Heart of a Champion

by Patrick Lindsay

  Luckily, Vince and Mary shared Greg and Sian’s certainty about the couple’s future together. ‘We’d only been going out for two months but I knew we were destined to be with each other. I also loved her family. Our families got on brilliantly.’

  Greg and Sian were engaged for 15 months. They flew back from Hawaii and immediately set about finding a house in San Diego. They’d both agreed that it was the ideal location for training, and it was also close to Sian’s parents. Within three months they’d found a place and moved in.

  Greg relished his immersion in Sian’s family. He was used to that kind of closeness and grateful for the way the Williamses accepted him.

  Greg also found a great friend in Sian’s brother Steven, a dentist who lived outside San Francisco. And he especially enjoyed the heady challenge of being confronted by Vince’s prodigious intellect. Greg loved the way it stretched his mind and his knowledge. Vince amazed Greg with his vast reservoir of general knowledge.

  Sian had told Greg that she and her parents and brother would often stay up talking into the small hours, sometimes until 4, 5, 6 in the morning. If they couldn’t resolve it, and they each had their own opinion, the arguments would rage until Vince had won. ‘It was a big change for me because, in my house, we would generally only talk around the dinner table. We didn’t live complicated lives, and we didn’t voice too many opinions about politics or the state of the world.’

  Greg’s time with Sian made him realise that although he’d always been the life of the party, he’d been holding a lot of his feelings inside. ‘I wasn’t the type of guy who expressed things outwardly. Sian would say, “You know, Greg, if you hold these things in, they’ll just boil up inside you and come out in a heated moment, and that’s not good for anyone.”’

  Greg learnt about the Williams family’s early days in America, when they lived in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley—a multiracial melting pot, home of ‘valley girls’ and ‘mall rats’. While Vince commuted each day to his work at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Mary, a registered nurse, managed a ward at the local hospital. There she was struck by a major problem with the treatment of quadriplegics, and so she began bringing them to live at her house for extended periods. Many were on respirators and totally dependent on their carers. Her involvement grew to the stage where she and Vince took out a second mortgage to cope. Vince became actively involved and they created New Start Homes, a company that bought houses in the local community, adapted them for wheelchair access and settled a growing number of quadriplegics in them. ‘Mary wanted to teach them how to live in the community…quadriplegics on respirators, unheard of. She put them back into their own homes. She taught them how to use the computer and how to look after themselves. That’s the type of family they are. And my family are wonderful too. I’m very lucky.’

  Over the years, Greg and Sian became increasingly involved with New Start Homes. ‘It’s a big part of my life. We’ve all got a hand in it and it’s just the most incredible thing.’

  WHILE HE WAS TOUGH ENOUGH TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP in one of the most gruelling sports, the essential Greg had changed very little. He was still as generous as ever. By late 1992, when Greg came home to his parents’ house, he was in the best financial shape he’d ever been in, far better than he ever imagined when he set out to try his luck as a pro. From his race winnings and sponsorships, he’d managed to stash away about $50 000. Not bad considering he was averaging about $60 000 a year at that point. He was always an excellent saver, despite the heavy training and travel expenses, and he was feeling proud of his efforts and secure in his future.

  But within a few days he learnt that his Dad Pat had been retrenched. His company car went along with the job. Pat and Noelene were in dire straits. They’d been forced to sell Noelene’s car and now it would be a battle to meet their mortgage payments. Greg comforted them and then slipped out to his bank. He returned with a large envelope. Pat and Noelene were stunned to find a cheque for $20 000 inside. Greg told them they could relax, knowing they’d have the mortgage covered while they sorted things out.

  Not long afterwards, Greg was able to help out further—and make one of Noelene’s dreams a reality. ‘Mum always wanted a red sports car. I’d won a race in Orange County in California that was sponsored by Mazda and the prize was an MX5. I asked them if I could take delivery in Australia. They initially said yes but it fell through. So I ended up taking delivery of it in the States, selling it there and buying a car in Australia that I gave to Mum. She’s still got it and it still looks brand new.’

