Fighting fit … Chris Sweeney, a member of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, is participating in the World Police and Fire Games in Adelaide.By Mark Heenan
VETERAN firefighter and fitness junkie Chris Sweeney is thrilled to be competing at this year’s World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) in Adelaide.
A few weeks ago the Newport-based athlete won an astonishing four gold and three silver medals at the Victoria Police and Emergency Services Games (VPESG) in Melbourne.
Sweeney participated in the swimming and aquathon in the individual events and then teamed with Essendon’s Lyn Stacker in the duathlon, indoor rowing and the Toughest Competitor Alive competitions in the over 50s category.
She made the journey by car last week to Adelaide for the games.
“I have been training for this event since the start of the year,” Sweeney said.
“Myself and my husband drove to Adelaide and we’ll be there for the whole week.
“I’m really looking forward to the event and I even bumped into the other Victoria athletes at the VPESG the other week and they’ll be going over to Adelaide as well.”
Sweeney, who has worked as a paid firefighter after moving from England more than 20 years ago, said it was compulsory to have a strict fitness regime in her role at the Port Melbourne Fire Station.
“You do need a certain level of fitness to be a firefighter, and I’ve always been a pretty fit person,” she said.
A typical fitness week in the life of Sweeney includes a 15km run, 5km swim and a 120km bike ride.
However, Sweeney said she had increased her workload ahead of the WPFG, in which she will be competing in the Toughest Competitor Alive, indoor rowing, 3.2km open-water swim, dragonboat racing, 100m sprint and downhill mountain bike events.
“They’re not huge numbers, but I also do weight training sessions which helps,” she said.
“I have done a lot more training for this event, though.”
The WPFG finish this Sunday.
The picturesque Adelaide Oval hosted last week’s opening ceremony with more than 15,000 participants from 60 countries competing.
For more information on the World Police and Fire Games log onto www.2007wpfg.com.
