LANIKAI — The winner of yesterday's Lanikai Triathlon didn't let an altered race hinder his performance: He let it work to his advantage.

Organizers on Thursday eliminated the swim portion because of unhealthy water conditions from high bacteria levels. Initially planned as a 500-meter (547-yard) swim, 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) bike and 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) run event, the swim portion was replaced by a 3.2-kilometer (2-mile) run.

The change benefitted Tai Blechta, who was the first out of 328 participants to cross the finish line in overcast and windy conditions.

"I'm not really good at swimming, so I liked the change," Blechta, from the island of Hawai'i, said.

Blechta, 27, won in 59 minutes, 7 seconds, the only competitor to break one hour. Mark Speck was second in 1:00:49 and Kurt Chambers third in 1:00:59.

Because Blechta was unaccustomed to a run-bike-run race, he ran at the back of the lead pack in the first run and let it dictate the pace.

"The strategy was strange," he said. "Usually in the swim, it's just a sprint. But where do you go on the first run? I just let the others lead."

He took the lead at the transition between the first run portion and the bike, and lost it briefly when the wind caught the disks on his tires and his bike fell.

"The bike was great, it was windy but not dangerous," Blechta said. We went a little off course, about 23 seconds."

Ingrid Rolles won the women's title in 1:06:59, and finished 19th overall. Sandra Ferreira was second in 1:09:56 and Amy Bennett finished third in 1:10:22.

"Lanikai is always a fun race," said Rolles, who competes professionally on the Nissan XTERRA race circuit. She said she appreciated the organizers' decision to cancel the swim portion of the race because of the condition of the water.

She led the entire women's race, and by the turnaround of the bike portion, she had a couple of minutes on her nearest competitor. She began racing against the men.

"I was trying to catch as many as I could," she said.

Rolles, 33, a Honolulu resident from South Africa, used yesterday's race to gauge her fitness level.

"I'm training pretty hard at the moment," she said. "(The Lanikai Triathlon) is a good test to see where you are at the beginning of the season. It gives you an idea of your strengths and weaknesses."

Race official Raul Boca called yesterday's altered race "a great success. It was a safe decision to make and the athletes were supportive of the decision."

Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com.