Agegroup Multisport Podcast (Triathlon,Duathlon,Aquabike,Aquathlon) · AMP

New Zealand Age Group Triathlete Rebecca Speirs

·52 min·3 clips

At the Snowy Mountains worlds, Rebecca raced alongside Hayden Wilde and Flora Duffy.

1. Agegroup Multisport Podcast features Rebecca Speirs, a New Zealand age-group triathlete now living in Perth, Western Australia. 2. Richard Conway hosts the episode and explains that Rebecca races under the New Zealand flag after living in the UK, New Zealand, and Australia. 3. The episode asks how Rebecca moved from casual running and cycling into international age-group qualification for New Zealand. 4. Rebecca says she grew up in Suffolk, played outside with neighborhood children, and joined cycling trips her father ran as a teacher. 5. She describes teenage contemporary dance, running at university, and a bit of rowing before triathlon entered the picture. 6. Her first triathlon came through the London Triathlon, where she ran the running leg while still owning only a mountain bike. 7. She says she had to save for a first road bike and could only enter pool triathlons at the start because she did not yet have a wetsuit. 8. Rebecca joined Thames Valley Triathletes in Reading and used the club’s swim, run, and group training sessions to build consistency. 9. She recalls a “Hairy Legs Challenge” off-road duathlon near Pangbourne that combined a cross-country run, mountain bike leg, and another run. 10. After moving to Wellington, she joined the local athletics and running clubs while waiting for her shipping and furniture to arrive. 11. She says Wellington’s winter cross-country races, Sunday long runs, and swim squad helped her settle into New Zealand sport. 12. Rebecca describes the Scorching Bay triathlons and the Wellington Splash and Dash series as key grassroots events that built her place in the tri community. 13. A friend from her running club encouraged her to try the 2012 world championships in Auckland, and she hired a triathlon coach for a three-month push. 14. She explains that the New Zealand qualifier required racing hard enough to place near the top and also stay within a percentage of the fastest age-group winner. 15. Rebecca says she checked the start list, guessed she was around fifth in the pecking order, and then qualified exactly where she expected. 16. In Auckland, she raced an aquathlon and the sprint, finished third Kiwi in her age group, and beat a Wellington rival by three seconds. 17. She later qualified for Adelaide duathlon and the Snowy Mountains cross-triathlon, which she links to local club racing and new age-group opportunities. 18. Rebecca’s tone is practical and reflective, and Richard Conway keeps the conversation conversational with race notes, club talk, and qualification details. 19. Listeners who like age-group triathlon, qualification systems, and New Zealand sport will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting celebrity drama or a short, purely results-focused recap may skip it.

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