🖤Benjamin Airey’s expectations are understandably grounded… and at complete odds with his excitement levels as he prepares to consign the toughest period of his young career to history in Japan on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Cantabrian is one of 11 Kiwis on the start sheets for Asia Triathlon Cup Gamagori in what will be, fingers crossed, his first start in 357 long days.
Airey has spent the past year battling illness that cruelly forced him to watch last year’s World Triathlon Junior Championships from behind the barriers in Torremolinos.
💬 “Just before the junior worlds in Málaga, I picked up a nasty gastro bug. I thought I’d bounced back but training kept feeling off, sleepless nights, slow recovery and eventually being told to stop training altogether,” Airey said.
“After months of tests and uncertainty, I finally had an answer: Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia [IST].”
“Never take good health for granted…”
IST, for the uninitiated (and according to AI), is a condition causing a chronically fast heart rate (over 100 bpm at rest) that is not explained by normal triggers such as exercise, anxiety or underlying illness. It typically affects younger individuals and presents with symptoms like palpitations, fatigue, dizziness and exercise intolerance, not great for a budding triathlete.
“The past year has been a real test of patience and persistence [but] thanks to the guidance of my doctors and the support of my coaches, I was able to take a step back, focus on recovery and slowly rebuild my fitness,” Airey said.
“Fast forward to today, after months of careful training, and I’m ready to line up for my first race in over a year. I know the road back isn’t over, but being here feels like a huge milestone. I’m excited to see what I can do, grateful for everyone who helped me get back to this point and reminded more than ever, never take good health for granted.”
For the record, Airey’s last start resulted in a DNF at European Junior Cup Salini on September 28 last year. That led to the DNS at Torremolinos and a demoralising end to a year that had started so brightly, including finishing 3rd at the February 2024 Oceania Junior Championships in Napier behind Tasmanian Jack Woodberry and Tauranga rival Finnley Oliver. There was also a noteworthy 8th at the elite continental super sprint champs on the Gold Coast two months later.
James Corbett and Saxon Morgan are the big Kiwi hopes for Gamagori with world No.56 Corbett set for his first start since an illness-enduced DNF at WTCS Hamburg on July 12.
Morgan is also set for a return after fulfilling the anchor leg role as NZ finished 9th at the World Relay Championships in Hamburg, a day after his 34th in the individual race.
Christian Davey (29th at Asia Cup Taizhou on June 14), Grayson Westgate (20th at Oceania Super Sprint Gold Coast on May 3), Henry McMecking (15th at World Cup Saidia on June 29) and Ivan Abele (DNF at Oceania Championships Devonport on March 15) are others set to begin the second half of their 2025 campaigns alongside Airey. It’s a particularly important hit-out for McMecking with the U23 worlds in Wollongong just three weeks away.
Amara Rae, fresh from placing 14th at Americas Cup Kelowna in Canada on August 9, will compete in the women’s sprint in Japan alongside Lucy Evans (29th Oceania Super Sprint Gold Coast on May 3), world championship hopeful Lulu Johnson (DNF Oceania Sprint Mooloolaba) and Phoebe Carter (21st Oceania Super Sprint Gold Coast).
Gamagori is also hosting a Mixed Relay and NZ could field up to two teams if the four woman come through the individual racing unscathed.
*Result in () denotes last start in a World Triathlon sanctioned race.
