[Para versión en Español, hagan clic aquí] I didn’t feel like I had a World Championship race in me after a hectic flight from LA to Australia with three kids in tow... (all wearing team Papa shirts) and barely any sleep. We left Tuesday night from LAX after doing 6 hours of focus groups for one of my clients while mama and the kids hung out at the Hilton LAX waiting for me to wrap up. Groups were over at 8pm, the flight was at 11:20pm. I managed to get the crew over to the airport, checked in and ready to go for our 14 hour flight to Brisbane.
With two nights to acclimatize to the time zone, I found myself in the water with 50+ paratriathletes of varying disabilities from the 100% blind, the visually impaired, paraplegics, amputees and “les autres”. My category, T5 (Tri 5) consists of people with “moderate leg impairment,” mostly below knee amputees. My category included the legendary athletes, Rivaldo Martins (Brazil) and American Paul Martin. There were also numerous other countries representing, including several Austrians, and newcomer, Ernst Scheiber (though not technically an amputee, had a lower leg deformity requiring a specialized prosthesis for biking and running).
I had a terrible swim, coming out of the water 8th overall beaten out of the water not only by two other T5 competitors, but also an arm amputee (who, in theory, I should have an advantage over) and a paraplegic (Aussie badass wheelchair racer, Bill Chaffey). I spent a good portion of my 30 minute swim swerving like a drunk sailer and later realized that 20 minute 1500’s in the pool do not always translate well into open water... I did no open water swimming this season. I know I am capable of a better swim, having gone 26 minutes in London only 3 weeks ago. Rivaldo left the water with an almost insurmountable 6 minute lead. Another young Brazilian in T5, Andre Szucs, also had a 3 minute lead on me. So far, I was 3rd in my group and had a lot to overcome.
I started the bike with two T5’s in front of me, Rivaldo and Andre. I quickly caught Andre but Rivaldo remained out of sight the entire time. For a good portion of the course, I was basically alone, almost to the point of thinking I thought I had missed a turn. About 20 minutes into the bike, Ernst Scheiber, the Austrian newcomer, caught up to me and overtook me. I was not pleased. We spent the rest of the bike portion jockeying back and forth for position. We ended up in transition one second apart. Rivaldo was still nowhere to be seen. I gained a few seconds on Scheiber in transition and pretty much left him behind after that. Rivaldo was still far ahead of me even though I had eroded his 6 minute lead in the swim down to about 2 minutes. I didn’t think I would be able to catch him considering I couldn’t even see him for at least the first 15 minutes of the run. In the first loop, I was still behind him by 1:22. I saw him for the first time coming the other way as I was approaching the turnaround. A number of spectators (including my own wife) yelled at me to “catch the Brazilian.” I continued to chase him and slowly but surely started closing the gap. Finally at around mile 4, Peter Harsch, the Paratri team manager yelled out that I was :41 seconds behind. I knew I could catch him and finally had him in view. I passed him right after the second turnaround and kept up the pace.
I crossed the finish line 1:24 ahead of Rivaldo, almost 7 minutes ahead of Scheiber and 14 minutes ahead of Paul Martin (who, surprisingly, had a lousy race). Amazingly, I managed to beat all the arm amputees and the wheelchair racers as well, who often beat us leg amps (particularly on the run and the bike). I was very pleased with my 2:19 race, although I was certain I could have gone 2:15 with a proper swim. I guess I have something to work on for next year!