SMACKDOWN!: Who Are the Top Three Female Triathletes of All Time?
A slightly different form of argument ... but no less heated! T.C. and Jeff give us their votes for the top three female triathletes to ever grace a start line.
T.C.'S TOP THREE
Number 1: Paula Newby-Fraser
The easy part of this question is: Why is the Queen of Kona the greatest Ironman athlete of all time? In the super-demanding, pressure-filled, prestigious arena of Kona, the South African-born, proud U.S. citizen won eight times between 1986 and 1996. While Natascha Badmann has scored six Ironman Hawaii titles and may win one or two more, Newby-Fraser beat the Swiss Miss head to head in their first and only meeting in 1996. While the great Erin Baker of New Zealand stood 2-2 against Newby-Fraser in their first four meetings at Kona, Newby-Fraser won their rubber match in 1993 by 10 minutes with a second-straight sub-nine-hour effort.
Of Newby-Fraser's eight victories, she still holds the six fastest-ever Ironman Hawaii finishing times - led by her fantastic 1992 race record of 8:55:28, which put her 21 minutes ahead of that year's second-place finisher, Julianne White (the greatest margin of victory in the modern era) and 12 minutes faster than Badmann's 2002 best-ever 9:07:54. While Newby-Fraser was once dueling with Erin Baker (3:04:13 in 1990) for the title of fastest runner at Kona, several women have topped Newby-Fraser's best marathon of 3:05:24 in 1992, led by Lori Bowden's still-standing 2:59:16 in 1999.
However, the acid test for the women in Kona is the bike. Despite Badmann's fearsome reputation on two wheels and the onslaught of Karin Thürig, an Olympic cycling medalist and multiple cycling time-trial world champion, Newby-Fraser still stands atop the list of the best women's bike times at Kona with her still-unmatched 4:48:30 in 1992. In her prime, Newby-Fraser only lost the 1987 and 1990 races to Baker. While she also lost to Karen Smyers in 1995, her meltdown just 400 yards from the finish stands in a virtual tie with Julie Moss's inspiring crawl to the finish in 1982 for the top dramatic endings.
The big, tough question about putting Newby-Fraser at the top of the heap is: Why put someone who never won a really big one at the shorter distances? Kona winners Erin Baker, Karen Smyers and Michellie Jones have also won International Triathlon Union world championships and many important short-course titles. But it was Newby-Fraser-whose 1988 Ironman Hawaii time of 9:01:01 beat her Kiwi rival by 11 minutes, who knocked 34 minutes off Erin Baker's 1987 course record and stood 11th overall including all the men-who was a quantum leap for women's sports. It was that finish, just 30 minutes behind men's winner Scott Molina, which prompted ABC commentator Sam Posey to name Newby-Fraser the greatest woman endurance athlete in the world. While Newby-Fraser may have been merely human at the shorter distances, her total of 24 Ironman wins-nine more than her San Diego neighbor Heather Fuhr-and her still-reigning dominance on triathlon's biggest stage and most prestigious and demanding event mark her as the best ever.
Number 2: Michellie Jones
Jones must be measured against two of the best all-around triathletes of all time, Baker and Karen Smyers. New Zealander Baker won Hawaii head to head against Newby-Fraser twice, took a Powerman Zofingen crown, won the first-ever ITU world championship in 1989 and won several prestigious marathons and many big short-course triathlons throughout her career. Smyers equaled Jones' ITU short-course world championships with wins in 1990 and 1995, as well as multiple wins at major North American non-drafting classics. Her record at Kona is also better over the long run than Jones', with a fourth and a second before her 1995 rundown win that sparked Newby-Fraser's spectacular meltdown. Smyers also overcame a spectacularly disastrous series of accidents and injuries, along with cancer, before coming back with a second-place at Kona in 1999.
And yet Jones stands a step or two ahead of these wonderful athletes. Jones' two-straight wins in 1992 and 1993 stand equal to Smyers' ITU world titles. Her second place in 2005 and lone Kona win in 2006 stand behind Baker's two head-to-head wins against Newby-Fraser and Smyers' one win and two second places.
But Jones rises above these two giants with her 2000 Olympic silver medal (which now looks more like a gold with the knowledge that the woman who beat her by two seconds tested positive for EPO in 2005), her eight wins at the prestigious non-drafting classics Chicago Triathlon and Escape From Alcatraz and her 70-plus multisport wins. Jones is the winningest triathlete, man or woman, in the history of the sport.
Number 3: Emma Snowsill
Balancing Newby-Fraser's one-distance brilliance and domination is Australia's Snowy, Emma Snowsill. Arguments against Snowy for the Number 3 slot are, for one, Australia's Emma Carney, who led the way with a streak of 12-straight ITU World Cup wins from 1995 to 1997 and 19 total World Cup wins. Carney also has two world titles (1994,1997) to add to her resume.
An even-stronger argument could be made for Portugal's young phenom Vanessa Fernandes, who by age 22, has dominated the even more-competitive World Cup fields of 2003 to 2007 with a streak of 12-straight wins and went on to hit 19 wins in 2007. She finally broke through Snowsill's world championship dominance in 2007 with a win at duathlon Worlds and a head-to-head win at the Hamburg ITU world championship, plus a head-to-head win in the unfamiliar world of non-drafting at Life Time Fitness in Minnesota. With three straight wins at the Beijing Olympic venue, Fernandes is a strong favorite for 2008 Olympic gold after Snowy suffered an injury-plagued 2007 season. In short, Fernandes has come on so strong she could just overtake Snowy this year with an Olympic win-but not yet.
