CHAFFEY CHUFFED WITH THIRD WORLD PARA-TRIATHLON TITLE

Posted in Other News

AUCKLAND, Monday, October 22: Gold Coaster Bill Chaffey has won Australia's second gold medal at the ITU Triathlon World Championships in Auckland today with a dynamic defence of his Para-Triathlon title.

It follows Saturday’s victory to Newcastle-born-Wollongong-based Aaron Royle’s impressive victory in the Elite Under 23s Olympic distance.

The 35-year-old Chaffey, who won his first world title on the Gold Coast in 2009, follow by a silver in 2010 and his win in Beijing in 2011, has the new sport of Para-Tri at the 2016 Paralympics squarely in his sights.

Very much in the zone on a chilly late afternoon in Auckland, Chaffey dominated his Tri-1 category despite the decision by organisers to halve the swim course from 750m to 300m because of the 14 degree water temperatures.

But with the words of his coach and handlers “you’ve done the work” ringing in his ears Chaffey was out of the water second before producing a dominant bike ride.

It saw him lead the field into T2 before taking off on the final five kilometre wheelchair section which saw him race away from the field in scintillating fashion.

It was such a fast pace, he even caught the official race commentator by surprise, who hadn’t noticed the flying Chaffey zoom through the finishing arch.

A self confessed worrier, Chaffey was his usual nervous self before the race until his handler Darren Tattersall told him: “Don’t worry about anyone else…everyone else is worried about you.”

“As soon as the hooter sounded I was ok and just took off. They told me to just smash it from the start and I went hell for leather for the whole race. I didn’t let up until I crossed the finish line,” said Chaffey, whose family were in the grandstand cheering him on.

“But I must admit with my strongest leg the swim cut short I was concerned but my coach Brian King kept telling me I had done the work to carry me though.”

Chaffey started in triathlon in 2001 and in 2004 he qualified for an Ironman distance race but on 29 March 2005 (five days before the race) his whole world change when he was hit from behind by a truck whilst training on the bike, leaving him a paraplegic.

"I broke four vertebrae, suffered an open book pelvic fracture and two broken elbows. My left leg was paralyzed from the hip down. My right leg has about 90% strength with a lot of loss of feeling." said Chaffey.

"After getting out of hospital I immediately wanted to get back to sport so I started swimming and then bought a racing wheelchair to take up marathons.

"The natural progression was to get a handcycle and return to triathlon. My first race back was the 2008 Gold Coast 70.3."
though my swimming is my strength I had done the work on the bike and the run.”

Chaffey’s eye s light up when you mention the words Rio and Paralympics and you get the feeling he won’t stop until he gets through that Paralympic finishing arch in the Brazilian capital in 2016.

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