Jodie Swallow Third at Challenge Bahrain

The total prize purse of $500'000 attracted a stellar field at the inaugural Challenge Bahrain. Many Hawaii contenders restarted their training after a short break following the World Championships in order to gain the speed necessary for success at the flat and fast race in the middle east. 

With a typical fast swim, Jodie Swallow led the women out of the water in 22:39 with fellow SCOTT athlete Annabel Luxford, Helle Frederiksen and several other favorites not far behind. On the bike, the SCOTT athlete continued to put pressure on her competitors and set a high pace from the start. However, the flat course proved to be not challenging enough to gap strong cyclists Joyce, Frederiksen and Luxford who remained within striking distance. 

Frederiksen, Luxford, Swallow and Joyce entered and exited T2 almost simultaneously. While Swallow managed to move up to Frederiksen, Luxford and Joyce soon had a small gap on the leaders. Frederiksen pushed the pace hard on the run to get rid of Swallow but the latter hung on. Eventually, however, the pace of the Dane proved to be too fast for Swallow and the SCOTT athlete started to lose time on Frederiksen. Despite fighting hard, Swallow couldn't avoid being passed by the fast paced runner Rachel Joyce. The Brit crossed the finish line in third, less than 30 seconds behind runner-up Rachel Joyce and almost 3 minutes behind winner Frederiksen. 

With the podium finish in Bahrain, Swallow closes a long and successful season that saw her standing on the podium at the 70.3 World Championships and finishing fourth at the World Championships in Kona.