Bailey wins Mercuryman international distance

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 14 February 2018

Michelle Bailey won her second triathlon in the past four months, leading all women to the finish of the International Distance at the 2018 Generali Mercuryman on Sunday, 11 February.

Bailey was more than 15 minutes ahead of her nearest rival, completing the 0.6-mile swim, 28-mile bike, and 6.5-mile run in 2:49:12.88. She was the only woman to complete the race in under three hours.

A smile on her face at the finish outside Bar Crudo in George Town either contradicted how the rest of her body was feeling or she was genuinely happy to have gotten through it.

“It was actually really tough. I don’t think I did enough training for this one,” Bailey told CaymanSportsBuzz.com.

She talked us through the race: “The swim was pretty decent conditions…there was a bit of a headwind going out on the bike but that made for a nice, easy ride on the way back. The run was tough though; it was really hard.”

Bailey, who won the sprint event at the Cayman Islands Triathlon in November, said she doesn’t intend to compete again until that event towards the end of this year. Until then, she plans to participate in a few open water swims including the Flowers Sea Swim on 16 June.

Top 5 female finishers (L-R): Wendy Clarke, Celine Macken, Michelle Bailey, Maggie Tomlin, and Jalene Cruz.

The second woman to finish was Maggie Tomlin (3:05:50.19) with Celine Macken third (3:13:17.41). A total of seven women competed the international distance event.