Local triathlete hero Oliver Simon made a bold bid to win Ironman Kalmar Sweden on Saturday. The 34-year-old recent winner of Tenby's Long Course Weekend was first out of the water following the 3.8 km swim in the Baltic Sea in a time of 49 minutes 22 seconds. A 180 km bike ride followed which saw the first loop on the island Öland (122 km) and the second on the mainland north of Kalmar, while the 42.2 km marathon run was a three-loop circuit in central Kalmar. Olly completed the bike section in 4:42:10 and the run in 3:23:51, giving him an overall finishing time of 8:58:56 and ninth position in the pro male class. In total, the event saw 2,700 competitors from 48 countries taking part. "I entered Ironman Sweden as it was a fast course and just about enough time to recover for Ironman Wales," Olly told the Observer this week. "I had heard it had the same atmosphere as Wales with loads of crowd support and it didn't disappoint. I was sponsored expenses by Big Brums which was a big help and I shared costs with another Welsh pro Paul Hawkins." Olly continued: "The Long Course Weekend showed me I had the distance in my legs to get back on the start line after two years off it with injury. "The race went well from the start with me leading out of the swim and staying in contention on the bike with my fastest 112-mile bike time to date. I was on course for the Welsh Ironman record until I started the second lap of the run about nine miles in when my legs started to stiffen up. From there I had to make the most of the experience and gut it out to the finish. I came ninth pro male amongst some top competition with a sub nine-hour time." And Olly added: "Ironman Sweden was a great experience; I would definitely go back, as like Tenby the whole community comes out to support the 2,700 athletes competing. I will have another crack at that Welsh record, but Ironman Wales is up next and that isn't a personal best course. "Thanks go to Team NBCC, Tri Exercise, Dirty Green Trainers, Feel Good Inc, Activity Wales Events, FFWD wheels, Ceepo bikes, A. B. Rogers and Sons Ltd., and Big Brums who have all had a part in me getting back up to speed."