Page 91 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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idea about. I did not realise you would need a belt to put the number on for the transition.
The festival itself was a rip-roaring success. 754 people of all abilities competed. Amongst the hundreds of competitors was veteran triathlete Lachlan Lewis, who, at 81 years of age, rarely misses an event. He is a great example that age does not weary them. Also competing was former Canberran Jono Goerlach, a vision-impaired athlete and former world champion who is expected to represent Australia at the Tokyo Paralympics next year.
Debutantes included Toby Lyndon. Toby is a double amputee who now calls Canberra home. He moved here from the coast with the goal of representing Australia in Tokyo. There is a fundraiser currently underway called Wheels for Toby, which aims to get this extremely determined young man his own customised car and racing wheelchair. All of the details are on the Wheels for Toby website. It was also great to see three teams from Menslink participating.
The event was superbly run by Elite Energy Events. Congratulations to Mark “Emo” Emerton, Tracey Emerton and their team. A big pat on the back too for Craig Johns, who heads up Triathlon ACT, and Todd Wright and his team from Three Sides Marketing. Todd helped me to find my bike because I lost it in the transition. I could not find it. I went to get on the bike and I thought, “It’s here somewhere,” but I walked around for what seemed like an eternity. I am glad, Ms Cody, that you did not do the run in four minutes; otherwise I would have been found wanting.
The whole team from Proximity had nearly half of their staff competing on Saturday. They say sport and politics should never mix, but I think Ms Cody, Mr Rattenbury and I showed that if you put your head and your heart into it, political opponents can join forces to support a great event and a great day.
Proximity Canberra Triathlon Festival
Indigenous Marathon Foundation
MS CODY (Murrumbidgee) (4.31): Mr Parton, thank you so much. You have taken about 90 per cent of my adjournment speech tonight.
Mr Parton: That’s why I was keen to get up in front of you, don’t worry!
MS CODY: I cannot echo Mr Parton’s words enough, which I am sure we will not hear very often in this chamber, but there you have it. The Proximity Canberra Triathlon Festival on the weekend was a roaring success. I must say that Mr Parton’s bike leg and Mr Rattenbury’s run leg were exceptional and helped us to bring it home in the end to finish in a very comfortable position. It was good to see. We all had fun; that was also the name of the game. I too would like to encourage people to support Wheels for Toby. It is a really amazing cause to help young Toby to get a proper racing wheelchair.
Whilst I was at the Proximity triathlon event, however, there were a number of other things that happened. Yes, we had the amazing Lachie Lewis, who I see often. In fact,
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