Aichlinn O’Reilly, who is well known on the Irish road racing scene, has made a big breakthrough in his first sport of triathlon, becoming the first Irishman to go under eight hours in an Ironmam.
The Co Mayo athlete, who has competed at home for Newcastle West Cycling Club and is a former overall winner at Rás Maigh Eo, was competing in Busselton Ironman in Western Australia, where he produced a lifetime best competing in the pro category.
He was 6th in the race, which he competed in a time of 7hrs 59mins 4secs, making it to the line under the eight-hour marker, dislodging former cyclist Bryan McCrystal as Irish record holder.
McCrystal, who won many road events during his days in the Irish peloton, broke the Irish record several times during his career and his time of 8:07:37, set in Germany five years ago, had stood until O'Reilly lowered it at the weekend.
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O'Reilly (28), from Westport, did the 3.9km swim in 47:46 before completing the 180.2km bike leg in 4:11:31 and then completed his race with a marathon run of 2:54:13; an incredible time given the fatigue from the swim and bike already in his body.
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The performance was a very timely boost for O'Reilly as he has just relocated to Perth in Australia and had completed seven weeks of full time training in the build up to his record-breaking performance.
He said he was "super happy" with his time, adding it was his "first Pro Ironman and first ever Irish man under 8 hours".
"Totally capped off with 6th place in a very strong field," he said. "Have to say I got a bit emotional at the finish."
O’Reilly was 4th in the U23 TT at the National Road Championships in Co Wexford back in 2017, finishing one place away from a podium comprised of Michael O'Loughlin, Conn McDunphy and Eddie Dunbar in that order.
In the same year, while racing to prepare for triathlon, O'Reilly also won the Cotter Cup and the final yellow jersey at Rás Mhaigh Eo, in what was his first bike race, aged 21-years.
O'Reilly had competed for Westport Triathlon Club at home and set out a plan a year ago to aim for the Irish Ironman record.
