Following his record breaking performance in his debut at the 2016 SunSmart IRONMAN 70.3 Busselton, the 5 x World Champion Triathlete, Craig ‘Crowie’ Alexander has confirmed he will be returning in 2017 to defend his title.

This is the first time that Alexander has committed to a race so early in the season and is a reflection of the great time he had in Busselton last year. Alexander says “I had such a fantastic time in Busselton last year. It’s a great course and the whole event had an incredible festival atmosphere over the whole weekend. The support from the crowd and the locals is amazing and I can’t wait to get back there to defend my title.”

Alexander has over a decade of national and international Ironman Triathlon titles under his belt including 70.3 World Champion 2006, 2011; Ironman World Champion 2008, 2009, 2011 and was the first athlete to win a 70.3 and Ironman World Championships in the same year.

Triathlon WA Event Manager Georgina Westgarth said “We are extremely excited to announce Craig Alexander is returning to defend his title at the SunSmart IRONMAN 70.3 Busselton. Craig is a truly world class athlete and his commitment to the race only reinforces what a great event this is. It is fast becoming known as one of the must do races, not only in the Asia-Pacific region but, right across the world”.

But Craig may not have it all his own way. Rio Olympian, Ryan Bailie, at a recent post-race interview, said he was interested in racing in Busselton in May and may bring one of his fellow Olympians with him. Following his top 10 performance in Rio and at the ITU World Championships in Cozumel, Ryan was back racing in Perth for the first time in over a year at the Australian Duathlon Championships in Armadale. The 2017 SunSmart IRONMAN 70.3 Busselton will be his first race at the longer distance.

It is early days in the preparation for the 2017 event, with registration having opened yesterday early this week. The event sold out last year and people interested in competing are encouraged to register early to be sure they don’t miss out.

“We’ve had such a great response from people already, both professional and age group athletes, that we encourage all to head down to Busselton for another race that should not be missed” said Ms Westgarth.

SunSmart IRONMAN 70.3 Busselton will take place in the famous City of Busselton (South West of WA) on Sunday 7 May 2017.

SunSmart IRONMAN 70.3 Busselton Fast Facts:

• Consists of a 1.9km swim, 90.1km bike and 21.1km run
• Total distance equals 70.3 miles
• It’s the largest event of its type in Asia Pacific
• The event has a professional prize purse of US$25,000
• 2016 event had 3000 competitors, which is made up of 1700 individuals and 1000 team competitors
• The Busselton course record is 3hr 42min 59sec for the men, set by Craig Alexander in 2016 and 4hr 12min 33sec for the women, set by Annabel Luxford in 2016
• SunSmart Ironman 70.3 Busselton is part of the SunSmart Busselton Festival of Triathlon which is a 3 day festival offering something for everyone to get involved in.