Louise Mackinlay Collection

Louise Mackinlay (Bonham) came to the attention of the broader national and international triathlon community with a series of wins in quick succession. In January 1986, she won the MacMasters Beach Triathlon, the ACT Sri Chinmoy Triathlon and the Aquatic Festival Triathlon. Later in the year Mackinlay finished in the top ten of the 1986 IRONMAN Hawaii, and placed first in her age group. It was by far the best performance by an Australian woman at the iconic event since its inception. She followed up her debut IRONMAN performance with a win at the ultra distance Great Lakes International Triathlon. Off the back of this string of successes, Mackinlay was voted 1987 Triathlete of the Year. Louise went on to win the IRONMAN Australia three years in a row (from 1987-1989). Excerpt from: Hunt, J (2014) Multisport dreaming: The foundations of triathlon in Australia, p.77. Louise was inducted into the Triathlon Australia Hall of Fame in 2014. Read more about her extraordinaryLouise was inducted into the Triathlon Australia Hall of Fame in 2014. Read more about her extraordinary performances on the Triathlon Australia website.