Luke McKenzie who is about 50m ahead of the pack.
  • Clayton Fettell has 2mins5secs on Luke McKenzie, who is approximately 90 seconds ahead of a pack of about 8 other swimmers.
  • Fettell has a very handy 3min lead now on Luke McKenzie who is still 90secs ahead of the pack. The professional men have about 800m to swim
  • Clayton Fettell is out of the water after a great swim and has gone through transition

  • Clayton Fettell is out of the water in 0:45:10.

  • Luke McKenzie has exited the water

  • Luke McKenzie is second out - two minutes back from Fettell.

  • McKenzie has powered out of tranisition
  • Defending men's champion Courtney Ogden is out of the water in 51 minutes.
  • Courtney Ogden has just gone through transition
  • A flood of athletes are now making their way through transition. Among them is Jason Shortis, Ironman WA 2004 and 2006 winner

  • Michelle Mitchell is the lead woman out of the water.

  • 2008 Ironman Wisconsin champion Hillary Biscay is second out of the water, just over a minute back from the women's leader in Mitchell.
  • Mitchell and Biscay have both gone through transition
  • Defending women's Ironman WA champion Kate Bevilaqua is now on the bike
  • The professional men at the 10km mark on the bike were lead by Fettell who is still leading followed by Luke McKenzie at 2:13mins behind.
  • Behind McKenzie at the 10km mark is Aaron Farlow, Maik Twelsiek, Timo Bracht, Josh Rix, Matty White, Guy Crawfor and Dion Harrison, 5mins30 secs behind.
  • Last year's race winner Courtney Ogden and Leon Griffin are 7mins 10secs behind the race leader. Previous Ironman WA champion Mitch Anderson and Simon Billeau are at 8mins 30secs behind the leader.
  • In the professional women's field, Michelle Mitchell has a 2min lead over Hilary Biscay at the 10km mark. Kate Bevilaqua, Michelle Bremer and Elly Franks are 3mins behind the race leader.
  • 6min 35sec behind the race leader is Timo Bracht, Aaron Farlow, Maik Twelsiek, Matty White, Josh Rix, Guy Crawford, Dion Harrison and Leon Griffin who has caught the group up
  • Defending champion Courtney Ogden is 8min behind the race leader, Mitch Anderson is 9min behind and Simon Billeau, Jason Shortis and Luke Whitmore are 10mins behind race leader
  • The three leading age groupers are Michael Rees, Ross Davis and Bevan Leach approximately 20km into the bike leg
  • The professional males have cleared the 30km mark. Clayton Fettell still has the lead with 2min 30sec over Luke McKenzie.
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