Alaska teamTBB Philippines Xena Wins!

Race Review - April 21st-22nd 2012

Koh Samui Triathlon, Thailand

Sunday April 22nd
Distance: 4 km swim • 123km bike • 30km run

teamTBB - Philippines athletes racing
Caroline Steffen
Dave Dellow
Ali Fitch

teamTBB - Thailand athletes racing
Aaron Farlow
Matt Bailey
Carrie Lester

Xena and Dave of Alaska teamTBB Philippines double teamed the competition both winning at the Koh Samui Triathlon in Thailand this weekend.  This will be a unique long course event offered up the biggest prize purse in all of Asia and drew a star-studded stacked field.  The race made Dave and Xena work hard with a challenging course and very hot humid conditions.  The race started with a very warm 34 degree Celsius 4K swim then a 123K bike and finished with a 30K run in 40 degree hot and humid conditions.  Dave raced smart all day and stole the win running past and defeating a stellar field that included Cam Brown, Dirk Bockel, Faris Al Sultan, and Marino Vanhoenacker to name a few.  The women's side is not nearly as stacked our Xena took the race from the start and lead all day racing strong in all three disciplines.  Carrie Lester finished in 2nd battling strong all day and Ali Fitch struggled but battled home strong in 9th place.

Xena reported in that the race conditions were incredibly tough and said she was very proud of Dave for his win against such a strong field of men.  She summed up the weekend saying "Koh Samui Triathlon: beautiful place, beautiful people, awesome race!  Aaron reported in that he struggled on the day and the race conditions were the toughest he has ever experienced.  He was dissapointed to finish 6th but is looking forward to his next race for redemption.  Matt also struggled on the bike and run and was unable to finish.  While Ali reported that the conditions were equally tough,  she was faced with additional challenges as her bike had a mechanical that kept her in the big chain ring all day and the fuel on course did not agree with her.  But, Ali was proud that she battled through her gut distress and finished strong.

Female
1^st Caroline Steffen (Alaska teamTBB Philippines)

2^nd Carrie Lester (teamTBB Thailand)

3^rd Joanna Lawn

9th Ali Fitch (Alaska teamTBB Philippines)

Male

1st David Dellow

2^nd Faris Al Sultan

3^rd Marino van Hoenaker

6^th Aaron Farlow (teamTBB Germany)

Congrats to Xena and Dave on a great weekend of racing and a pair of wins on a tough day!

Find out more: http://www.triathlonsamui.com

Ironman South Africa, South Africa

Sunday April 22nd
Distance: 3.8 km swim • 180km bike • 42.2km run

teamTBB - Germany athlete racing
Diana Riesler

Diana kicked off her Ironman season in South Africa this weekend finishing in 3rd place again after finishing in 3rd in 2011 as well!  Diana was proud as she battled hard in very difficult conditions.  The swim had a strong current and choppy waves.  Then, on the bike the wind picked up to 60kph straight away making for a very hard long day on the bike.  Diana biked strong producing the 3rd fastest bike split and second fastest run. Natasha Badmann won tracking down Simone Brändli of Switzerland on the run, and Diana just needed a bit more time to move up the podium so had to settle for 3rd place.

Diana says that she was very proud of her podium finish in very tough race conditions.  She is excited to have her first Ironman for 2012 under her belt and looking forward to climbing up the podium in her next race.

Congrats on your 3rd place Diana!

Women

1. Natascha Badmann (SUI) 9:47:10
2. Simone Brandli (SUI) 9:52:26
3. Diane Riesler (GER) 10:01:14


Find out more: http://www.ironmansouthafrica.com

Good luck, we wish you the best mechanical luck!