Chris Leiferman of Longmont, Colorado and Jeanni Seymour of South Africa took the professional honors at the 30th Great Floridian Triathlon in Clermont, Florida. Leiferman overcame a 2:31 deficit after the swim with a race-best 1:28:49 bike split and a second-fastest 45:46 run to finish in 2:34:42 with a 14 seconds margin of victory over Bradley Weiss of South Africa and 1:56 over third-place finisher Benjamin Kanute of Phoenix, Arizona.

Seymour, who is based in Boulder, Colorado, combined a women’s second-best 17:34 swim with a women’s second-fastest 1:42:56 bike split and a women’s third-quickest 55:02 run to finish in 2:59:17 with a 3:23 margin over Lisa Becharas of Boulder and 8:53 over Lenny Ramsey of Fayetteville, Arkansas.

A fairly strong pro field took on the middle-distance central Florida course which consisted of an .8-mile swim in Lake Minneola, a 39.8-mile bike course which included one of the highest hills in the state, and an 8.3-mile run.

Pro Men’s race recap

Top U.S. swimmers Ben Kanute and Timothy O’Donnell and South African Bradley Weiss sprinted out to a 1:12 lead over a chase pack that included Justin Metzler of the U.S. Andre Lopes of Brazil and a U.S phalanx that included Nicholas Chase, Tim Rea and, Leiferman. Matt Russell trailed in 9th, 4:05 back of the leaders.

On the strength of his race-best 1:28:49 bike split, Leiferman found his way near the front, closely following Weiss, Kanute, Andre Lopes, and Metzler. Timothy O’Donnell fell far off the front with a 1:44:59 bike split.

After nearly identical 1:06, 1:08 and 1:06 transitions, Leiferman Weiss and Kanute set out front on the run in a pack of three. After his 45:46 run, Leiferman edged out Weiss by 14 seconds and carved out a definitive 1:56 margin on Kanute, who fell off the pace with a 47:35 run while Lopes closed to 4th place with a race-best 45:40 run.

Pro Women’s race recap

Jennifer Spieldenner of the U.S. led the swim with a women’s best 17:27 split that gave her a 7-seconds margin on Seymour, and 2:04 on Becharas, 2:36 on Laura Matthews, 3:07 on Lara Gruden and 4:36 on Lenny Ramsey.

Becharas charged to the front with a women’s best 1:40:52 bike split that gave her a 6 seconds lead on Seymour, and 7:11 on Jennifer Spieldenner with Lenny Ramsey another six minutes arrears starting the run.

Ramsey made a charge with a women’s-fastest 53 minutes run split that was 30 seconds faster than Sarah Bishop and 1:02 better than Seymour’s 55:02 split. After her 2:59:17 finish, Seymour won by a 3:23 margin over Becharas (58:45 run) and 8:53 over Ramsey.

30th Great Floridian Pro Results

Clermont, Florida
October 24, 2020
S .8 mi. / B 39.8 mi. / R 8.3 mi.

Men

1. Chris Leiferman (USA) S 17:17 T1 1:42 B 1:28:49 T2 1:06 R 45:46 TOT 2:34:42
2. Bradley Weiss (RSA) S 17:07 T1 1:45 B 1:28:58 T2 1:08 R 45:55 TOT 2:34:56
3. Benjamin Kanute (USA) S 15:48 T1 1:34 B 1:30:33 R2 1:06 R 47:35 TOT 2:36:38
4. Andre Lopes (BRA) S 17:10 T1 1:50 B 1:31:20 T2 1:23 R 45:40 TOT 2:37:24
5. Nicholas Chase (USA) S 17:11 T1 1:44 B 1:29:04 T2 1:44 R 50:41 TOT 2:39:57
6. Justin Metzler (USA) S 17:09 T1 1:47 B 1:33:06 T2 1:19 R 48:06 TOT 2:41:29
7. Matthew Russell (USA) S 19:46 T1 2:08 B 1:34:03 T2 1:26 R 48:39 TOT 2:46:03
8. Tim Rea (USA) S 17:12 T1 1:49 B 1:37:57 T2 1:39 R 51:02 TOT 2:45:41
9. Luis Ortiz (USA) S N/A T1 N/A B N/A T2 N/A R N/A TOT 2:51:32
10. Timothy O’Donnell (USA) S 15:51 T1 1:42 B 1:44:59 T2 1:16 R 49:12 TOT 2:53:02

Women

1. Jeanni Seymour (RSA) S 17:34 T1 2:03 B 1:42:56 T2 1:40 R 55:02 TOT 2:59:17
2. Lisa Becharas (USA) S TOT D 19:23 T1 2:12 B 1:40:52 T2 1:26 R 58:45 TOT 3:02:40
3. Lenny Ramsey (USA) TOT S 22:03 T1 3:38 B 1:47:36 T2 1:50 R 53:00 TOT 3:08:10
4. Sarah Bishop (USA) S 23:23 B 2:35 B 1:49:36 T2 1:34 R 53:30 TOT 3:10:41
5. Ginger Howell (USA S 20:53 T1 2:22 B 1:51:12 T2 1:28 R 56:47 TOT 3:12:45
6. Jennifer Spieldenner (USA) S 17:27 T1 2:06 B 1:50:056 T2 1:33 R 1:02:49 TOT 3:14:02
7. Laura Matthews (USA) S 20:03 T1 2:29 B 1:53:14 T2 1:30 R 1:01:57 TOT 3:19:15
8. Lara Gruden (USA) S 20:34 T1 2:22 B 1:57:17 T2 1:35 R 1:02:35 TOT 3:24:26
9. Tamara Kozulina (UKR) S 22:48 T1 1:59 B 1:55:24 T2 1:31 R 1:04:31 TOT 3:26:15
10. Elizabeth Nyitray (USA) S 21:23 T1 2:26 B 2:26 B 1:56:34 T2 1:33 R 1:08:20 TOT 3:30:18