Maltese endurance athlete Fabio Spiteri succeeded in lowering his personal best time at the Ironman Sweden, organised recently in Kalmar.

Spiteri did well to finish the gruelling challenge in nine hours and 35 minutes.

However, his impressive time and bold efforts were still not enough for him to acquire a berth for Hawaii’s Kailua-Kona Ironman... missing out by a mere two minutes.

In all, there were nine Maltese triathletes in the Ironman Sweden that had an entry field of 2,400.

This race was the fourth Ironman that Malta Duathlon champion Spiteri had completed. He placed 50th overall and classified eighth in his age group.

Spiteri’s time was his fastest ever in a registered Ironman which consists of a 3.96km swim, a bike segment of 180kms and a full marathon of 42kms.

His sponsors were Garmin, Hebe, Maxi Nutrition, Go & Fun, The Cyclist and Bowline.

Spiteri completed the swim in one hour six minutes and pedalled the second segment in just over five hours.

It took him 3 hours and 16 minutes to run the marathon.

This Ironman saw Spiteri coming the closest he’s ever been to qualifying for the prestigious World Championship race in Kailua-Kona.

Meanwhile, the other Maltese triathletes in Kalmar were Graham Borg (10h:44m), Jack Schiavone (11:19), John Cassar (11:54), Kelvin Goodwin (11:59), Sandro Sciberras (12:09), Mark Borg (12:54), Victor Sammut (14:02) and Paula Sciberras (14:31).

With the exception of Cassar, this was the first time that all the other Maltese triathletes in Kalmar were tackling an Ironman race.