The Welshman so fit he just obliterated the national Ironman record

Finn Arentz suffered five chest infections in six months, but pushed through and blitzed his own national record in a remarkable display. Ahead of Ironman Wales tomorrow, Dylan James reports

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TENBY triathlete Finn Arentz has smashed his own Welsh national Ironman record by 20 minutes, but said seeing his brother cross the finishing line meant more to him on the record-breaking day in Denmark.

Competing at Ironman Copenhagen last month, Arentz delivered the performance of his career, and finished the race in just over seven hours and 50 minutes. His previous Welsh record saw him post a time of just over eight hours and 10 minutes, so he convincingly bested the previous effort.

Arentz kicked off the race by clocking just shy of 50 minutes on the 2.4-mile swim, before completing 112 miles on the bike in four hours and 16 minutes. If that wasn’t speedy enough, the Tenby triathlete proceeded to cover the marathon distance (26.2 miles) in only two hours and 40 minutes.

However, being the modest character he is, it wasn’t the personal triumph that meant most to him - it was watching younger brother Frank complete his first Ironman.

“If I was asked whether I was more emotional at my own finish line or at his, it was definitely watching him cross the line,” he said.

“I was more proud of that than I was of my own accomplishments, rightly or wrongly, that’s just the way it went, maybe I was just high on blood sugar, so I had more ability to feel anything at that point! It was fantastic and he is a good lad, he’s annoying as hell a lot of the time, but actually, which brother isn’t?!”

“And actually having him around was really nice, so it was just nice for him to actually execute everything well and to get what he wanted and for him to be really happy afterwards too.”

Finn trained younger brother Frank for the race in the Danish capital, but as well as watching his sibling cross the line in his first-ever Ironman, it was a monumental day for Finn himself. Going into the race, he says, the record was at the back of his mind.