(UPDATE) RIO Olympics bronze medalist Henri Schoeman and Els Visser of the Netherlands showcased their dominance in the waters and the challenging terrain of the Ironman 70.3 Lapu-Lapu, emerging victorious in an exhilarating display of endurance and skill in Mactan Sunday.
Schoeman engaged in a fierce battle with Brit Thomas Bishop and Kiwi Sam Osborne during the swim leg in the men's pro division, while Visser dominated her side of the battle in the opening leg. The duo sustained their form all the way to the finish, securing wire-to-wire triumphs in the premier category of the 1.9k swim-90k bike-21k run race presented by Megaworld The Mactan Newtown.
Each pocketed $5,500 for their remarkable performances.
Barely emerging on top of the swim (00:24:15), Schoeman established a commanding lead of nearly three minutes over Bishop and Osborne after an impressive bike leg (02:08:48) and enduring the punishing run (01:24:29) in scorching conditions to claim the title in 04:02:31.
Osborne outpaced Bishop in the closing run and took runner-up honors in 04:06:40 with leg times of 00:25:44. 02:10:44 and 01:25:12, while Bishop settled for third in 04:11:01 with leg clocking of 00:25:18, 02:10:54 and 01:29:10.
Aussie Caleb Noble placed fourth in 04:13:47 followed by Calvin Amos, also from Down Under, (04:15:19), Chinese-Taipei's Tuan Chun Chang (04:18:42), Aussie Nathan Dortmann (04:19:05) and UAE's Luke Mathews (04:21:10).
Denmark's Daniel Bakkergard, one of the pre-race contenders, didn't start due to back pains.
In the women's pro division. Visser finished with a time of 04:21:29, triumphing over Germany's Anne Reischmann (04:24:39) and Hungary's Zsanett Bragmayer (04:36:41).
Visser, runner-up in the recent Ironman New Zealand, delivered an impressive performance in the swim leg, clocking 00:29:53 and building an early cushion over Reischmann, a consistent Top 10 finisher in the last three World Championships who timed 00:32:05.
She maintained her advantage in the bike (02:18:23) compared to Reischmann's 02:19:19 and cruised to victory with a 01:28:28 clocking in the run against the latter's 01:28:23.
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