Bahrain Endurance triathlete Swallow soars in Cairns

Jodie Swallow flew high in Cairns over the weekend, taking the victory at the Ironman Asia Pacific Championship in record-breaking fashion and booking her ticket to the Ironman World Championship.

In typical Swallow style she took the lead on the 3.8-kilometre swim. Showing no signs of the broken elbow sustained on her Ironman South Africa bike crash two months ago, the 2012 Ironman 70.3 world champion exited the water in 49 minutes. From there she stomped through to a new bike course record of 4:50 over the 180 kilometres against rain and headwind.

By the time Swallow hopped off to start her run, she held a healthy buffer of over 20 minutes. The Briton held on and gave it all on the run, collapsing after she crossed the finish line with the day’s fourth-best marathon of 3:21 to win in 9:06:18.

Swallow was 14th overall, slashing a whopping 17 minutes off the bike course record and four minutes off the course record. She attributed her performance to her fiance and coach James Cunnama. “I would not have started without James, she said. “He kept me in the sport. This is down to him.”

Meanwhile, Cunnama said it was impossible to convey what Jodie achieved on the day, following the tribulations of the past 2 months. “Champions overcome. Proud coach. Proud partner,” he added. The triathlon power couple will both start in Kona.