Beaudesert took home three podium finishes at the 2022 Queensland Aquathlon.
McAuley College students Jim McClure and Christopher Coonan placed second and third in the 16-17 age group with times of 46 minutes 21 seconds and 52 minutes 38 seconds, respectively.
It was McClure and Coonan’s first tilt at the sport of triathlon; however, both drew on their experiences in other sporting fields to rise to the challenge.
McClure has played representative cricket for south-east Queensland and is vice-captain of the Ipswich Hornets in the Lords Taverners competition.
Coonan has a black belt in karate and keeps active by going to the gym.
Their teacher, Zac Cunningham, also had a podium finish, placing third in the 35 to 40 age group with a time of 34 minutes 17 seconds.
All three athletes competed in the sprint distance, comprising a 750m swim in the Sunshine Coast’s Lake Kawana, followed by a 5km run.
The 22 October Queensland Aquathlon was a key event in the Triathlon Queensland State Series calendar.
It started off the 2022/23 racing season for Cunningham, who now heads to the Hervey Bay 100 (2km swim, 80km ride, 18km run) on 6 November.
Cunningham also has the Queensland Tri Series Round 5: Robina Olympic (1500m swim, 40km ride, 10km run) on 8 January, the Round 6: Caloundra sprint (750m swim, 20km ride, 5km run) on 5 February and the main event, Goondiwindi’s Hell of the West (2km swim, 80km ride, 20km run) on 26 March.
