Heart of a Champion by Patrick Lindsay Page B

triathlons. ‘I used to say to him, “Go easy. You don’t have to do it.” And he’d say, “No, no, I want to do it, I want to do the triathlons, I want to be fit, I don’t want to sit around and get fat.”’
    Richie’s doctors reluctantly allowed him to resume training but warned him to take it gradually. They put limits on his distances. He had no further problems during the off-season and he, Greg and Peter set themselves to compete in the Nowra Triathlon, on 6 November 1986, one of the first races for the new season. Their plan was then to compete in the upcoming Forster Ironman, a qualifying event for the Hawaiian Ironman.
    David Walker was concerned when Richie said he wanted to compete at Nowra, but was reassured when Richie told him he was heeding the advice of his specialist. ‘The doctor said to him, “Just go 70 per cent, just take it easy.”’
    In the week before the Nowra race, Greg was surprised when Richie told him that he was thinking of changing plans and doing the Tamworth Triathlon, to be held the same day. Not many top competitors were making the long trip out to Tamworth and Richie fancied his chances of winning there. ‘I think Richie wanted to do a bit of what we call cherry picking—racing in a low profile event where you have a good chance of victory. Mum and Dad’s caravan down at Currarong was all set to go as we’d planned. It didn’t make sense to me—half an hour’s drive from Currarong to Nowra. Tamworth was six hours away.’
    Greg’s worries grew as the race neared and he tried to dissuade Richie from making the trip. ‘I said, “Richie, it’s your first race back, take it easy, come with us to Nowra and have fun.” He said, “No, I think I’ll go for it.”’
    The Thursday before the race was Richie’s 21st birthday. Greg wanted to make it special and asked Richie what he wanted to do. ‘He said, “I want you to take me to the track and show me how to run fast.” I said, “You’ve got to be off your effing rocker! Let me take you to a nightclub. Let’s find you some girls, do what 21-year-olds do and be happy.” Nope. He just wanted to go to the track. Believe it or not, we went to the track at Sylvania Waters and we did a good set. I gave him some drills, looked at his form, made some suggestions and he was happy.’
    Greg and Peter went to Nowra as planned, while Richie went to Tamworth. As he headed off, Richie told his parents that he was feeling the best he had for ages.
    While Greg and Peter dived into the Shoalhaven River at Nowra, Richie plunged into Tamworth’s Chaffey Dam. Just 300 m (328 yd) into the swim, while he was in the lead, Richie’s arm suddenly shot up. The SES safety boat swept in and pulled him out. He’d had another cardiac arrest. They got him to shore and tried to revive him. But Richie died in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
    The autopsy revealed he’d had an undiscovered and very rare congenital defect in one of his heart valves. A tiny flap of skin blocked the valve under stress.
    Greg was devastated. ‘It hit me very hard. I don’t think I realised at the time how hard it hit me. Like most 21-year-olds, we thought we were 10 foot tall and bulletproof. Of course, Richard’s Mum and Dad were blown away. It was a terrible time.’
    â€˜Looking back, I think I knew that something was wrong. I felt funny because I felt like he was trying to say goodbye to me but he didn’t want me to be there with him when it happened. But that’s when I knew that Peter and I needed to do Forster, and do it well and qualify for Hawaii and live out Richie’s dream.’

Greg’s FIRST VICTORY EARNED HIM THE NICKNAME that would follow him throughout THE REST OF HIS CAREER.

Chapter 6
Plucky
    L OSING R ICHIE WAS LIKE LOSING A BROTHER . It was the first time that death had touched