South Purrumbete's Melissa Pitman had never competed in a triathlon until November last year but is now hooked on the sport less than six months later.
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In fact, the 38-year-old had never even properly swam in the ocean before Warrnambool Tri Club's Killarney Triathlon.
Now, after participating in each of the club's events this season, Pitman is eagerly awaiting Sunday's Killarney Super Tri.
She has found the events so far "absolutely amazing" and has even convinced others to give the sport a go.
"I'm a part owner of the gym in Camperdown and to all my clients I'm like 'are you coming to a triathlon'," she told The Standard.
"I actually got a couple of my PT clients to come a long to the events and have a crack and they've had a blast and they're now hooked on triathlons and having a crack at stuff. So it's been a very positive thing."
Pitman's sporting background was in equestrian but after having kids she developed an ongoing interest in endurance obstacle and trail races.
Then she decided to try her hand at triathlons thanks to her husband Bryan's involvement with the Warrnambool Tri Club.
"He needed a volunteer at one of the events (last year) so I went and volunteered and I thought 'you know what, this is pretty fun'," she said.
"I really enjoy the cycling part of it. I've always liked riding bikes and mountain biking and all that sort of stuff. I thought 'well I've got two out of the three down pat - I can run, I can bike, so bugger it lets put some time into swimming'.
"So it was Bryan actually being a member and me realising that they're a really welcoming club and that it'd be pretty easy to get into with a group of people that support you like they do."
Swimming admittedly was a concern for Pitman before her first triathlon, which she was unable to complete the swim leg of.
She has worked hard in the water ever since and is now confident in her ability.
She does however joke about what it was like beforehand.
"I wasn't much of a swimmer beforehand and actually to the point where my husband was like 'you are a rubbish swimmer'," she said with a laugh.
"He was concerned about my technique and that I'd drown. I'm like 'come on, I'm 38 years old, I can manage myself'. But I started swimming a lot more and that's really helped, especially with the open swims, that's just a whole other ball game."
Pitman's entire family is involved with triathlons and obstacle racing, which she said helped motivate her.
"We're very competitive between ourselves and he (Brian) does the obstacle racing as well," she said.
"It's always 'well I beat your time or you failed that obstacle'.
"Our kids, we gently bully them into things like that. They do the spartan races and they've had a crack at the kids triathlons with the Warrnambool Tri Club and both thoroughly enjoyed themselves, so it's nice to have everybody in the family involved and it's more motivating when you know that everyone's going to have a good day out."
Pitman is contesting the sprint distance - 500-metre swim, 16-kilometre ride and 4.4km run - on Sunday and is confident she can improve her previous time across the distance.
She plans to return to the sport next season and possibly contest some bigger events in the future.
Matt Hughes
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
