Irish in Kona

The Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii is always a big draw for
fans of triathlon keen to see the progress of the top professional and amateur
athletes in the sport. Ireland has a quality contingent travelling with a team
of 11 athletes having managed to secure a slot on this occasion.

Though the number of Irish travelling man not be as big as some other
nations the quality is among the best. Based on finish times from 2012 the
average was 11:32 over the hot and windy 3.8k swim, 180k bike and 42k marathon
run with the average finish time of Irish athletes recorded at 10:53. In 2012
the title of fastest nation went to the Belgians with an average finish time of
10:14.

Due to the distance and harsh conditions the Ironman World Championships
deserves respect with experienced competitors often fairing out much better.

This will suit the likes of Owen
Martin from Dundalk who has raced here before clocking 9:44 in 2012 and
more recently 4:17 for the Lost Sheep Middle Distance. Martin was piped by Niall Somers of Dublin's Belpark Tri
Club at the Lost Sheep. Somers qualified for Kona thanks to a blistering 9 hour
Ironman in Austria and a self confessed ‘weak swimmer’, Somers will be
relishing the end of the swim so he can blast the bike and run section.

Martin Muldoon has held the Irish
Ironman Record for a while until Liam Dolan regained it this year but the Derry
man hasn’t lost any of his speed and will be hoping to make his 4th Kona trip a
successful one. London based Matt Molloy
is another experienced campaigner making his 3rd consecutive trip. Molloy is a
talented swimmer so watch for the current World Age Group Aquathlon Champion to
be amongst the first age groupers out of the water.

Other Irish contenders to watch out for are Ivan O'Gorman originally from Limerick who dipped under 10 hours in
2011. Rob Cummins back for the 2nd
year, Alistair Duffield from
Belfast, David Condon from Tipperary, London based Declan
Doyle, Robert Wormald and Ian Kennedy both in the 40-44 years age group.

Watch live and track the athlete’s progress here
on Saturday October 12th from 5pm Irish time or 6am local time.