With three combat challenge competitors at this week’s Firefighter Challenge World Championship in Las Vegas, in the United States, it appears Queenstown’s volunteer brigade’s again the most-represented in New Zealand.
The sport, in which fireys wear their full kit, comprises five gut-busting tasks including climbing a six-storey tower with a 20kg hose, using a sledgehammer to simulate forced entry and dragging a life-sized dummy 30.5 metres.
The local contingent include star competitor Claire Jones, who’s at her fourth worlds in a row.
The 39-year-old had her best result last year, finishing fourth-woman overall, and is shooting for a podium finish this week.
Among under-40 women, she also had a best-ever third placing last year.
Sam Stafford-Bush, 37, is at his third worlds this year — he couldn’t make the finals in his first year, but did enter the prestigious ‘Lion’s Den’ with a 1 minute 35 seconds finish.
Last year he made the finals and finished a creditable 13th in his age group — this week he’s aiming to crack 90 seconds.
Lee Winter, who’s also 37, is at his first worlds — at the nationals in May he set his best time of 1:46sec, so he’s aiming for 1:40 this week to make the Lion’s Den.
Showing their keenness, the trio also travelled to a training camp in the US, in Texas, in April, where they had a full course to themselves.
Since the nationals, they’ve been training rigorously including on the Man St carpark steps and on its ground floor.
Jones says training with the others is a great motivator.
Stafford-Bush notes when fighting a house fire in Closeburn last year “we did basically everything you could do on the course”.
Another local firey, Jesse Johnston, who competed in his first worlds last year, couldn’t make it this time due to injury.
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