  In 1993, things were looking better and better for Greg. He came second in the new Pro Series in Australia and won the United States Pro title for the second year running. Then he went to the World Duathlon Championships and triumphed again. But, in the final countdown to Hawaii, he was hit by the truck that broke his knee. The accident threatened his career.

  GREG AND SIAN’S WEDDING ON 19 DECEMBER 1993 brought together a wonderful confusion of family and friends. Sian’s former fiancé Chip, still a pal to both of them, threw a pre-wedding party the day before the event. The big day went off beautifully, with a host of family and friends reading texts during the ceremony. About two weeks before his wedding, Greg had thrown away the crutches he’d had to use after the crash some months earlier, and on the morning of his wedding, without telling anybody, he slipped out for a jog for the first time since the accident.

  At the church Sian ‘looked like a movie star’. Greg cried with joy, as usual. After a rollicking reception, the newlyweds headed off on their honeymoon, skiing in Utah—with 26 of their closest friends and family in tow. Kay Macpherson was one of them. ‘It was so much fun. It was the best time that I can ever remember. Everybody got on so well and everyone was so happy for Greg and Sian. It was a wonderful feeling being part of it. Mind you, the night we had to go to the wedding rehearsal, he forgot to pick me up. They all arrived at the church and when it came to my point in the proceedings, I wasn’t there. But he rushed someone back to pick me up and it all turned out beautifully.’

  Greg was delighted at finally marrying his dream girl, and he felt an overwhelming desire to recover his strength and fitness and mount a deadly serious attempt on winning in Hawaii. After recovering from the honeymoon, he returned with a vengeance to rehabilitating his knee and building up his wasted leg muscles.

  He set his sights on Ironman Japan in June. Back in San Diego, Greg’s doctors had told him after the bike crash that there was absolutely no way he could do that. That was not good enough for Greg. He was determined to prove them wrong.

  Sian decided to put her career on hold to support Greg. Her experience, dedication and discipline helped him through his recuperation and into his training build-up. ‘She was pretty much doing everything for me and we worked really well as a team.’

  Greg concentrated on quality rather than quantity in his training as he gradually regathered his confidence and built up his legs. ‘I didn’t really need to run fast all the time. I ran a lot with Sian, and her performances started to get better. Mine were building up after the accident. When I needed to run fast, I’d go to the track once or twice a week and just do intervals. We did a lot of our biking together.’

  Greg and Sian’s backgrounds as elite athletes allowed them to avoid friction over the self-focus that’s essential for reaching the top in professional sport. ‘You have to be selfish to the point of knowing that you have to get your training done first. And then all the other things will be taken care of—media, photo shoots, whatever—you make it work. But you have to make sure that you get all the stuff done for yourself first, because if you don’t, at the end of the day, you’re going to miss out.’

  Greg’s early experience working full-time while competing served him well as he tried to balance his new responsibilities with his training commitments. He now had the love and support of the woman he adored and the desire to build a career that would give them financial security.


  It would be a new and improved Greg Welch who lined up for the 1994 Hawaiian Ironman.

  BUT FIRST HE WOULD COMPETE IN THE TOOHEYS BLUE SERIES back home in Australia—beginning on the Gold Coast in January 1994.

  The new series had a revolutionary format—the Triple Super Sprint. Three races, each about 20 minutes long, followed by a 10-minute break that started once the first person crossed the line. Drafting—where a rider tucks in behind another to travel in his slipstream and reduce air resistance, gaining advantage by the amount of energy he saves—was allowed for the first time and there was a purpose-built semicircular contraption like a mini velodrome on which the riders turned around. The distances remained constant—300-m (328-yd) swim, 7-km (4.3-mile) bike, 2-km (1.2-mile) run—but the order changed. The first race was swim, bike, run; the second was run, bike, swim; and the third was bike, swim, run.

  Greg surprised even himself by coming second overall, with a second, first, second to Brad Bevan’s first, second, first. Greg and Brad became arch rivals in the five-race series.

