KONA, Hawaii — Former LSU women’s swimming standout Julie Dibens (Great Britain) captured third-place at the Ford Ironman World Championships, a grueling 140.6-mile triathlon held Saturday in Kona, Hawaii.
After completing the opening 2.4-mile swim in second-place with a time of 53 minutes, 50 seconds, Dibens took the lead following a mark of 4:55:27 in the 112-mile biking portion. She clocked a time of 3:16:12 in the 26.2-mile marathon run to finish third overall out of more than 530 female athletes (9:10:04).
Mirinda Carfrae of Australia emerged as the world champion with a time of 8:58.36.
Dibens, who trains in Boulder Co., was the 2009 world champion at the 70.3-mile format.
Formerly known as Julie Ricketts, she was a two-time NCAA All-American for LSU in 1997. Her personal bests of 1:49.57 and 1:59.87 in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke, respectively, remain program top-10 times.