T100 debutante Kate Waugh crushes the field to win women’s elite title in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Not many would have placed their bets on debutante Kate Waugh to win the T100 elite women’s pro race in Singapore on April 5.

The Briton had arrived at the Marina Bay course as the lowest ranked among the 19-strong field – who included Olympic silver medallist Julie Derron and two-time Singapore defending champion Ashleigh Gentle.

On April 5, the world No. 339 triathlete – who had participated only in short-course and Olympic-distance triathlons before doing the T100 – surprised everyone, including herself, by clinching the best result of her career.

She crossed the finishing line in 3hr 45min 18sec, beating pre-race favourites Derron and Gentle – they were 12th and sixth respectively – to claim the winner’s cheque of US$25,000 (S$33,600).

Austrian wildcard Lisa Perterer (3:51:58) and Briton Lucy Charles-Barclay (3:53:09) finished second and third respectively.

Waugh, who was in tears at the finish, said: “I’m over the moon and I’ve got goosebumps right now. It was just an incredible, incredible day – just one of those where everything just seemed to go right and I’m absolutely buzzing.

“Life as a professional athlete can definitely be a roller coaster, and I went through some low moments last year when I genuinely didn’t know if I even wanted to do the sport any more.

“To come here and get the biggest win of my career is a really special moment and it’s definitely relit a fire in my heart.”

After winning the 2022 Under-23 World Triathlon Championship Series, she had a poor run the following years and finished 15th at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Waugh was not the only surprise of the day – silver medallist Perterer was a wildcard entry for the women’s elite race.

The 33-year-old said: “I still can’t believe it, second place… I came to this race as a wild card with no expectations. I just wanted to have fun, enjoy and make full use of this opportunity.

“Everyone asked me about the heat (because) there’s a lot of snow where I was born in Austria.

“I didn’t do any specific heat prep, but I just love the heat and I know exactly how far I can go in it. It’s my first time in Singapore and I enjoyed it a lot.”

As with previous editions, competitors had to deal with the brutal 29-deg C midday heat and humidity while powering through the 100km (2km swim, 80km bike, 18km run) course.

Waugh said: “It was very, very hot. There were times where I was only about halfway through the run, and like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is really, really savage’, but I just stuck to my game plan and it paid off.

“It’s twice as long and it felt twice as brutal. But yeah, I’m excited to learn more and hopefully grow and develop more as a T100 athlete.”

The race was nail-biting from start to finish for fans out on the course. Briton Jessica Learmonth emerged first out of the water in 26min 23sec, followed by Charles-Barclay (26:25) and Derron (26:26).

Learmonth then led the bike segment, followed by Waugh, Charles-Barclay, Derron and Gentle.

There were brief periods of rain just after the two-hour mark, but the drizzle did little to provide the athletes respite from the conditions.

Of the 19 who started the race, four did not finish due to the heat and exhaustion.

The final run segment was where Waugh stamped her mark, as she snatched the lead from Learmonth at the start with a quick 54sec transition.

Clocking an average 3min 18sec per kilometre, Waugh cruised to victory with more than six minutes over her rivals.

The elite men’s race will be held on April 6, after the age-group duathlon and triathlons in the morning.

Spectators will be able to catch stars such as Singapore reigning men’s champion Youri Keulen, top-ranked Marten van Riel, world No. 2 Jelle Geens and the third-ranked Kyle Smith.