Stirling effort

By Andrew Stackpool

Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Walker finishes first in the Interservice Triathlon at HMAS Stirling.

Photos by AB Kade Rogers

Sergeant Doug Stewart placed second, just over one minute behind FLTLT Walker.

Photos by AB Kade Rogers

AIR Force triathletes have taken out the top two places in the WA Interservice Triathlon.

Flight Lieutenant Malcolm Walker, of No. 34 Squadron, and Sergeant Doug Stewart, from RAAF Base Pearce, completed the event just over a minute apart.

They were part of a team of six triathletes that represented the Air Force. Twenty-four competitors lined up the start of the event, which was held in perfect conditions at HMAS Stirling, Fleet Base West on April 2.

The event comprised a 500m swim, 17.5km cycle and 5km run.

All three legs were close, with only a couple of competitors making their move through the packs.

At the end, FLTLT Walker and SGT Stewart hit the line in 51:37 and 52:49 respectively. Despite their superb efforts, this was not enough to secure the Interservice Trophy for Air Force.

The first five competitors across the line from each service competed for the trophy.

Navy fielded 19 starters and familiarity with the field proved a significant advantage. Navy took out seven of the top 12 positions, including third and fourth, which enabled them to retain the trophy.

FLTLT Walker has only been on the triathlon circuit for a year, having competed in a Half Ironman last year and now has his sights on the Australian Nationals at Foster.

He said the Stirling triathlon was great and featured plenty of competition. “I was second out of the water behind Chief Petty Officer Brett Reed in battle between Leading Seaman Danny Burgess and myself for the second place out of the water.

CPO Reed was too far in front,” he said. “I managed to reel CPO Reed in on the bike and put a good distance between us.

“I thought that for the rest of the course I should be fine, although SGT Stewart was on my mind for the bike/run legs.

About 1km before the turnaround I looked back to see how far CPO Reed was from me and was surprised to see SGT Stewart hot on my wheel.” SGT Stewart passed FLTLT Walker not long after the turnaround and started to put in a large lead on the last few kilometres.

“He was out on the run before I even got to transition and then I was just leaving transition as CPO Reed came in,” FLTLT Walker said.

“I knew that I had to do my best now [in the run] to catch SGT Stewart and not let CPO Reed catch me.

”He managed to catch SGT Stewart within the first 2km to regain the lead. “I guess knowing that he was a pretty strong runner urged me to put some distance between the two of us prior to the last kilometre and that paid off with my win.

He then came in with a comfortable second place,” he said. A battle ensued for third place between CPO Reed and LS Burgess.

It went down to the line for the both of them with LS Burgess claiming third spot by less than a second.

FLTLT Walker paid special tribute to the two lead naval triathletes for their effort under the circumstances.

“Hat’s off to both those guys.

They had just come back from two months at sea.”

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