Tough Field Ready For Brazil Telecom Ironman Florianopolis

Shawn Skene previews this weekend's Ironman event in Brazil.

On May 27th the Brazil Telecom Ironman Florianopolis Triathlon will be held in Florianopolis, the capital of the state of Santa Catarina. The city is divided into two portions of land: a small portion is located on the continent and the remainder is on the island of Florianopolis itself. "Ilha da Magia" (Magic Island), as it is known, is connected to the continent by three bridges, among which the historical bridge is "Hercílio Luz."

The natural beauties of "Floripa", as Brazilians affectionately call it, is the main attraction. Forty-two beaches make of this a sanctuary for those who have an active life style and enjoy sport, natural life, history and Brazilian culture.

Sunday will hardly be a vacation for 1,262 Ironman athletes from 37 countries competing in this year’s Ironman Brazil, though.

The race start, transition and finish are located at the Doze de Agosto Club at the north western tip of Florianopolis Island, with the Jurere International beach as its backdrop. The swim is “M” shaped, point to point, and starts on the beach. The two-looped bike takes competitors along coastal, residential and rural roadways with a total of 800 meters of climbing. The run is a flat and fast three-looped affair, made up of 21-kilometer lap and then two 10.5-kilometer laps before finishing at Doze de Agosto Club.

At first glance the men’s race could be viewed as the race for three wins. Two men in the race have two Ironman Brazil titles to their credit. Oscar Galindez (2003, 2006) is returning, as is Olaf Sabatschus (2004, 2005) hoping to make it three Ironman Brazil titles on their resume. Galindez will be challenged to repeat his win of last year as he is battling an injury that hampered his run training during his base period. The ever-personable Argentinean (and Brazil’s adopted son) made the best of a bad situation by focusing on his bike training during that time. Like his sports hero/idol, the late World Champion Formula 1 driver, Ayrton Senna, Galindez is driven, determined and wants nothing more than to be spraying champagne at the end of the day on Sunday.

It would be a mistake when attempting to handicap this race to ignore a number of South Americans who must be considered potential podium candidates. Those would include 2001 Ironman Brazil champ Eduardo Sturla, Fabio Carvalho and Ivan Albano Junior. Throw in other notables like Czech Petr (what Ironman will I do this month) Vabrousek, Great Britain’s Stephen Bayliss, USA’s Terry Kerrigan, Australia’s Bevan Leach and former ITU champion Leandro Corrieri De Macedo.

Sergio Marques from Portugal, flies like the wind on the run. If he can put together a respectable swim/bike combination and can get himself within eight to 10 minutes of the leaders starting the run, look out. Marques ran the fastest marathon at the Ford Ironman World Championships last year, smacking out a 2:43.

It will be with interest to watch another Sutton coached athlete, Reinaldo Colucci on Sunday. The winner of the Laguna Phuket Triathlon in December, Colucci is young (22) and fast. The Brazilian has already established himself as a short course competitor and has some respectable results at the Ironman distance.
The women’s field is a difficult one to call. When you think of Ironman Brazil, you immediately think of Fernanda Keller, the Queen of Brazil, who is always a contender here and has “home field” advantage. The two-time Ironman Brazil Champion would love nothing better than to make it three wins in her home country.

Nina Kraft is attempting her second comeback to Ironman racing after a DNF at Ironman Malaysia earlier this year and her suspension from racing after a positive drug test at the 2005 Ford Ironman World Championship. At first glance she is the obvious favorite. However, with questions like “Why am I racing?” popping up in her head on the bike and run during Ironman Malaysia, she pulled herself from the race. Leading an Ironman is not a good place to be having those kinds of questions. It appears that all the emotions of the past two years came crashing down on her in Malaysia. Kraft believes she has her answer to the question.

Also of note in the women’s field are Bella Comerford, Dede Griesbauer (2006 Ironman U.K. Champion) and the 2006 third place finisher at Ironman Brazil Hillary (what Ironman will I do this month) Biscay. Earlier this month in a long distance tune-up race in Florida, Kraft finished second, Biscay was third while Comerford placed fifth. Comerford arrives in Brazil with four Ironman titles and an ITU Long Distance World Championship on her resume.

An unknown to Ironman, but well known in the triathlon circuits, is the fleet-footed Canadian Carol Montgomery. The seven-time Canadian National Champion and Commonwealth Games Champion is making her Ironman debut. Anytime she has started a triathlon since 1988 she has been considered a challenger. Nothing has changed, even if she is stepping up to the Ironman distance.

A relative dark horse for the women’s race will be a resident of Victoria, British Columbia, Sara Gross. Gross put on an awesome display on the bike and run at the Ironman Western Australia last November, which netted her a second place finish. She has been focusing in on her swimming in the off-season, which should put her in contention in this race.

Looks like an exciting day for both the men’s and women’s races to watch here on Ironman.com. Check in when our Ironmanlive coverage starts on Friday.

You can reach Shawn Skene at sskene@ironman.com