The 30th edition of the Ultraman World Championships started out of Kailua Bay on Friday with 38 swimmers taking the 6.2-mile swim.
The first swimmer to emerge from the water at Keauhou Bay was 43-year-old Craig Percival of Australia with a time of 2 hours, 31 minutes and 50 seconds.
Percival held a 12-minute lead over swimmer Marty Raymond of Canada. Raymond came in with a time of 2:43:04 followed by Julie Shelley at 2:53:17.
The fourth swimmer was Yasuko Miyazaki of Japan, who completed in 2:57:20, followed by Tobias Winnemoeller in 3:02:09.
All 38 swimmers completed the distance, with the last swimmer being Stacey Shand at 5:12:18.
Once out of the water, the athletes mounted their bikes and began the 90-mile ride to Volcano. The athletes started the bike in good conditions, but winds began to pick up during the 4,000-foot climb to the finish at Maunaleo Place.
Keeping his solid grip on the first-place standing for the day, Percival posted an impressive bike split of 5:33:10 to give him a Day 1 total time of 8:05:00.
Making a move from fifth out of the swim to second overall, Winnemoeller clocked a 5:43:04 ride to total 8:45:13.
Making a huge move up the field was Canada’s Tony O’Keefe, who came in from the bike in 5:43:04 for a total of 8:49:47, good for third overall. Peter Kotland of the Czech Republic completed the ride in 5:37:02 to move up to fourth place with a total time of 8:51:17.
Rounding out the top five in the men’s field was Nick Logan with a total time of 8:57:00.
The women’s race was a little tighter, with Shelley finishing first on the day with a 6:17:03 ride to post a total time of 9:10:20. Miyazaki held on to her second-place standing with a 6:19:59 bike split for a 9:17:19 total. Kathy Winkler had the fastest women’s bike split with a 6:15:35 to put her in third.
Andre Kajlich — the only paratriathlete in the field — had an excellent 6.2-mile swim and exited the water in 3:21:09. He became the first hand-cycle athlete to complete the Day 1 bike course in a time of 7:02:45, giving him a total time of 10:23:54 and placing him 15th overall.
Sylvia Ravaglia finished the day as the top Big Island athlete, coming in at 10:19:38. John Howerton followed at 10:28:08. The other three Big Island finishers came in within 10 minutes of each other: Laurie Beers at 11:46:14, Dene Sturm at 11:49:28 and Stephen Cosgrove at 11:53:43.
Two athletes were unable to complete the bike section in the 12-hour time limit. Both participants will be allowed to continue the next two days.