She did it – and set off real fireworks! Cindy Friebel from RSC Götzing bought the ticket for the legendary long distance World Cup in Hawaii at the Ironman Klagenfurt – and thus fulfilled a great dream. She finished the race of 3.8 kilometers of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling and 42 kilometers of running in a very strong 9:29:38 hours. With perfect external conditions she won her age group F30-34 confidently and was seventh overall among women.
“That’s great,” said Fridolfinger modestly about her great success. “The best of the best start in Hawaii, that’s a great thing and another completely different act.” Cindy Friebel certainly doesn’t need to hide in Hawaii either – her demonstration of power in Austria was too impressive. Because the amateur athlete made some of the professionals look really old, especially on the bike course.
Even while swimming in the Wörthersee, she exceeded her own expectations. After 1:01 hours she got out of the water. “That is already a top time for me,” emphasizes Friebel, who came out of the water as the third in her age group. Although she is actually a water rat, she added, unfortunately, not that fast in the water.
On the bike, Friebel put on another huge show, even though the bike course had quite a few meters in altitude and was accordingly demanding. “It felt really easy,” she says, still a little amazed. “It went really very well.” And Friebel is an understatement. Because at the end of the 180 kilometers she had an excellent time of 4:56:14 hours and thus an average speed of 36.29 km / h on the clock. In doing so, she exceeded her own specifications in the second discipline – even though her chain had dropped once. “But thank God I was able to fix that quickly.”
With this great cycling time, the triathlete catapulted herself directly behind the leader and later winner Laura Philipp in the ranking list. What she was particularly happy about and “pushed” on the track was the fact that she repeatedly overtook male participants and some of them called out to her, “How great I am driving”.
“You have to divide up your strength”
Which was an advantage for her: »I knew the bike course. I drove it last year and knew what to expect. «Especially the Rupertiberg at the very end is another nasty number. “You have to divide up your strength,” she emphasizes.
But Friebel also mastered this hurdle with flying colors. After another quick change, we went on to the 42-kilometer running route. Two laps had to be completed – and lap one went like clockwork for the Fridolfingerin. “It felt a bit slow, though,” she says. But she didn’t want to overpacify and so ran a very controlled race.
On the second lap, Cindy Friebel had a small break-in. From then on she felt her thighs and “that was rather difficult”. It was good that acquaintances, friends and family stood along the route and cheered them on. “The general mood was really good.”
And so Friebel bit his teeth, only slowing down insignificantly over the last 21 kilometers. “I just always thought: Don’t go now,” she says. “And three kilometers before the finish, it really shot through my head: I’ll never do an Ironman again.” Now she can laugh heartily at this thought – and it was quickly forgotten in Klagenfurt. With a leap of joy she crossed the finish line. Only then did Friebel realize that she had achieved her set time of 9:30 hours. “I was really happy there,” reports the endurance athlete, who during the race never really knew which position she was currently occupying. “There was a rolling start among the age groups and you never knew exactly where you were.”
One day later there was the really big reward for all the countless hours of training, but it was totally worth it: Cindy Friebel received the trophy at the official award ceremony and she accepted her Hawaii place. She will now be on the starting line in Kona in October 2022. She hopes that the race can actually take place then. “I actually wanted to go to Hawaii earlier, but Corona made that impossible,” she says. Anyway, she finally has the ticket in her pocket – thanks to an outstanding performance.
“Now I need a little rest”
“And now I need a little rest first,” she admits. For the next week or two, she’ll only do what she feels like doing. “I haven’t planned anything for autumn either. Let’s see if there is still a race possible, ”she says about the near future.
For Cindy Friebel, however, the preparations for the new season will soon begin again – and in 2022 a very special race awaits her with the »Myth of Hawaii«. A dream will then come true and the competition can dress warmly for once. SB
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