The Southern Highlands were well represented at the event with 12 members of the Highlands Triathlon club competing in the iconic full ironman and half ironman events.

The full ironman triathlon consisted of a 3.8km swim in Hastings River, followed by a 180km bike ride along the coastal road, and then a 42.2km marathon run along the Port Macquarie waterfront.

All six Highlands athletes that entered the full event successfully finished.

The best result was achieved by Connolly who completed his 11th Ironman race and took out third place in the 30-34 year age group.

This result also qualified him to compete in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii later in the year, although he will not be attending after competing in the same event last year.

First timers and married couple Anthony Buckley and Alison Oate also successfully completed the Ironman.

Scott Inman and Max Moran also successfully crossed the line as first timers to the voice of ironman legend Mike O’Reilly calling out his trademark call of ‘you are an Ironman’.

 Niall Blair returned for his fourth finish.

In the half ironman, which is a 1.9km swim / 90km bike / 21.1km run, the Highlands Triathlon Club was represented by Greg Puchert, Ken Heikkinen, Michele Roche, Emma Munro, and Maddie Roche.

Ironman Australia brings to a close the 2017/18 triathlon season, which has been a successful first year for the Highlands Triathlon Club.

The next season (2018/19) kicks off again in July with a new regional interclub series that will pit the Highlands Triathlon Club up against six other South Coast triathlon clubs.

The first race will be a Duathlon event (Run/Bike/Run) in Berry on Saturday, July 14 .

Highlands Triathlon Club invites all interested Highlanders to consider joining the club.

Contact Barry Smith on 0411 484 321 or email bazlynda@yahoo.com for more information or search. Highlands Triathlon Club on Facebook.

Ironman Australia 2018 results (total time) swim time – bike time – run time