Ben Collins, Helle Frederiksen Take South Beach Triathlon Titles

The United States’ Ben Collins and Denmark’s Helle Frederiksen earned the victories at the first race of the 2013 Life Time Tri Series at the Nautica South Beach Triathlon in Miami, Fla. Collins once again showcased his impressive cycling skills, while Frederiksen continued to show her abilities at non-drafting triathlon.

PHOTOS: 2013 Nautica South Beach Triathlon

Men’s Race
The United States’ Joseph Maloy kicked off the action for the men, coming out of the water first with a time of 18:47. Jon Bird (CAN), Cameron Dye (USA), Hunter Kemper (USA), James Seear (AUS), Jarrod Shoemaker (USA), Collins and Matt Reed (USA) came into T1 within 30 seconds of Maloy, making for an exciting start to the day. Despite the strong swims, Dye and Reed pulled out of the race with flat tires. Collins quickly went to work on the bike, leaving the rest of the field behind. His 51:54 bike split for the 40K was by far the fastest of the day. That proved the be the pivotal segment of the race, as Collins cruised through the 10K run in 33:25 to earn the 1:46:54 victory. 2012 London Olympian Richard Murray of South Africa had a well-rounded day across swim, bike and run, but came up just short of catching Collins. He finished second in 1:48:20. Twenty-six seconds later Maloy rounded out the podium in third.

Women’s Race
With reigning Life Time Tri Series winner Sarah Haskins (USA) taking the year off to have a baby, the women’s race featured no clear pre-race favorite. American Sara McLarty dominated the 1.5K swim in 19:23 to hold a large lead heading onto the bike. Frederiksen was next out of the water in 21:02, with a group of four right on her heels. Canada’s Alicia Kaye was part of that chase group and transferred the strong swim onto an even stronger bike leg. She posted the fastest bike split of the day at 57:39. Frederiksen also showed strength on the bike and after the first two legs of the race it was evident the race would come down to these two athletes. Frederiksen used her ITU running skills to turn in a 35:06 run split and earn the victory in 1:57:43. Kaye also posted an impressive 10K to finish second just over a minute later. Goss finished in third three minutes back of Kaye.

Nautica South Beach Triathlon
Miami, Fla. – April 7, 2013
1.5K swim, 40K bike, 10K run

Men
1. Ben Collins (USA) 1:46:54
2. Richard Murray (RSA) 1:48:20
3. Joseph Maloy (USA) 1:48:46
4. Hunter Kemper (USA) 1:49:00
5. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) 1:50:26

Women
1. Helle Frederiksen (DEN) 1:57:43
2. Alicia Kaye (CAN) 1:58:58
3. Lauren Goss (USA) 2:01:59
4. Jillian Petersen (USA) 2:07:03
5. Abby Geurink (USA) 2:07:04

Complete results