Debutante Kate Waugh, from Great Britain, made history when she won the season-opening T100 Triathlon Singapore in her first-ever mid-distance race. Kate beat favourites Ashleigh Gentle and Lucy Charles-Barclay along the way to her stunning 6min 41sec winning margin. Her winning time was 3:45:18.

Credit: T100

Finishing second was Lisa Perterer in 3:51:58 and third was Charles-Barclay in 3:53:09. 

Credit: T100

Credit: T100

Credit: T100

The women’s race marked the beginning of a weekend of T100 action in Singapore last weekend.

At the start, it was a fierce battle with Charles-Barclay and Jessica Learmouth taking the lead in the swim. But the main chasing pack held strong, coming out of the 1km exit just 11 seconds behind the leaders.

Learmouth continued pressing in the second swim lap, with Gentle and India Lee falling a minute behind.

In the bike, Learmouth and Waugh quickly pulled away from the chasing pack, Waugh just 15 seconds behind. At 40km into the ride, Learmouth had a 20s lead over Waugh. Waugh continued to remain hot on Learmouth’s heels throughout the ride. Learmouth hit T2 just ahead of Waugh, but as fate would have had it, after a commanding ride, she was hit by cramps. 

Waugh took advantage, taking control at the start of the 18km run and quickly pulling away. By the 5km mark, Waugh was leading 1min 33sec over Learmouth, who began to falter at 8km into the run, her pace slowing to a jog and then a walk. 

Waugh was in complete control in the final 6km of the run, 6 minutes ahead of Perterer and 7 ahead of Charles-Barclay. Learmouth slipped out of the top 10, eventually finishing in 13th place.

Said Waugh on her victory, “I’m over the moon, I’ve got goosebumps right now. It was just an incredible day, just one of those days where everything seemed to go right and I’m absolutely buzzing.” 

She has sent a clear message to her competitors with her commanding win and is looking forward to grow and develop further as a T100 athlete.

Said Waugh, “I stuck to my game plan and it paid off. I was just trying to keep (Jess) in sight and I was confident in my run fitness going into this. I’m excited to learn more and hopefully grow and develop more as a T100 athlete.”

The Singapore T100 action continued with the mass participation triathlon and duathlon on Sunday morning, followed by the men’s elite race on Sunday evening.