Does she have a social media presence? Has anyone reached out and asked her?

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
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You forgot to mention the 4 sections where the lake was too shallow to swim and we had to walk.

no idea, but it's 6:45am in New Zealand, so I would guess in the next few hours we'll find out.

given there were a few NZ athletes in the race, I'm a bit surprised this hasn't been flagged in some way already. it's a long plane ride home from Oklahoma to NZ. surely there must have been some chatter on the flight:
"hey, can you believe Amy beat all the pro men in the swim..."
"er, no"

Do mistakes never happen? Everyone's jumping on the notion that this was on purpose. On purpose maybe to not tell officials, but that's a different story.

You forget...we're a day ahead of you....so this has already happened and blown over :)

Kinda agree with Chris, mistakes happen. But the story I heard after a little fishing, was that it was protested, but the athlete presented some other data (training peaks maybe, or race results...I dunno...but something) and then they re-instated the win. And then (kind of telling in itself) they quickly got her out at the beginning of prize giving, gave the award, and she bolted. Now to me, if that story is true it's kinda saying something.

And the idea of her getting a pro card off this result....FFS...that's just ludicrous. Won't happen here in NZ, our federation has a little more integrity than that.

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Well she was quoted in an article about her swim, so even if it was a mistake, she isn't owning up to it after the fact.

There is a small chance she somehow has no idea that she did not swim two laps, but that seems unlikely doesn't it?

Given the public coverage of her "win" and that she hasn't said anything other than she did two laps, I suspect we are never going to get anything useful out of her.

Albeit coincidental, I just grabbed a bag of popcorn after my lunch and sat down to this thread.

Refresh - Popcorn - Refresh - Popcorn...

I'm dying to see her Garmin data. I HOPE she somehow turns out legit because I like to think that our sport is an honorable one, but I'm having trouble seeing how this was possible.

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Too old to go pro but doing it anyway
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Let's look at the evidence:

- Experienced racer at multiple ITU World and other long course events
- Swam 25 minutes faster than any other AGer in the women's field
- Out-swam all the pros, men included
- Went on to complete the course on the bike and run
- Recognized that after the turn-around on the bike she was still 20 minutes ahead of 2nd place female (this must have seemed highly suspicious as she isn't an uber-biker)
- Accepted the AG winner award
- Wrote a race report that appeared in the local media saying she now wants to race pro elite for prize money

+1

Don't forget that random FB post claiming she is the type of person that grabs and punches people during a race.

Totally unsubstantiated, but if true, speaks to character.

I can say that I did compete in this event, and yes it was a windy day, not only in the swim but on the bike and run too.
The swim conditions were extremely difficult, I was hoping for a OK 1 hour and 10 minute target bearing in mind it was not wetsuit legal. In sections the swim was so shallow you had to get up and walk to deeper water or dolphin swim!!! I was there with 8 other team members all who had difficult swims and recorded on average well over 5000 yards of swimming on our Garmins.
When I read Amy results, I at first thought wow, outstanding swim, however in those conditions and paired up against elites and pros, she outswam all the fastest elite guys by over a minute and almost 8 minutes on Jodie Swallow. I would like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but honestly without supporting Garmin evidence I am thinking she did just one lap.
Yes she did accept the award and the awards ceremony btw.
It was not until the next day or so I noticed the results.
I feel the second placed female in her age group should have got the award as her time was more reflective of the actual conditions. Too bad really, I hope honestly prevails!

At Taupo 70.3 last year she swam a 41:12. The top 4 (Currie, Millard, McNeice and O'Grady) all swam either 23 or 24. Her swimming has certainly made some huge gains in the last 10 months.

Do you really need any more evidence than this? Unless she found the swimming silver bullet and became an olympic level swimmer in a year, her time is clearly not indicative of her skill level. Also, and i'm genuinely curious, when was the last time a woman had the best swim time at a major event like this? At Kona, woman are typically 3-4 minutes behind the men.

Unfortunately, even with all of the above, speculation is required.

Why there wasn't a timing mat at the swim start/exit is beyond me.

There wasn't a photographer at the swim lap mark? Both of these themselves seem suspicious.

Someone produced some evidence of the swim as another poster wrote. I'm just saying it could have been an honest mistake, or entirely legit. Hopefully we have the athlete in question join this thread, and discuss exactly what happened and can clear this up for all of us.Otherwise, we're all just speculating.

1:23 100m pace wouldn't even finish top 50 in a local meet here in CO.

This result is a year and a half old, I don't view it as evidence that cannot be disputed. I can provide many an example where 4 seconds over 100m can be dropped over the span of 18 months.

Actually, I think we're all doing a pretty good job here of sticking to the facts, although yes, some opinions based on them are being expressed. All that I wrote above is fact, as is the fact that she swam 1:27/100m at the NZ Masters and at least 1:23/100m in this event (quicker if the course was actually longer). The problem is the facts do not add up.

If you can paint a scenario where it was either an honest mistake (then should have DQ'd herself) or entirely legit, please spell it out.

What on earth are you talking about? She swam 1:27/100m in a pool and then magically swims 1:23/100m in some of the worst swim conditions the athletes have seen beating her competition by 25 minutes. Sure 4 seconds can be dropped in similar conditions but that isn't what happened. Not to mention, other athletes have stated that the course was long and this wasn't 4 seconds faster over the same distance it was 4 seconds faster over 2.5 times further.....

Just stirring the pot sir. But a year and a half is so much time, I think this "evidence" shouldn't be considered so seriously.

Nope, as I mentioned above, she should've entirely disqualified herself should there have been a mistake.

For the legit argument, it's a year and a half. Some race official took the evidence she provided and validated the result. I hope a coach and athlete both are not this shady.

Even granting you that and tossing the pool evidence, I find her time vs. the male pros to be almost entirely damning.

Almost... GPS logs showing 2 laps would be enough to convince me. I'm still keeping my pitchfork tucked away though until we find out what she told/showed that official.

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Too old to go pro but doing it anyway
http://instagram.com/tgarvey4

Based on the Julie Miller fiasco, would a challenge be directed at ITU or would that start with the New Zealand Federation?

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

If your 'legit' argument is that "she could have improved her swim time by 4 secs/100m in 15 months" you are choosing to ignore most of the evidence. That's not even close to comparing apples to apples and ignores her other past triathlon swim performances, and ignores the conditions and performances of her competitors and the pros on the day.

A 'legit' argument would have to explain how a front-pack age group swimmer managed to out-swim the pro men and women and beat her closest AG competitors by 25 minutes.

Ironman Florida requires you to exit the water, cross a timing mat, and get back in the water between laps 1 & 2.

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Pink? Maybe. Maybe not. You decide.

You and others keep mentioning this but it's not proof of cheating. They could just all suck a swimming.

For the record, I seriously doubt her result but this argument is not evidence per se of cheating.

Your argument is that the rest of the field at a world championship just happens to suck at swimming....?