Polio survivor's mettle is silver at World Triathlon Championships

When Collingwood resident and triathlete Lynne Wardle-Ransom was growing up she had to sit out on phys-ed class.

He had polio in her lungs and her doctor advised her parents and teachers that she was not to overdo it, so she didn't ever participate in sports. She did eventually overcome the viral infection as she had been vaccinated but focused on her family, not athletics, as a young adult.

How things change.

The 70-year-old is now a silver medal winner from the World Triathlon Age-Group Championship Finals, held in Torremolinos, Spain in October.

She medalled Oct. 20 in the mixed-relay triathlon, 70 to 79 group, along with teammates Gary Pelletier, 77, from Calgary, Janet Mackay Thompson, 74, from Woodstock, and Ralph Didier Feurer, 71, from Montreal.

"I was very surprised. I wasn't expecting that. I knew that Janet and Ralph wanted to medal," said Wardle-Ransom.

In the mixed-relay, each athlete swims 250 metres, bikes six kilometres and runs 1.5 kilometres, then touches the next person and off they go.

"It's fun and it's chaotic," said Wardle-Ransom.

Wardle-Ransom also finished fourth in the individual sprint-triathlon in her age group, motivating her to try harder and reach the podium in the future.

"I would love to give it another go and win a medal," she said.

This was Wardle-Ransom's third time at the annual championships, but first time getting a medal. 

Wardle-Ransom's husband, Jim Wardle, 71, is also a world-level triathlete, but for this event, he was Lynn's crew.

"I couldn't have done it without him," said Wardle-Ransom. "I got food poisoning at the airport and I was very sick on the plane. He looked after me. He carried my bike up the stairs in the hotel. He was also helping other people from other countries who were lost. He gets a medal for being a good Sherpa."

Wardle-Ransom didn't get started in athletics until her children left home.

"This was a whole new area for me to experience and explore," she said. 

Wardle-Ransom said she loves doing three sports due to the complexity of it and because you don't have to be excellent at one sport, but good at three, to succeed. She takes her athletics seriously.

Training six days a week, Wardle-Ransom typically does two strength training sessions, two swims, two or three bike rides and two or three runs weekly. She trains with the Collingwood Triathlon Club and the Georgian Bay Squall Masters Swim Club. She has a strength training coach, goes to a cycling gym and has a physiotherapist.

"You need a team," said the five-foot-four-inches-tall woman. 

The World Triathlon Championships attracted more than 5,500 athletes from around the world between the ages of 18 to 80+. More than 300 Canadians competed.

Seven athletes from the Collingwood region, all of whom train with the Collingwood Triathlon Club and Georgian Bay Squall Masters Swim Club, qualified and competed. The competitors were Debbie and Murray Cass, Petrina Dolby, Christine Gordon, Micki Rivers and Carly Ross and Lynne Wardle-Ransom.

"It's amazing that we qualified so many athletes from such a small area," said Wardle-Ransom.

Now Lynne and Jim have to figure out what competitions they will enter in 2025 as there are enticing races all over the globe. Wardle-Ransom has already started training for a triathlon in Hawaii in April.