LIFE’S A BREEZE FOR TRIATHLETES OFF TO WORLD TITLES
COMPLETING triathlon race transitions is a breeze when you already navigate a life packed with sport, four children, a coaching business and a full-time job.
That’s the reality for Gold Coast husband and wife Matt, 43, and Skye Young, 41, who will compete in the World Triathlon Age Group Championships in September.
The pair’s life is packed with events but they still manage to compete at the highest level of a sport that requires athletes to excel at swimming, bike riding and running.
“I’m going to be doing the sprint distance and Skye is doing the standard distance at the world titles,” Matt said.
“The main reason we are not doing the same one is
because the qualifying races were on different weekends.
“Someone had to stay at home while the other was off travelling the country.”
The sprint distance will
feature a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run while the standard distance will be double that.
Children Noah, 10, Ava, 9, Cedar, 7, Eden 2, will all get the chance to see their parents take on the world in September, with the world titles to be held on the Gold Coast.
Matt works full-time while both he and Skye operate a triathlon coaching business where they currently mentor five athletes.
“It’s tough but I also like the fact it sets the kids a good example,” Young said.
“At the same time you have got to find that balance, be around for them and compete at the highest level.
“Because the world championships are on the Gold Coast, every man and his dog wanted to go for it and we got there.
“We wanted to target this event and get a benchmark to see where we are at compared to the world.
“We started off just running in 2010 and one thing led to another and we found ourselves in triathlon.
“You can’t run every day so we started cycling as recovery time. Then the swimming component naturally came in.”
Matt is no stranger to triathlon world championship events. He competed at the 70.3 half-ironman world titles in Las Vegas, consisting of a 1.9km swim, 90km bike ride and 21.1km run.
Both Matt and Skye were crowned overall winners at the 2017 Fiji International Triathlon.