But the course cutting was witnessed by hunderds of people from the bridge and can be seen in the livestream too (the buoy in the back is the one they should have swam around). My girlfriend witnessed it and wondered if they were swimming the right course, but in their defense she said that the kayak accompanying them was right between them and the buoy they should be swimming too, effectively blocking their sight. Many people wondered about it directly after, so I find it odd that affected athletes, or their coaches, only put in their protests weeks later.
Around 1:01:50 you see Haley Chura swim around the orange buoy, around 1:09-1:11 you see that buoy in the background of where Els and Sonia are swimming.

Els wasn't shooting for a spot in Kona, but IM Maastricht was the Dutch long distance championship, a title she now loses to Yvonnen van Vlerken.

https://www.facebook.com/IRONMANnow/videos/1395913697206111/

With Angela Naeth being added to the Kona startlist, did somebody else lose their spot?

Just saw Angela Naeth’s FB post about corrected IM Maastricht results and that she’s now going to be racing in Kona.

After all she’s gone through the last several years, stoked to see her race in Hawaii... but was curious what the issue was with the IM Maastricht results?

Wanted to bump this, as Ironman's DQ of Visser and Bricegirdle was overturned. Visser said they were directed off course by an official, but I couldn't clearly see anyone directing them in the replay. Just curious if anyone knows what data was used as a means to justify the reversal.