After five years cycling with a national team, Border athlete Jesse Featonby has returned to his first passion - triathlon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Featonby recently competed in his first Albury-Wodonga Triathlon Club events in almost six years, and, in the process, broke two records that had stood for almost two decades.
He posted a time of 54:44 in the club's sprint triathlon at Allan's Flat Waterhole on Sunday to beat Colin Davis' mark of 54:50, set back in 2005.
Featonby trailed Tom Duck by 36 seconds after the 500-metre swim and was 17 seconds adrift of Damian Gillard after the bike leg, but was almost two minutes quicker than the entire field on the run to beat Gillard home by 28 seconds.
Earlier in the month, Featonby broke Gillard's mini triathlon record of 35:22 set in 2002 with a 34:40.
Featonby didn't have many opportunities to compete on the bike last year and jumped at the chance to race a triathlon.
ALSO IN SPORT:
"I got back into the running a bit last year and it was good to make the most of some racing being back on," he said.
"All the little things like transition were fine, but I honestly haven't trained for swimming for an entire six years.
"It was a bit of a shock to get back in the water and go hard, but the bike and run is going really well at the minute.
"If I wanted to get back to what I was doing I would have be back in the pool quite regularly, but for bike and run training it's going really well."
Featonby stepped back from cycling last year, but after COVID brought an end to the season, an online series was launched which saw him compete at national level from home.
"It kept me fit through winter and once summer started I got back into the running and was hoping City2City would go ahead, but that fell through," he said.
"I decided to combine a few things and have a go at a tri.
"Just to have something to go out and test yourself with and support other people along the way has been really good."
Featonby is set to compete in an enduro triathlon at Allan's Flat on February 7, with an Olympic distance event scheduled for March.
He hasn't made a call on whether he will look beyond races at the local level.
"There was supposed to be world long course championships in September, but they got postponed to next year," he said.
"I'll probably get hooked and be back into racing more often.
"I just can't believe how addictive it was to come back after one race."
Beau Greenway
I like to tell the stories of great people in our communities. Email: beau.greenway@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I like to tell the stories of great people in our communities. Email: beau.greenway@austcommunitymedia.com.au
