Braden Currie smashed the race record by 10 minutes in ideal conditions in 2018, but was even more impressive in this year's edition, which saw the strongest winds in two decades. He rode solo, building a 5-minute advantage at 90 kms and growing to 9 minutes at T2. After 20 km of the run, he was enjoying a 16-minute lead, and at the finish, his victory was 20 minutes strong. The former multisport and adventure race star may not be the prettiest on course but his 47:30 swim, 4:29 bike, and 2:44 run was in a class of its own. He secured his spot for Kona in 8:04:20 as did runner-up Tim van Berkel.
Defending champion Teresa Adam and American Sarah True stretched their swim buffer early on the bike until 2017 winner Sarah Crowley caught them at 50 kms. As True dropped in the wind, Crowley and Adam pushed 2 minutes clear before the American reeled them back in by T2. Crowley and True dropped Adam until True faded and withdrew and Adam gradually ran down her 2-minute deficit to reclaim the lead by 28kms. From there, she pulled away to win in 8:48:33 with Crowley 5 minutes back, ahead of fast-finishing Fin Kaisa Sali.
Men's Podium
1 Currie, Braden NZL 8:04:20
2 Van Berkel, Tim AUS 8:23:49
3 Dellow, David AUS 8:32:12
Women's Podium
1 Adam, Teresa NZL 8:48:34
2 Crowley, Sarah AUS 8:53:38
3 Sali, Kaisa FIN 8:53:52