Courtesy: USAT

Australian elite triathlete Craig Alexander became a repeat champion while U.S. elite Julie Swail secured a double victory on Sunday at the Boston Triathlon.

Swail (Irvine, Calif.) not only won the women's race title, she also took the 2005 USA Triathlon Elite Cup Challenge -- The Haul to the Great Wall -- series prize of $5,000.

The race was also an International Triathlon Union (ITU) Continental Cup race and top finishers earned points toward World Cup, world championship and, eventually, Olympic qualifying.

Swail, a 2000 Olympic silver medalist in water polo, completed the intermediate distance race in 1 hour, 55 minutes, 11 seconds. Barb Lindquist (Alta, Wyo.), the 2004 triathlon Olympian who led the Elite Cup series going into Sunday's race, finished third overall in 1:55:54. Between them was Sarah Haskins (St. Louis, Mo.) in second (1:55:24).

Swail, Haskins and Lindquist all came into the first transition together after the two-lap swim around Boston's World Trade Center. They stayed together on the bike and on the first part of the run, before Swail and Haskins pulled away from Lindquist, and then Swail pulled away from Haskins.

It was Swail's first time doing the Boston Triathlon, but she said it wouldn't be her last.

"I really like these urban races," said Swail, who won the New York City Triathlon and finished seventh last week at the Chicago Triathlon. "In Boston, the run through the World Trade Center (between swim laps) was so much fun."

Caitlin Shea Kenney of Brockton, Mass., finished 15th and Florence Chretien of Wayland, Mass placed 16th.

Alexander, who won the 2004 Boston race, had a tough time of it in 2005 as he found himself in a large bike pack trailing leaders Arturo Garza of Mexico and Trenton Tollakson of Urbandale, Iowa, by more than a minute at the end of the 40k leg.

"I was caught between a rock and a hard place," Alexander said. "I didn't want to let them get too far ahead, but I didn't want to be the only one working to catch up with them either."

Alexander ran the 10k in 30:07 for the victory. Garza was second in 1:42:26 and Derek Kite (Malibu, Calif.) was the top U.S. finisher in third in 1:42:56.

The Boston Triathlon
Sept. 4, 2005; Boston, Mass.
1.5k swim; 40k bike; 10k run

Women
1. Julie Swail (Irvine, Calif.) 1:55:11; 2. Sarah Haskins (St. Louis, Mo.) 1:55:24; 3. Barb Lindquist (Alta, Wyo.) 1:55:54; 4. Carol Montgomery (Canada) 1:57:38; 5. Marta Gaiardelli (Italy) 1:58:22; 6. Patrice Wolfensberger (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1:58:28; 7. Erin Ford (The Dalles, Ore.) 1:59:00; 8. Karen Melliar-Smith (Denver, Colo.) 1:59:44; 9. Beth Hibbard (Seal Beach, Calif.) 2:00:01; 10. Annie Warner (Spokane, Wash.) 2:00:06
11. Malaika Homo (Salt Lake City, Utah) 2:01:19; 12. Alexis Waddel (Carmel, Calif.) 2:01:49; 13. Magdelena Stovickova (Upper Saddle River, N.Y.) 2:02:20; 14. Genevieve Pellerin (Canada) 2:02:59; 15. Caitlin Shea Kenney (Brockton, Mass.) 2:06:48; 16. Florence Chretien (Wayland, Mass.) 2:09:58; 17. Kathryn Bertine (Nederland, Colo.) 2:13:13; 18. Yolanda Colon Rivera (Puerto Rico) 2:18:25

Men
1. Craig Alexander (Australia) 1:42:15; 2. Arturo Garza (Mexico) 1:42:26; 3. Derek Kite (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 1:42:56; 4. Brian Fleischmann (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1:43:18; 5. Richie Cunningham (German) 1:43:21; 6. Logan Wealing (Fowler, Ind.) 1:43:22; 7. Brendan Sexton (Australia) 1:43:40; 8. Nick Hastie (Canada) 1:44:07; 9. David Thompson (St. Paul, Minn.) 1:44:20; 10. Anthony Flochlay (France) 1:44:32
11. Trenton Tollakson (Urbandale, Iowa) 1:44:49; 12. David James Tache (Canada) 1:45:00; 13. Nathan Kortuem 1:45:22; 14. Dave Kuendig (Lexington, Ky.) 1:45:23; 15. Brandon Marsh (Austin, Texas) 1:45:29; 16. Marc Despaties (Canada) 1:45:45; 17. Dave Messenheimer (Seattle, Wash.) 1:45:52; 18. Jamie Stephenson (Canada) 1:46:19; 19. Nicholas Becker (France) 1:46:36; 20. Brian Lavelle (Los Gatos, Calif.) 1:46:47
21. Jonathan Grady (Australia) 1:46:56; 22. John Dahlz (San Francisco, Calif.) 1:47:24; 23. Jonathan Salerno (Seattle, Wash.) 1:47:44; 24. Michael Arce (Arlington Heights, Ill.) 1:47:58; 25. Javier Cuevas (Puerto Rico) 1:48:18; 26. Charles Smith (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1:48:55; 27. Joshua Rix (Australia) 1:49:13; 28. Gregory Carr (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) 1:49:17; 29. Dave Thomas (Canada) 1:50:21; 30. Branden Rakita (Manitou Springs, Colo.) 1:50:30
31. Alexis Ascah (Canada) 1:50:41; 32. Daniel Wells (Canada) 1:51:23; 33. Will Iaia (Highlands Beach, Colo.) 1:53:48; 34. Bobby Behan (Ireland) 1:53:54; 35. Arland Macasieb (Clifton, N.J.) 1:56:05; 36. Dave Reid (Berkeley, Calif.) 1:56:59; 37. Gabriel de Jesus (Puerto Rico) 1:59:14; 38. Edgardo Velez (Puerto Rico) 2:00:11