  The fourth event of the series, at Penrith, west of Sydney, was an eliminator. Twenty-five competitors started in the first of three races. The last ten finishers in the first race were eliminated. In the second race, the last five were eliminated. That left 10 to fight out the final. Greg won the first two races easily, and was well positioned and feeling strong in the last race. But on a sharp corner, when the rider in front of him rolled a tyre, Greg clipped his back wheel and went flying. He instinctively threw out his hands to break his fall and broke both his wrists. Naturally, he missed the last race, but he still finished second in the series.

  The lay-off was a blessing as Greg had begun to experience problems with his recovering knee. Eventually he located a brilliant American orthopod, Dr Richard Steadman, who worked with the US Ski Team. Steadman had performed surgeries on many elite sportspeople, including Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles. The doctor examined Greg and decided that surgery would be counterproductive. He was convinced Greg could rehab his knee back to full strength.

  Greg focused all his energies on the task and, only a few months later, he raced in and won the 1994 Ironman Japan. He was brimming with confidence when he flew out for Kona for the 1994 Ironman.

  It was the turning point of his professional career: he made sporting history by becoming the first non-American World Ironman Champion.

  The publisher of Competitor Magazine and an unofficial Ironman historian (not to mention being the guy who turned up to the first race with a sleeping bag), Bob Babbitt is in no doubt that it was a remarkable achievement: ‘Not only was Greg the first non-American winner of the Ironman, he was pretty much the first non-Californian winner. From 1978 through to then, all winners, with the exception of Gordon Haller and John Howard, had come from California.’

  Nobody was more pleased with Greg’s breakthrough than Paula Newby-Fraser, who believed he was finally using his gifts to their full capacity. ‘Greg was a great racer. He could see someone go by and decide whether to chase or back off, based on what he knew he was capable of. Greg did win from some pretty big deficits, with other people believing he couldn’t make it up, but he knew that he could. Greg was very good at knowing where other people’s athletic strengths and weaknesses lay. He has a fine eye for details, and he watched and he knew.’

  On the very day that Greg finally broke through to win the Hawaiian Ironman in 1994 at Kona, back in Kurnell in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, David and Liz Walker were watching the eighth running of the Richie Walker Memorial Triathlon, the annual race in honour of their late son. David recalls the surge of emotion that washed over them when they heard over the PA system that Greg had won in Hawaii. ‘It brought things full circle for us. We knew Greg would have been thinking of Richie, just as we were. We were delighted for Greg. He’d trained so hard and waited so long, and we felt so proud that he’d achieved his goal and that Richie had helped to inspire him.’

  Indeed, in his acceptance speech in Kona, Greg dedicated his win to Richie. But it didn’t take long for the old larrikin Plucky to emerge during the monumental celebrations. Things started out with some decorum. Greg repaid his long-term sponsor, Mrs. T’s Pierogies, by sitting at Tim Twardzik’s table at the awards night. Tim won the double that year because he also sponsored Paula Newby-Fraser, the women’s champion.

  Tim began the celebrations for Paula and Greg with a champagne extravaganza at the table. Then Scott Tinley exacted some revenge for years of Plucky’s practical jokes with a well placed glass of champagne right on the crotch of Greg’s pants—just as he rose to make his acceptance speech.

  But Greg was unstoppable, and he soon had the audience rolling in the aisles as he relived his Hawaiian odyssey and thanked all those who had helped him realise his dream. ‘Apparently it was 45 minutes long, but I reckon it was about 20 minutes. I was milking it. I thanked everybody.’

  By the time he sat down with his trophy, Paula reckoned Greg had read through the entire phone book. Then it was time for some serious partying. ‘First we went to a place called Marty’s. It was big. I have vivid memories of dancing with Sian on my shoulders. Apparently ever since, the place has refused to open on the night of the Ironman awards.’

