British breakthrough triathlon star hailed by IRONMAN World Champion after AMAZING Kona debut

Kieran Lindars is enjoying the moment after his magical Kona debut – but already planning how to take the next step to challenge for “the top positions”.

The Briton touched many a heartstring with an emotional interview after coming second at IRONMAN Frankfurt in August to book his place at the IRONMAN World Championship, something that had been a dream since childhood.

His words particularly resonated with age-group triathletes as most of his training sessions are done in Britain with local clubs and volunteer coaches rather than at warm-weather training camps.

We spoke to him soon afterwards and he admitted that, after a challenging first half of the season, Frankfurt could easily have been his last pro race had things not turned out as well as they did.

But second place to the great Kristian Blummenfelt in a stacked 80-strong field sent him to Hawaii in a buoyant mood and with renewed confidence.

‘Jellyfish swarm’ to start

And he produced another superb performance on the Big Island – he was in the lead group in the swim, first out of T1, in the main chase bike pack for most of the 112 miles and then had a super-solid run to finish it off in style with eighth place in a time of 7:51:55.

After letting the dust settle, he’s now given his detailed thoughts on the race on his Instagram page, saying: Completing an Ironman is such an enormous accomplishment, and I’m incredibly grateful to have shared this journey with so many amazing athletes at Kona. Even deciding to attempt one of these races is a huge undertaking – just trying is an act of true bravery.

“My day started off with some bad luck. I swam straight through a jellyfish swarm, which was no fun. Luckily, I’m not allergic, so although it was painful, it was more annoying than anything. With some good tactics and positioning, I managed to finish the swim in 5th place.

“I had a super-fast transition and led onto the bike, which was a surreal experience I’ll never forget. That moment didn’t last too long and I was reminded of just how tough racing can be. The bike leg was relentless and tricky to manage. The constant compressing and expanding of the pace line made for a very surgy ride. I lasted until the last 20 km, where I knew I needed to save some energy for the run. While I didn’t lose significant time, I did find myself a bit isolated.

“Heading into the run, I initially felt uncertain, as I wasn’t feeling my best. But once I found my rhythm, I pressed on. Around the 7km mark, I noticed that others were paying a little for their earlier bike efforts, and I was actually one of the faster runners on the course.

“The Kona run can be incredibly challenging and I definitely felt it towards the end. Fortunately, @marksaroni had warned me how tough the finish can be, so I’d saved just enough energy to finish strong.”

Lange lauds Lindars

That’s now two outstanding performances in a row, something 27-year-old Lindars has been striving for.

And looking ahead, he added: “This race has taught me so much, and I feel that if I can put these lessons into practice, with another year or so of development, I’ll be able to start challenging for those top positions.

“It’s an exciting prospect, and now it’s time to sit down with maxwellswimclub, @triathlonrevolution and @valeofaylesburyac1 and make a plan.

“For now I’m just going to enjoy the moment! Thank you everyone for all of your kind messages and support!”

And one of the first to message him after the update was none other than the newly-crowned IRONMAN World Champ Patrick Lange, who simply said: “Great debut mate ?.”