Island House Triathlon: Gomez and Jorgensen take overall titles
The prestigious event on a paradise island in the Bahamas was contested by athletes across all tri distances and categories: but it was the current ITU World Champions who prevailed
After three days of racing over various formats, current WTS champs Javier Gomez and Gwen Jorgensen further cemented their position as the top triathletes in the world at the moment, with convincing overall victories at the Island House Invitational Triathlon.
With prize money awarded for each individual race, the fastest overall swimmers, cyclists, and runners and overall classification winners, it amounted to a huge payday for multiple winners Gomez and Jorgensen. Gomez picked up $1000 for winning two races, $250 premiums for fastest swim and run splits and $60,000 for his overall victory, with Jorgensen picking up almost as much due to finishing 2nd in the final day non-drafting event to Lisa Norden. Gomez was only defeated by bike specialist Cameron Dye in the sprint event.
Short-course specialists dominated the opening day ‘prologue’ event, which consisted of a fast and furious 300 meter swim, 7k bike and 2k run. Surprisingly Tim Don managed to finish in 3rd despite competing in long distance events for large parts of his season.
The second day was a draft-legal Olympic distance race, and was the one most similar to ITU racing. After a mass swim start on the beach, it was again Jorgensen and Gomez who were victorious, with Richard Murray and Tim Don finishing second and third males, and Flora Duffy and Lisa Norden taking the positions in the women’s race.
Eventual women’s overall winner Gwen Jorgensen on one of the bike courses
The third day was a 750m swim/20km bike/5km run race with a non-drafting bike course. Jorgensen started with a 41 second advantage over Duffy in second current leader on general classification, and extended this coming out of the water. Behind the leaders, American athlete and winner of the Roka swim competition, Lauren Brandon, recorded the fastest swim time of the women, 9:56. That time beat all but three of the male competitors. Despite Norden hitting the front on the bike and recording the fastest time of the day, it was Jorgensen who claimed the overall victory, as she ran a blistering 5km and bridged the gap.
Men’s winner Gomez, who displayed phenomenal versatility to win over the three races
On the men’s side, Javier Gomez, leader on general classification, was first in the water, almost one minute ahead of Richard Murray. Britain’s Tim Don was a further 20 seconds behind Murray. As the leader in the swim competition, it was no surprise that Gomez had further extended his lead as he began the bike course. Indeed, Gomez recorded the fastest swim on the day with a time of 9:18, winning the Roka-sponsored fastest swimmer competition. Gomez looked in complete control during the bike portion and maintained the time gap to his chasers, while Murray added a further 10 seconds to his buffer on Don. The fastest bike split of the day belonged to Cameron Dye, promoting the American to winner of the Cervelo fastest biker competition.
The men’s overall podium, including Britain’s Tim Don in third place
The podium placings remained the same on the run and Gomez recorded the fastest run, adding winner of the Coca-Cola-sponsored fastest runner competition to his achievements on the day. Gomez crossed the line to take the Island House Invitational Triathlon overall title, 1:21 ahead of Murray and 2:53 ahead of Don.
Women’s final results
1. Gwen Jorgensen (USA) 3:27:47
2. Lisa Norden (SWE) + :34
3. Flora Duffy (BER) + 1:06
4. Alicia Kaye (USA) + 3:37
5. Rachel Klamer (NED) + 3:57
6. Heather Wurtele (CAN) + 7:44
7. Mirinda Carfrae (AUS) + 8:37
8. Lauren Brandon (USA) + 8:54
9. Rachel Joyce (GBR) + 10:12
10. Leanda Cave (GBR) +10:43
Men’s final results
1. Javier Gomez (ESP) 3:08:21
2. Richard Murray (RSA) + 1:22
3. Tim Don (GBR) + 2:52
4. Cam Dye (USA) + 3:38
5. Leon Griffin (AUS) + 4:34
6. Ben Hoffman (USA) + 5:52
7. Luke McKenzie (AUS) + 8:36
8. Trevor Wurtele (CAN) +10:19
9. Barrett Brandon (USA) +11:08
10. Tim O’Donnell (USA) + 15:51
Fastest swimmer (sponsored by Roka)
Female – Lauren Brandon
Male – Javier Gomez
Fastest bike (sponsored by Cervelo)
Female – Lisa Norden
Male – Cameron Dye
Fastest runner (sponsored by Coca-Cola)
Female – Gwen Jorgensen
Male – Javier Gomez
Image credits: Nils Nilsen/Island House Invitational Triathlon
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Jack Sexty
Editor at road.cc 
