Taiwanese score sweep in CT IronMan

SUBIC, Philippines — Chinese-Taipei’s Cheng Tai Wu showcased outstanding swimming skills to secure a commanding lead en route to victory in the Century Tuna IRONMAN Philippines in Subic Bay last Sunday.

Wu bucked a fierce comeback by China’s Cheng Dan Lin during the last two stages of the 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42km run race, highlighting the grueling nature of the IRONMAN challenge.

Chin Ting Hsu completed a Taiwanese sweep by topping the women’s division. She relied on her cycling prowess to overtake UAE’s Mafer Poveda Franco and Singapore’s Jennifer Uy.

Despite a modest swim time of 1:31:07, which placed her in eighth, Hsu’s impressive bike leg of 6:07:54 propelled her into the lead. She secured victory in the event organized by The IRONMAN Group with a total time of 12:18:38, including a 4:26:27 time in run, beating Franco by seven minutes.

Franco clocked 12:25:37 with segment times of 1:29:40 (swim), 06:21:37 (bike), and 4:22:20 (run) while Uy placed third with a total time of 12:41:03 (1:28:51-6:16:17-4:45:15).

Local bets Sarah Eraña, Olive Salve, and Maryfel Aumentado initially showed promise with impressive swim times of 1:21:14, 1:21:19, and 01:21:26, respectively, but struggled during the bike stage, unable to regain their momentum. Japanese Goda Hiroko, who was in contention early on, also faltered during the run, finishing fourth.