  The following night, their last before returning home, was the traditional Aussie party in Kona. The usual suspects were all there, with the Southwells leading the way. Well into the night someone produced a 40 m length of souvenired Gatorade banner and the gang wrapped Greg in it as if he were an Egyptian mummy. They refused to undo it, and plied him with grog as he waddled around like a penguin. The inevitable happened. ‘I was trying to walk and I fell. I couldn’t put my arms out to stop my fall, so I fell like a bag of spuds and broke my collarbone just where I’d broken it ten years earlier playing touch football. I was immediately sober and I said, “Sian, we need to go to the hospital.”’

  Luckily, the pain was largely anaesthetised by the celebrations, but the next morning it was Sian who had to pack and load everything as her Ironman champion looked on sheepishly with his arm in a sling.

  While they waited for their plane, one of their friends from San Diego, an orthopaedic surgeon on holiday, walked over and handed Greg his card. ‘Come and see me tomorrow and I’ll sort it out.’ Greg accepted his invitation and, after another enforced training break, recovering from the broken collarbone, Greg returned to Australia in early 1995 for what became known as the Triathlon Grand Prix after Tooheys pulled their sponsorship. Greg equalled his previous year’s second place, once more showing his versatility, switching rapidly from the Ironman long course to the short-course events. Then he went to St Croix in the Caribbean and won there in a race record that still stands.

  Going into the German Ironman in mid-July, Greg was battling a serious problem with his soleus muscle, the key calf muscle that attaches to the Achilles tendon. He considered pulling out of the race, but he’d been paid an appearance fee and he didn’t want to let the organisers down. ‘In the end, I had to pull out about 25 km (15.5 miles) into the run while I was in third place because my soleus just wouldn’t hold up.’

  Greg suspended training until the muscle recovered, which meant he didn’t race again until that year’s Hawaiian Ironman. He went into the race in the unfamiliar—and uncomfortable—position of defending champion. His 1994 win had attracted great media attention at home and abroad. Paula Newby-Fraser believed the scrutiny was a heavy burden for Greg. ‘He was the first non-American Ironman champion, the one who finally broke the streak, creating a position of pressure for him. He was suddenly catapulted up there with the great Australian athletes. All of a sudden everybody was looking at him and writing about him. Greg did not like being at the top. He preferred to be the underdog.’

  Greg faced the growing pressure uneasily. Could he defend his crown? ‘In 1995 I didn’t train as well as I did in ’94. I had injuries but also maybe I thought that it was all too easy and, that after my breakthrough win, I was
going to be a six-time Ironman champion like the rest of them. I went and raced but I had my arse handed to me and got fourth.’

  That setback allowed Greg to face 1996 with renewed passion. He loved being the underdog again and he had a wonderful year, racing in the International Triathlon Grand Prix Series, held in exotic locations all over the world, in Europe, England, North America, Honolulu and Australia.

  Greg came second in two races, in Oceanside in America and Koblenz in Germany, even though he had set himself for the longer events and wanted to have an off-season and race himself into shape.

  In September he won the World Long-Distance Championships in Muncie, Indiana, his fifth world title, adding to his wins at the 1988 World Surf Club Championship, 1990 World Triathlon Championships, 1993 World Duathlon Championships and 1994 Ironman World Title. No other triathlete had ever won world titles over the grand slam of the major distances.

  Five weeks after Muncie, Greg lined up for his ninth Ironman. He raced superbly. In the leading pack out of the swim, he rode his best ever bike leg, 5 minutes faster than his winning time in 1994. But by then the race had been hijacked by a gang of outstanding European cyclists—the Germans Thomas Hellreigel, Jurgen Zack and Wolfgang Dittrich as well as Luc Van Lierde from Belgium in his first attempt at Kona. Hellreigel and Van Lierde blew the field away. In the absence of the ho’o mumuku winds out on the Queen K Highway, they put 4 minutes on the third placed Dittrich and 5 minutes on Greg by the turnaround at Hawi. On the ride back, Hellreigel and Van Lierde staged a relentless duel, exchanging the lead many times. During the ride Van Lierde incurred a 3-minute penalty for blocking, and while he and Hellreigel came off the bike together, the Belgian headed for the penalty box as Hellreigel ran off.