But for now, the second Emma, Emma Snowsill, who has only raced the ITU World Cup circuit enough to take six career wins, won a record three ITU short-course world championship titles in dominating fashion. She did the same at several North American non-drafting classics, including two Life Time Fitness Series wins. When healthy, Snowsill has proven she can outrun Fernandes. While Fernandes may prove to have a better career with a win at Beijing, she has to get past the best clutch performer of the modern era to win a gold medal.
So far, the edge goes to Snowy.
JEFF'S TOP THREE
So the wily Mr. Carlson wants to figure out who is the greatest female triathlete of all time. Right. These arguments never end-they only serve to make people hot and bothered. We all have our opinions, so I'm going to toss my esteemed colleague a curveball and give you mine. The greatest? Greatest is a subjective term only meaningful when applied by others; I make the case that each of the following women is the greatest triathlete of their time.
Cindy Devore
In 2004 I was in the midst of organizing the Musselman Triathlon for the first time. My hairs were graying as I gradually realized what I'd gotten myself into. In the middle of the winter, I received a note from a women a couple dozen miles down the road in Rochester, New York.
"Jeff," it began, "I'm petrified."
She was not the only one.
"I want to enter the Musselman sprint race, the mini-Mussel. But I'm not sure I can swim that far."
She had been diligently attending open swim at a local YMCA, trying to make it from one end to the other without drowning. The thought of 500 yards in open water terrified her.
"Just keep plugging away at it," I told her. I offhandedly added, "Pluggers will be floaters and someday floaters will rule the world."
In the back of my mind I was nervous, too; she wouldn't be the only one managing trepidation on the water's edge, and I was responsible for all of them. I had lifeguards and kayaks and Coast Guard boats, but there weren't 500 pairs of eyes. Some of these swimmers would need to be able to swim.
I exchanged e-mails with Cindy throughout the spring. I reported on minor triathlon organizing accomplishments; she reported on the number of laps completed, the number of near heart attacks.
She entered the mini-Mussel and participated with her husband, who volunteered to swim next to her. She was just fine. Later in the morning I saw her beaming face just beyond the finish line, surrounded by family and the glow of success. She winked at me.
Cindy had to miss a Musselman last year, her first since the victory of 2004. She needed to attend to family obligations, but she continued to write to me all the same. She'll be back this year, now full of peace and confidence and the joy that athletic accomplishment can bring.
For being a plugger that rose to rule the world, Cindy is one of the greatest triathletes of all time.
Kaitlyn Howe
In 2004 Kaitlyn Howe was 14 years old. Her family decided to enter the Musselman sprint in the summer coming, but she didn't know how to ride a bike. Take most teenagers in the United States today, and that would be the end of the story.
Learn to ride a bike? Face potential embarrassment and eternal ridicule by her peers? Spend a Saturday afternoon participating in an athletic event (called the "mini-Mussel," no less) with your entire family? Not a chance for most kids.
But that's not Kaitlyn - that's not the Howe family. Her father found her an old bike and she started practicing. First in the grass, still covered in patches by snow, then in parking lots at night when the cars were few. It was a slow process - kids learn things quickly, but at 14 you're almost not a kid anymore and the motor skills do not keep pace with your growth.
She had the support, and the patience, of her family. They trained with her - riding laps in the parking lot and stopping when she fell. They offered encouragement, tips, silence when it was appropriate. They all learned a little something in the process.
Triathlon is the rare sport where the family can participate together. You can swim, bike, and run side by side if you want, and some do. The Howes conquered the challenges in stride, overcoming each obstacle encountered by one with an effort from four.
For dark, cold nights in parking lots turned to sun-filled days of July triathlon, Kaitlyn Howe is one of the greatest triathletes of all time.
Jane Miller
This summer the sixth annual Cayuga Lake Triathlon will take place in Trumansburg, New York, just outside the hippie enclave and Cornell ivy of Ithaca. The race will serve as the USA Triathlon sprint national championship, drawing a capacity field to Taughannock Falls State Park in August. For each of its six years, Jane Miller has been the CLT's race director.
Come to USA Triathlon's annual Race Director Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and you won't see a large number of female race directors. Jane also serves on the Race Director Commission - one of two women representatives. In a sport where women sometimes make up 50 percent of the field, female RDs are still underrepresented.
In 2006 Jane decided to enter Ironman Lake Placid. Women also make up a very small percentage of the field in Ironman competition, but that was way down on her list of Things to Be Concerned With. Higher up the list were simultaneously organizing the fourth edition of the Cayuga Lake Triathlon and - oh yes - a full-time job at Cornell University.
At Lake Placid, Jane conquered a sunny swim and bike before suffering the indignity of a nighttime rainstorm, only an hour before her finish. But she did finish, and in so doing achieved the elusive trifecta of work, time for herself, and giving to others. Three weeks later she assumed the helm of another deftly-orchestrated Cayuga Lake Triathlon.
For achieving her own goals while affording others the chance to do the same, Jane Miller is one of the greatest triathletes of all time.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You don't have to be recognized by millions to influence another. And that's what life is - a series of small moments where lives are changed. Change your own life and chances are you'll change someone else.
