Wollongong T100 women’s results 2025: British rising star Kate Waugh a class apart

Kate Waugh was the dominant winner of Wollongong T100 to put herself in pole position at the top of the overall standings.

The Briton was in the front group of three on the swim on the New South Wales coast, moved to the head of affairs at the star of the bike and never looked back.

She was out on her own throughout the run, crossing the line in 3:26:55 which was 5:10 ahead of Ashleigh Gentle (AUS), with Sara Perez Sala (ESP) rounding out the podium in third.

Waugh’s victory – her second in the T100 after Singapore early this season – took her nine points clear of fellow Brit Lucy Charles-Barclay at the top of the points table with just one more regular-season race to come before the Grand Final in Qatar.

Swim – Busy day for Perez Sala

After the stormy weather on Friday which necessitated a swim course change, conditions couldn’t have been better when the women ran into the water at 2pm local time.

The harbour-protected swim featured three laps and Perez Sala fresh from guiding Susana Rodriguez to another gold in the para tri World Championships in the morning, was in her customary position in the front swim pack.

Alongside here were both Waugh and Lotte Wilms (NED) and that trio put 15 seconds into three chasers by the time of the first Aussie exit.

The chasers were Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS), in her debut T100 race, Hanne De Vet (BEL) and Fenella Langridge (GBR), who was making a welcome race return after surgery this summer.

Meanwhile in the next group back at around 30 seconds back was home favourite Gentle.

And that very much set the tone – the gaps went out slightly on lap two, 23 seconds to the chase trio and 49 seconds to Gentle and co.

Then on the third and final lap, Waugh really started to drive it on the front as she looked to distance Gentle even more – and it worked.

Exiting the water, Perez Sala and Waugh were out first and it was now 42 seconds back to the chasers and 1:10 to Gentle.

Bike – Waugh kicks clear

Waugh wasted little time in moving into an early lead – at the end of the first of six laps she was 13 seconds clear of Perez Sala and it was 1:14 back to the chase pack, which now included Wilms. Gentle wasn’t making up ground though – she was now at +2:10.

Lap two saw a drafting penalty for Van Coevorden who had been battling with Alanis Siffert (SUI) and Ellie Salthouse (AUS). The blue card signified 60 seconds and she had to serve that at the end of the lap.

All of which meant that starting lap three, Waugh’s lead was up by a minute on Perez Sala, with De Vet and Wilms the other two women battling for second.

Wilms was the one who would jump out of that group and for the remainder of the bike that was pretty much the status quo.

Going into T2, Waugh remained in front, with Wilms a clear second at 1:09 which had stayed constant through the second half of the bike.

De Vet and Perez Sala were third an fourth respectively at +2:10, Salthouse fifth at +3:33 and Gentle sixth at +4:31 which, even for a runner of her calibre, was a lot to make up on Waugh.

Run – One-way traffic

Waugh had appeared comfortable on the bike – the heart rate data on the live broadcast had suggested as much too – and she looked light on her feet at the start of what was going to be a testing run course.

There were seven somewhat hilly laps to contend with but Waugh took everything in her stride.

She simply went further and further clear and the big point of interest was how many women Gentle would overtake in behind.

Starting the last lap Waugh was more than four minutes clear of Perez Sala in second, with Gentle just over five minutes adrift and now in third.

And on that lap Gentle powered past Perez to claim the runner-up spot, though she was still over five minutes back when the line came.

Wollongong T100 results – Pro women

Saturday October 18, 2025 – 2km/80km/18km

Latest overall standings (best four races plus Grand Final in Qatar count):