Victory Heartwarming for Trio
The Whitehorse Star, Monday, August 14, 1995 Page 17 Sports
Trio complete triathlon in under two hours
Victory heartwarming for trio
by Dave White, Star Reporter
There were no cheering crowds waiting for Bill Matiation when he became the first person to cross the finish line at the 1995 Coast Mountain Triathlon.
In fact, the only people to witness Matiation’s finish were a pair of timekeepers. The rest of the volunteers, participants and spectators were still collecting themselves, and probably didn’t expect any person or team to finish the race in under two hours.
That’s just what Matiation, Don Swanstrom and Fred O’Brien did. The self-named Heartwarmers finished the 750-metre swim, 25-km mountain bike and 10-km run in 1:54.59.
“We’re a team of three, we’re not the real triathletes,” said Swanstrom, attempting to downplay his team’s efforts.
“It’s really wimping out doing only one section, but what the hell,” said Matiathion.