Blue Mountains triathlete Sam Appleton has taken out back to back wins in the Ironman 70.3 Geelong title on Sunday.
The former Warrimoo resident was over the moon, saying “it feels good to kick off the season on such a positive note.”
Crossing the line in 3 hours 45 minutes 53 seconds, his nearest rivals were Australians Josh Amberger (3:47:22), and Ryan Fisher (3:49:10).
Appleton flew through the 1.9km swim in just 23 minutes, the 90km bike leg in 2:05:28, to finish the 21.1km run in 1:14:02.
The win in Geelong follows five Ironman 70.3 titles last year. “Each year I get stronger, fitter and smarter as well. You have to know yourself and your body. Each year I’m learning more about how I race and the best training for me,” the 27-year-old said.
Appleton plans to spend the next month catching up with family and friends before returning to the US and his training base in Arizona.
His next major race will be the Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in California in April, which will feature the top athletes in the running for the World Championships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in September.
“It will be a pretty stacked field,” Appleton said, and one he’s hoping to have a decent crack at, with the world championships his major goal for 2018. In December he hopes to return to Australia to tackle his first full Ironman.