Feisty Triathlon · Feisty Triathlon podcast

The first woman to pass the British Army Parachute Regiment test is also a pro triathlete

·1 hr 3 min·4 clips

Rosie says a calendar note — “be strong. You never know who you are inspiring” — changed her course.

1. Feisty Triathlon talks with Rosie Wilde about being the first woman to pass the British Army Parachute Regiment test and about racing triathlon for challenge rather than points. 2. Kelly, Joanne, and Katie host Rosie Wilde, who is a Major in the British Army and a pro triathlete, and they matter because they connect the military and triathlon threads. 3. The episode asks what happens when Rosie Wilde treats both army selection and racing as a process-based test instead of a results chase. 4. Katie describes returning to elite-athlete journaling, making tiny checklists, and aiming for 20 minutes of exercise each day. 5. Kelly brings up Strava’s year-end report, including the line that “rest is half the battle,” after Katie’s postpartum year. 6. Joanne explains her Christmas challenge with festive tasks such as a jingle bell 5k and a North Pole push up. 7. The hosts spend time on the PTO and World Triathlon arrangement, including the idea of commercial operations, risk, broadcast opportunities, and up to 100 events from 2027. 8. Rosie says she does not care about triathlon points and prefers courses that give her experiences, travel, and a hard bike leg. 9. She names races in 2025 including Lanzarote, La Sable, Wales, and Patagonia, and says she chooses events partly for the country and the people. 10. Rosie says she is process orientated, not results orientated, and that she wants to cherish each moment rather than judge success by place, time, rank, or points. 11. She says she “accidentally” joined the army, became a paratrooper, and became a pro triathlete because none of it was a deliberate ambition. 12. Rosie explains that she joined the army from a military family and was drawn to the leadership, development, and active life she saw in her father. 13. She says she went to the paratrooper selection course because she felt bored and complacent and wanted to find a harder limit. 14. Rosie describes the course as eight weeks long, with twice-daily physical training, 35 kilos on the back, and tests that could cut a candidate after a missed sprint line. 15. She says the course began with 180 men and ended with 37 people, while she was the only woman on the course. 16. Rosie says she did not find her physical breaking point as much as an imposter-syndrome spiral, and she stopped unpacking because she expected to fail. 17. A motivational calendar line, “be strong. You never know who you are inspiring,” becomes the turning point that reframes the course for her. 18. Rosie says the quote is now framed on her wall, and she links it to the 17-year-old girl who might see her pass and choose something difficult. 19. The conversation has a friendly interview style with frequent back-and-forth, light jokes about British weather, and a practical tone when the army details appear. 20. Listeners who like military stories, women in sport, and candid training routines will get the most from it, while people avoiding army procedure and triathlon politics may skip it.

As heard by us

A warm, chatty sports story that lands on self-belief, not just accomplishment.

Rosie Wilde's story gives the episode its shape, from the weather talk and the riding to the hard push toward passing P Company. The strongest passages stay grounded in the person behind the achievement, especially when she says she did not feel she deserved it and could hardly…

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You want a new-year conversation that starts with weather and ends with grit.

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