On a day affected by the bad weather, meaning the swimming competitions had to be scrapped altogether, the hometown competitor finished the race, which included a 20 kilometres bike segment and a 5km run, in a time of 56min 34sec.

“It was a good race,” Walsh said.

“Really strong competition - it's just getting better and better every year.”

Paratriathletes successfully defending their crowns was very much the theme of the day as 2014 national champion Mike Wong took the men’s PT3 honours in 55:41.

He finished just nearly two minutes ahead of nearest challenger Giovanny Cabrero, while Craig Vogtsberger was third.

“I was really nervous about not having the swim,” Wong said.

“But I knew I'd have a lot more for the bike now, and then I could just pour it all into the run.

“I'm just happy that it's Memorial Day and the reason why we're here is because some people gave it their all to allow me to do this race, so this race is for them.”

Zachary Young also managed to hold on to his title as he won the men’s PT3 race in 57:32, crossing the line in front of Jacob Sharff and Joseph Beimfohr.

Grace Norman reigned supreme once again in the women’s PT4 class as she powered to a superb win, clocking 59:04, over three minutes quicker than second-placed Ruth-ann Reeves, while Judith Abrahams was some way adrift in third.

Current women’s PT1 International Triathlon Union (ITU) Paratriathlon Rankings world number one Kendall Gretsch was another athlete to keep hold of her crown, although she took an uncontested victory in which she was the sole competitor.

“It's exciting to be out here,” she said.

“It's a good race and very fast course on the bike.”

Elsewhere, Levi Kane was victorious in the men’s PT2 in 1:03:29, Andre Cilliers topped the PT4 podium by clocking 52:00 and the PT5 race went the way of Jeremy Winters in 56:49.

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