WTCS Weihai 2025 women’s results: Potter wins again to set up Grand Final showdown with Olympic champ

Britain’s Beth Potter made it two wins out of two with a dominant display at WTCS Weihai in China.

The Scot, an emotional winner last time out at Karlovy Vary, unleashed her trademark speed early on the run and that effectively settled it as she went further and further clear.

She crossed the line 16 seconds in front of German pair Lisa Tertsch and Tanja Neubert.

With Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand swerving the race, the win means that Potter is now level with her at the top of the overall standings ahead of the WTCS Grand Final in Woolongong in three weeks.

The pair are the last two World Champions and they have a clear advantage over all their rivals, with last weekend’s Supertri Jersey winner Jeanne Lehair in third.

Swim – Seregni shows the way

It was a relatively small 28-woman field for the last regular-season WTCS, with Potter the only previous winner lining up.

The race started just before midday local time and conditions had warmed up markedly since the men’s event earlier in the day, which produced a shock winner in Max Studer.

It was 29 degrees and humid and the water was a little choppier too but that made little difference to the ultra-smooth swimming stroke of Bianca Seregni (ITA) who led it out on the first of two 750m loops.

Kanae Takenaka (JPN) was second, Márta Kropkó (HUN) third while of the favourites Taylor Spivey (USA) was fourth, Tertsch sixth and Potter eighth – but just 15 seconds covered first 17.

That pattern largely continued on lap two and exiting the water, Seregni, Kropkó and Tertsch were one-two-three with just a second between them.

Spivey was four seconds back in sixth, with Potter 10th at +7s.

Bike – Waiting game

The bike course was a very different one to the entertainingly hilly one used for WTCS Weihai last year.

This time it was eight 5km laps along the seafront and it didn’t take long for things to settle down on lap one, with a front group of 12 and six chasers close behind.

It was one group of 18 by the end of that first lap and by the time we got to the end of lap three it was up to 24.

And that was pretty much that for the bike section – with the other four athletes well out of contention.

The status quo remained all the way to T2, when Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal (MEX) got a couple of seconds late on to reach transition first.

Run – Potter puts power down

We had four 2.5km laps on the run and Desirae Ridenour (CAN) led it early on, with Sophie Alden (GBR) second in her first WTCS race.

But Potter, fresh from her victory a fortnight earlier, wasted little time in powering past everyone with a real injection of pace.

That gave her an immediate gap and at the end of lap one she was 12 seconds to the good over a ‘chase’ group containing Tertsch, Neubert, Ridenour, Alden and Gina Sereno (USA). Spivey was seventh at 19s.

By halfway Potter had extended her lead to 22 seconds over German duo Tertsch and Neubert. Alden, Sereno and Spivey were in fourth, fifth and sixth at +30s.

The pattern continued in the second half of the run, with Potter being able to ease down slightly in the closing stages and still win by 16 seconds.

Tertsch won a see-saw battle for second with Neubert thanks to a late sprint, while Spivey took fourth and Diana Isakova (AIN) came through late on to pass Alden for fifth.

“I don’t take winning for granted so it’s nice to come here and back up what happened in Karlovy Vary just 12 days later,” said Potter afterwards.

“I’m just feeling quietly confident at the moment and good in myself. I trust in my training and it’s coming good.”

WTCS Weihai 2025 results

Friday 26 September 2025 – 1.5km / 40km / 10km

Elite Women

WTCS standings after Karlovy Vary (which is the last one before Woolongong Grand Final)