Vision-impaired athletes tackling Ironman Australia hope to inspire others
Timothy Green and his guide Eduardo Bilek during an Ironman event in 2024. (Supplied: Eduardo Bilek)
In short:
Four athletes are set to compete in the physically challenged/intellectual disability division of the 38th Ironman Australia triathlon on Sunday, May 4.
Nearly 3,000 competitors will be racing in the full and half Ironman events in Port Macquarie.
What's next?
It's hoped more vision-impaired and blind athletes compete in future events.
Tackling an Ironman triathlon is no small feat, but vision-impaired athletes say completing the gruelling course with limited or no sight requires extra determination and a lot of trust.
Vision-impaired athlete Timothy Green will be one of more than 2,700 athletes taking part in the 38th Ironman Australia and Ironman 70.3 event on Sunday in Port Macquarie on the New South Wales Mid North Coast.
Green is tackling the full course: a 3.8-kilometre swim, 180km bike ride and marathon (42.2km run) with his guide Eduardo Bilek.
His main motivation is to inspire his son, who is also vision-impaired.
Green was training to be a professional triathlete 30 years ago when he was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a genetic eye disorder that causes progressive vision loss, primarily affecting central vision.
He was 25 at the time, and stopped participating in triathlon completely for another 25 years.
Green returned to the sport four years ago.
"I did so to inspire my son, Arato Katsuda-Green, who was diagnosed with the same condition,"he said.
"He had a goal of becoming a professional tennis player. I didn't want him to do what I did and give up on pursuing his dream."
Green (middle) with his son Arato after completing his first Ironman after an extended break, at Cairns. (Supplied: Timothy Green)
Courage, commitment and resilience
Green is now a regular Ironman competitor and said his son, now 13, was going from strength to strength.
"I set out to inspire him, but it's actually the reverse, he inspires me," he said.
"He now participates in blind and low-vision tennis … he has gone on to represent Australia over the last two years.
"For me, Ironman has been life-changing.
"It's allowed me to identify the importance of courage, commitment and resilience, and those values I have been able to pass onto Arato."
Competitors on the swim leg of the 2023 Ironman Australia competition in Port Macquarie. (Supplied: Korupt Vision)
Husband and wife team
Green is one of four athletes competing in the physically challenged/intellectual disability (PC/ID) division in the events.
Two other vision-impaired athletes and one athlete with cerebral palsy are also racing.
Blind athlete Dean Cameron, 56, is also tackling the full Ironman.
His wife Donna will compete alongside him, tethered to him as a guide for the swimming and running legs of the event, while the pair will also ride together on a tandem bike.
Dean and Donna Cameron are doing the full Ironman race and will ride tandem on the bike. (ABC Mid North Coast: Wiriya Sati)
The couple from Brisbane have both competed in Ironman before, but this will be their first time doing the race together.
"Ironman has always been very good with me," Dean said.
"They've also allowed me to use headphones so I get the same opportunities as the fully sighted, to be able to hear my own data when I'm running or riding on the bike."
The Camerons say teamwork will be key when competing tethered together in the swim and run. (Supplied: Dean Cameron)
Dean said he and Donna had focused on improving their teamwork on the course, especially in the swim leg, where he is slightly stronger.
"We do a lot of arguing in the water … she's done well," he said with a laugh.
"It was very hard to do it because I'm in front of Donna and we tether at the knee and when Donna goes out to the left then she turns me right and we go a bit off course, so we've been working on that."
Inclusive Ironman
Blind athlete Anthony Mahr, 38, from Wauchope is competing in the Ironman 70.3 event as part of a team, and will take on the 90km bike leg with guide Anthony Donohoe.
Anthony Mahr and Anthony Donohoe will be riding in the bike leg of the half Ironman for team Let's Tri. (ABC Mid North Coast: Wiriya Sati)
He said competing in tandem was "exhilarating" and he hoped to encourage more vision-impaired athletes to take part.
"It's a lot of trust to be doing it with someone else," he said.
"We have a lot of body weight on the tandem bike to come down the hill.
"We might move a lot faster than other bikes so it can be quite scary too, but it's so much fun, an adrenaline rush.
"I would love to see more vision-impaired people in any sport, Ironman or tandem cycling in general … one of our biggest problems is funding for the sport, equipment is expensive, and having pilots to come out with us."
Ironman Group Oceania media director Craig Heydon said the event organisers worked closely with the PC/ID athletes to support and accommodate their needs.
"The emotion on the finish line for athletes in our PC/ID division goes to a different level, not only for themselves, but for the people who have helped them get to that finish line," he said.
"To see them overcome the challenges they face … is incredibly inspiring and hopefully shows other people with disabilities they can be part of triathlon and use sport to help them in their everyday life."
The Camerons are not setting out to break records but there's a lot of trust between them to finish in 15 hours. (ABC Mid North Coast: Wiriya Sati)