Triathlon: The Champ Returns to Ironman Australia...Forster-Tuncurry, April 4, 2004

Canadian Champion and reigning Snap Ironman Australia women's title-holder, Lisa Bentley returns to Forster for a third time in an attempt to join fellow Canadian Lori Bowden as a three-time winner. Bentley took Bowden's run title last year with a stunning 2hr 58min marathon, passing new Australian Ironman star Kate Major with just 2km remaining of the race.

The fleet-footed Canadian has decided to forgo Ironman NZ in an attempt to equal her compatriots record. In March last year Bentley finished third in Taupo, the location for Ironman NZ, and just 5 weeks later displayed amazing strength by taking back-to-back victories at Forster. However, this year she has decided to focus on only one early season race.

Australian Kate Major will again be on the starting line in Forster, however this time she won't be as an "unknown" quantity. Rather, Major will have the pressure of being the reigning Jim Hazel trophy winner (the award for the first Australian) and second-placed finisher from last year's event. Major has had a stunning season, her first as a professional, placing ninth in last October's Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. In last April's Snap Ironman Australia, Major stamped her authority on the bike before heading into the run leg with a sizeable lead over the Canadian. However, with just 2km left of the marathon Bentley made her move and the modest Major had to settle for second place, a stunning debut as a professional.

Seeded third at this year's event will be Sydney's Belinda Granger, herself a multiple winner of the Jim Hazel trophy. Placing third last year and then 10th in Hawaii, both times behind Major, has helped Granger re-kindle her passion for Ironman racing. Racing as a full-time professional for the first time in her career, Granger hopes this move will help her realise her dream of winning the Snap Ironman Australia triathlon.

Granger won the Forster Half Ironman in November, a feeling she hopes to emulate again on April 4. "Coming down the finishing chute in first place at the Forster Half Ironman has made me even hungrier for victory at Ironman Australia in April," Granger said.

Rounding out the top 5 seeds will be Scotland's Bella Comerford and Japan's Yoko Okuda. Comerford has won two Ironman Florida titles and returns to Forster for a second time after having to withdraw from last year's event due to injury. Coached by the legendary six-time Hawaii Ironman champion Dave Scott, Comerford's running ability could pose a problem for the other competitors as will Okuda's who finished third at Forster in 2000.

Professional Women's field:

No Name From Age 
31 BENTLEY Lisa (2) CANADA 35 
32 MAJOR Kate (1) Noosa Heads QLD 27 
33 GRANGER Belinda (4) Waverley NSW 33 
34 COMERFORD Bella SCOTLAND 26 
35 OKUDA Yoko (2) Tugun QLD 30 
36 KOSZTOVITS Edith (1) Trott Park SA 28 
37 EDWARDS Verity (1) Woodville West SA 28 
38 MAJOR Emma (1) Mansfield QLD 27 
39 WILSON Kim (1) Toorak VIC 34 
40 LYON Kate (3) Bondi NSW 29 
41 COOKSLEY Caroline Cairns QLD 25 
42 ROBBINS Marissa (3)  Caringbah NSW 31 
43 FIEN Sarah Higgins ACT 36 
44 RUDAN Nicole CANADA 29 
45 SCHEER Joanne Esperance WA 37