Ironman US Championship Preview
Saturday August 11 in New York City. Contrary to earlier reports, the swim is not cancelled.
With $125 000 US, and 4000 Kona ranking points on the line (one of three such races and only Kona offers more points to the winners) the professional field for this Saturday’s Ironman US Championship is packed with talent.
Athletes will complete a 2.4-mile swim in the Hudson River, a 112-mile bike ride on the Palisades Parkway in Bergen and Rockland Counties, and a 26.2-mile run beginning in New Jersey and finishing in Riverside Park in Manhattan.
There is the possibility that the swim will be cancelled due to water contamination – reported in the New York Times.
On Friday afternoon, race officials announced that the swim is on:
We are excited to announce that we will proceed with the 2.4-mile swim in the Hudson River during tomorrow’s inaugural Aquadraat Sports IRONMAN U.S. Championship. After a sewer line break in Tarrytown, New York, our team worked diligently with local environmental and health departments to monitor and thoroughly test the water. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection tested the water following the break and the reports show the water is safe for swimming. Additionally, Westchester County Department of Health has announced its water-quality advisory for the Hudson River will be lifted as of 11 p.m. today (Friday August 10).
Ironman.com will have live coverage. Check out the list of professional competitors below:
| Men | Women |
| 1 Jordan Rapp  USA 2 Michael Lovato  USA 3 Maik Twelsiek  GER 5 Paul Ambrose  AUS 6 Jozsef Major  HUN 7 Chris McDonald  AUS 8 Bryan Rhodes NZL 9 TJ Tollakson  USA 10 Pedro Gomes  PRT 11 Jason Shortis  AUS 12 Luke Bell  AUS 13 Maxim Kriat  UKR 14 Bert Jammaer  BEL 15 Trevor Wurtele CAN 16 Philip Graves  GBR 19 Kevin Taddonio USA 20 Marcel Bischof  GER 21 Michael Wetzel  GER 22 Mike Schifferle  SUI 23 Daniel Müller  GER 24 Timothy Marr  USA 25 Lewis Elliot  USA 27 Rich Allen  GBR 28 Hiroyuki Nishiuchi  JPN 30 Raymond Botelho  USA 31 Todd Israel  AUS 32 Peter Kotland  USA 33 Matjaz Kovac  SVN 34 Brendan Halpin  USA 35 Sergio Quezada  MEX 36 Jose Jeuland FRA 37 Douglas MacLean  USA 38 Juha Laitinen  FIN 39 Brandon Jessop  USA 40 A. Santamaria  ESP 41 Ivan Rana  ESP 42 Markus Thomschke GER 43 Mathias Hecht SUI 44 Christian Brader  GER |
50 Mary Beth Ellis USA
52 Amy Marsh  USA 53 Dede Griesbauer  USA 54 Heleen bij de Vaate  NLD 55 Heather Gollnick  USA 56 MiSUIlle Mitchell  AUS 57 Lucie Zelenkova  CZE 58 Tamara Kozulina  UKR 59 Christie Sym  AUS 60 Sara Gross CAN 61 Jessie Donavan  USA 62 Fernanda Keller  BRA 63 Meghan Newcomer  USA 64 Michelle Bremer NZL 65 Maki Nishiuchi  JPN 66 Nina Pekerman ISR 67 Kristin Andrews USA 68 Jacqui Gordon USA 69 Laurel Wassner USA 70 Kate Bevilaqua  AUS 71 Haley Cooper-Scott USA 72 Mareen Hufe GER 73 Anne Basso FRA 74 Rebekah Keat AUS 75 Hillary Biscay USA |