By Margaret Maccoll
Their laughter, cheers and smiles showed the joy and pride felt by participants in this year’s Tingirana Special Tri at Chaplin Park, Noosaville held on Saturday morning as part of the Noosa Triathlon Multisports Festival.
For more than a decade Year 10, 11 and 12 students from Rockhampton North Special School have travelled to Noosa to join others competing in the Tingirana Special Tri.
“They look forward to it all year,” physical education teacher Aaron Lacey said.
Each student is buddied with a partner for the event.
For Brendan, 16, it was his second tri and he was prepared after a few nerves his first experience.
“I’m going full on this year,” he said.
Smiling for Smiddy charity, the official charity for this year’s Noosa Tri, had about 335 athletes participating in the main triathlon on Sunday and raised about $350,000 for cancer research along the way.
Spokeswoman Brooke Rose said about 30 of the group, who travel from across Australia, Singapore and New Zealand to be involved, buddy with participants in the Special Tri.
The buddy job varies greatly depending on participants needs. Some need only a bit of encouragement, while other volunteers carried their buddies to the water and helped push their special bicycles around the track.
The charity has been involved in the Noosa Tri since 2010.
Smiling for Smiddy buddy Rhiannon German came from Mackay “to help out” at this year’s Tingirana Tri.
“We’ve all got family and friends that have been affected by cancer,” she said. “This is a good way to stay active and raise some money for research.”
It was the fourth Tingirana Tri for Anthea Boyd of Biloela who became a member of the Smiddy family after billeting riders on Smiddy’s annual cycling fund-raiser.
For Anthea it is connecting with the Smiddy family and helping others to be involved in an event they could not otherwise do that draws her to Noosa each year.
