AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THIS WEEKEND WARRIOR
THREE years ago Alf Lakin couldn’t swim 50m – tomorrow the 77-year-old will take one more step towards a gruelling first Ironman event.
The Gold Coast Triathlon/Luke Harrop Memorial may be a big target for most, yet Lakin sees it as another chance to defy Father Time.
After years as a Masters competitor – Lakin helped found the Gold Coast Masters Athletics Club – he opted to switch his focus ... again.
“I was down at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre and they opened up a gym so we went down there the first day and there was a lady called Julie Hall and she was talking about triathlon and running a tri class there. I said, ‘I am going to try this’,” he said.
“I had no swimming whatsoever and Julie said ‘dive into the water’ and I had to stop halfway up the pool; I just couldn’t do it.
“I hadn’t been on a bike for 60 years so that was a bit strange. But I went two to three times a week and thought ‘this is not bad’. From there I couldn’t get enough of it.”
Lakin raced his first triathlon in 2015 and has since medalled in two Australian titles, represented Australia at two triathlon world championships and has qualified for the ITU Grand Final on the Gold Coast in September.
“People say to me that it is too late but I always say to them that too late is when you are dead,” he said.
“You might as well make the most of it while you are still going. I might be slow but I get there and at 77 what else would I want to do?
“I love it when the young ones come flying past me on the bike “whoosh” and they are gone. I don’t care, I am happy with what I’m doing.”
After the ITU Grand Final, Lakin is hoping to step up his distance and make his Ironman 70.3 debut at Western Sydney in November.
“If my training goes all right, I will see how I am going around July or August,” he said.
“My tri club mates tried to talk me out of it and that is the worst thing they could do.”