Emma Snowsill rocketed to a win with a fantastic come from behind performance at the 2010 ITU Hy-Vee Triathlon World Cup and earned her second Hy-Vee $200,000 winner's check in the process. Former training partner and 2009 ITU World Championship Series winner Emma Moffatt took home a $50,000 check for second and 2008 ITU World Champion Helen Jenkins of Great Britain rounded out the podium and earned a generous $25,000 Hy-Vee check for third.
The win was a continuation of a remarkable string of alternate domination of the Hy-Vee women's contest by Aussie Emmas. In 2008, Emma Snowsill was 1st and Emma Moffat was 2nd. In 2009 Emma Moffatt took 1st while Snowsill was 2nd. And this year they traded 1-2 places once again.
With her first win since last spring, Snowsill showed she had come all the way back from ailments which kept her out of competition for 8 months -- an operation for a hip injury suffered while surfing last summer and a debilitating virus acquired while attending a friend's wedding last winter in Bali.
Snowsill took 6th in her return to competition a month ago at the 2010 World Championship Series round two in Seoul, South Korea. The sixth place may have been misleading indicator of her form, since Snowsill shook off her long period of rust with a finish just 12 seconds back of Seoul winner Daniela Ryf and worked hard in the intervening month without injury to hamper her continued recovery.
Snowsill began her Hy-Vee day with a disappointing 21:12 swim that left her 2 minutes behind super swimmers Sara McLarty and Hayley Peirsol. More important, she was a full minute behind dangerous overall rivals Moffatt, Jenkins, Laura Bennett and Andrea Hewitt, who were in a large, fast-moving pack chasing down the breakaway swimmers.
That gap left Snowsill and 2010 World Championship Series leader Barbara Riveros-Diaz and a half dozen other women on their own a minute off the lead chase pack. This forced them to push themselves to the limit to cut into the margin.
While Riveros-Diaz was tired from a full plate of recent racing and could not provide any firepower for the chase, Snowsill was itching to find a willing co-conspirator to help charge back into contention.
"I had a big gap to make up when I got out of transition," said Snowsill. "I didn’t think I could make it up because most of our pack wasn't working hard. But Jillian Peterson started to really push and we cut 30 seconds out of the chase pack by the end of the ride. I have to thank Jillian - I would not have won without her help."
Snowy blazed out of transition with motivation -- "I was angry about my position after the bike, so I used the aggression to reel in as many girls as I could." Indeed, she caught Jenkins, Bennett, Hewitt and Paula Findlay on the third of four 2.5 kilometer laps. Describing what Snowsill looked like going past, Emma Moffat said "It looked very familiar."
Indeed, the elfin Snowsill looked once again like the dominant force who won three ITU World Championships, the 2008 Olympic gold medal, a Commonwealth Games gold and the 2008 Hy-Vee crown. That is, she looked as if she never touched the ground on her way to a race-best 34:05 10k run which was 54 seconds faster than 4th place Paula Findlay of Canada, 55 seconds faster than third place Jenkins and a minute faster than Moffatt''s run to runner-up.
"This was definitely one of my most satisfying wins," said Snowsill. I think the time off allowed me to recharge and this win gives me a lot of confidence that I can race like I did before."`
Canadian Paula Findlay, whose best previous finish in 2010 was a win at the second tier ITU World Cup in Monterey, showed she belonged with the best of the World Championship Series women with a second-fastest 34:59 run that brought her to within three seconds of podium finishers Moffatt and Jenkins.
Kiwi Andrea Hewitt was a bit discouraged with her 5th place finish, 7 seconds back of Findlay. "All credit to the top women," said Hewitt, who has won several finish line sprints for wins. "But this was my third race in a few weeks and I just didn’t have anything in my legs today."
Laura Bennett, the USA's most decorated ITU World Championship medalist, was pleased with her 6th place finish. "I'm back in the mix and on track to peak at the World Championships at the end of the year," she said.
Sarah Haskins was next best American woman finisher at 16th place, but far from her form and best best finishes at Hy-Vee.
Related image galleries
Pre race Hy-Vee Elite Cup images
The Hy-Vee Elite Cup race image gallery
Hy-Vee Triathlon World Cup
Des Moines, Iowa
June 13, 2010
S 1.5k / B 40k / R 10k
Top 10 women
1. Emma Snowsill (AUS) 1:59:35
2. Emma Moffatt (AUS) 1:59:51
3. Helen Jenkins (GBR) 1:59:51
4. Paula Findlay (CAN) 1:59:54
5. Andrea Hewitt (NZL) 2:00:01
6. Laura Bennett (USA) 2:00:18
7. Jodie Stimpson (GBR) 2:00:25
8. Nicky Samuels (NZL) 2:01:14
9. Liz Blatchford (GBR) 2:01:30
10. Daniela Ryf (SUI) 2:01:38
Other United States finishers
16. Sarah Haskins (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 2:03:08
17. Sarah Groff (Hanover, N.H.) 2:03:10
18. Jenna Shoemaker (Los Angeles, Calif.) 2:03:12
21. Alicia Kaye (Maynard, Mass.) 2:04:27
30. Jillian Petersen (St. Louis, Mo.) 2:05:39
31. Hayley Peirsol (Los Angeles, Calif.) 2:05:46
34. Mary Beth Ellis (Boulder, Colo.) 2:07:05
36. Rebecca Witinok- Huber (Iowa City, Iowa) 2:07:43
37. Margaret Shapiro (Herndon, Va.) 2:08:04
39. Sara McLarty (Clermont, Fla.) 2:10:45
42. Jennifer Spieldenner (Findlay, Ohio) 2:11:33
51. Amanda Hahn (Boulder, Colo.) 2:20:07
