‘Stoked’ Fenella Langridge smashes course record to claim first IRONMAN victory in style in Western Australia
Team Bath full-time athlete Fenella Langridge recorded her first Ironman victory in style as she set a new course record at the 2023 GWM IRONMAN Western Australia in Busselton.
Langridge does her swimming training at the Team Bath Sports Training Village and she underlined her status as one of the strongest swimmers in Ironman competition by clocking the fastest time of 51:07 in the 3.8km opening discipline.
That gave her a narrow lead going into the 180km bike ride but a world-record split from Sweden’s Lisa Norden meant Langridge trailed by five minutes as she started the decisive 42.2km run.
She patiently reeled in her rival and took the lead with a third of the run remaining before easing away to finish more than three minutes clear of Norden, Langridge’s combined time of 8:29:43 smashing the previous course record by nine minutes.
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“I’m absolutely stoked, it was one of the best days ever,” said Langridge, who accesses the Sports Training Village through the Team Bath full-time athlete programme. “The race panned out pretty much perfectly.
“You never forget your first IRONMAN win, they’re harder to get these days with fields getting even more competitive so it’s nothing to take for granted and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life, it was amazing.”
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Picture credit: Korupt Vision.
