Crafty triathlete
Volume 11, No. 54, October 19, 2006

On pace: Cfn Jarrod Owen has placed in the top 20 in his age group at the World Triathlon Championships in Luasanne, Switzerland. Photo by Bill Cunneen

AN UN-COACHED Army craftsman has come 18th in his age group at the World Triathlon Championships in Luasanne, Switzerland.

After selling his car to help pay his way, Cfn Jarrod Owen, a 24-year-old fitter armourer from Special Operations Logistics Sqn, Sydney, achieved his goal of making it into the world’s top 20 after achieving a time of 2hrs and 13min.

He was the second Aussie across the line in his age-group, which ADSTA Vice President Capt Del Madge said was an outstanding effort considering how tough the course was and the calibre of his fellow competitors.

“To a triathlete this time may seem to be slow; however, the course was extremely hilly and the transition area was very long,” she said.

“It took the average athlete up to 10-11mins in transition overall for this race, when usually it takes 2 min 30 sec.”

The world championships, based at Lake Geneva, ran from September 2-3, and included a 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 2km run. Cfn Owen qualified for the event by competing in a series of races where he came fourth in his age group.

Cfn Owen started competing in triathlons three and a half years ago after a friend convinced him to enter an event in Melbourne.

Since then, Cfn Owen has been training on and off in between several deployments and other army commitments.

Amazingly he has achieved this level without the assistance or guidance of a coach. Cfn Owen has been preparing for the event since the start of the year with weekly sessions including 300km of riding, 50km running and 17km swimming.

His Unit has been supportive of his training by allowing him to compete in events and to conduct individual training during Unit PT sessions.

Cfn Owen is seeking sponsorship for future events.