It has been a long road to recovery for Inverell triathlete Emma McInnes from the Gunnedah Services and Bowling Club. She suffered a road bike accident at the end of 2017, detaching her triceps tendon from her elbow, and needing 25 stitches above her eye. She had five months away from the sport in recovery.
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The young athlete from Inverell quickly returned to form on the road, the bike and in the water. Her first event back was the State All-Schools Triathlon in Sydney where she finished 20th. It was a great effort considering she was still going through rehab. Emma followed that up with a strong performance in one of the biggest Triathlon competitions in Queensland, the Kingscliff Triathlon. She finished as the 7th female out of 110 competitors.
Emma spent the past weekend in an inter-academy training session with the Illawarra Academy of Sport. Australian Olympic triathlete Brendan Sexton headlined the camp. The 2012 London Olympics competitor gave the athletes tips on their open water racing and their bike skills. Emma was invited to stay and participate in further training on the Monday and Tuesday where she got some one-on-one training with Sexton.
Emma says she really got a lot out of the experience. “It has been excellent to receive some coaching from a former Olympian and someone of Brendan's calibre. Apart from swim squad it is the first time I have had any specialist training and I have really enjoyed it.”
“Definitely, a lot of work was done on bike skills with the aim of enabling those at the camp to race in draft legal events down the track. I have many things I can now practice when I go home to improve my skills.”
“It has been a fantastic opportunity and I am very grateful to NIAS for organising it for me.”
The triathlon season is wrapping up but Emma has her eyes set on the Byron Bay event on May 12.She is targeting the sprint race which involves a 750m ocean swim, a 20km bike ride and a 5km run. She plans on dedicating most of her off-season to training on the bike.
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NIAS CEO James Cooper says Emma is following in the footsteps of former NIAS (2009) triathlete and Australian representative Jack Hickey from Gunnedah. “Jack was a very impressive athlete, he was our 2009 Athlete of the Year and hopefully we can offer Emma the same opportunities that were there for Jack.”
