Find Your Unstoppable: Triathlon? What a Breese!

31 Jan 2025

TRIATHLON? WHAT A BREESE!

Article by Olivia Grace Curran, NSW Triathlon and Newcastle Triathlon Club Member

 

At last year’s Multisport World Championships in Townsville there was an older guy in an Australian Team uniform who seemed to be enjoying the event more than most. He’s never owned a Garmin, he’s never posted on Strava, and he’s never had a set training plan – but Wagga Wagga Triathlon Club’s Geoff Breese, or ‘Breesey’ as he is known, loves his sport and not even prostate cancer could stop him from hitting the pavement and making the podium.
“Never in thirty years have I had a set training plan. I’ve got a diary where I write down what I’ve done and a $30 wristwatch … keep it simple,” Geoff said.

The old-school sportsman’s interest in triathlon sparked while watching a telecast of the Triple M Iron Distance Triathlon in 1984. “I was absolutely amazed at the people doing it … I thought ‘wow’, that’s something I want to do one day.”

In 1994, a wife and young family later, Geoff’s interest in triathlon was sparked again when he joined Wagga Road Runners. “I did a 10km run, it just about killed me.” There were a couple of other triathletes in the group that helped with the motivation.

“I thought I’d have a go at Ironman. I bought a triathlon magazine which was advertising for the Forster Ironman the following April,” he said.

It was back in the days prior to the Internet so you had to complete a ‘hard copy’ entry form.  You didn’t have to qualify for the event but on the back of the form it asked you to put the details of another triathlon that you’d done – just to prove that you knew what you were doing.

In preparation for the 1995 Forster Ironman, Geoff entered his first ever triathlon, the sprint distance Richie Walker Triathlon at Kurnell.

“I turned up on an old steel Repco bike that I’d bought, with a kid’s seat on the back.”
On the day of the event, organisers were giving updates over a PA system of Shire local and triathlon legend Greg Welch, who was competing at the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kona at the time. Greg ended up winning and was the first Australian to do so. “Everyone was buzzing, it was amazing. That’s where I got hooked …. After that I entered pretty much every race I could,” Geoff said.

It was in April 1995 Geoff became an Ironman, crossing the finish line in 10 hours and 38 minutes.

Geoff dabbled in and out of triathlon in the years that followed, picking destination races where he could take his family for a holiday.

Geoff later pursued competitive cycling, however a bad cycling accident in 2003 led him to re-introduce swimming and jogging as part of his rehabilitation. A short time later, he was back into triathlon and travelling around the globe representing Australia at World Championship events.“Over the years I kept saying I’m going to pull the pin – but it’s hard to give up,” he said.

“I was picking races in places I wanted to go.”  It was more about the holiday than the race.

After breaking the frame on his old Apollo racing bike (the bike he bought when he first got into the sport) he bought an old second-hand bike for $300.  He was about to go overseas to compete in the World Duathlon Champs in Edinburgh and World Triathlon Championships in Budapest and he thought the money was much better spent on a holiday with his wife and number one supporter Cathy than on a push bike. The bike served him well and he loved proving that the results are more about the motor than the bike by making it onto the Australian Championships podium in Sprint, Standard and Long Course Triathlon as well as coming 9th in his age group at the World Sprint Triathlon Championships in Beijing in 2011. “Ninth in the world on a $300 push bike,” Geoff laughed.

But it was the loss of a good friend in 2012 that inspired Geoff to push harder in triathlon.

“Neil’s goal was to go to Kona,” Geoff said.
Seventeen years after competing in his first Ironman event, Geoff crossed the Cairns Ironman 2012 finish line in 9 hours 52 minutes and secured the third spot for Ironman World Championships in Kona. It was a special achievement that meant he could live out his mate’s dream.

In the years that followed, Geoff spent his time trail running and competing in multi-sport events.

It was in 2019 after a general health checkup that Geoff discovered he had prostate cancer and underwent surgery to have it removed. 18 months later the cancer returned.

While undergoing treatment in 2020, Geoff set the goal of qualifying for Multisport World Championships in Townsville in 2022. Doctors had told Geoff exercise was important in maintaining health during recovery. “I was having seven weeks of radiation in Melbourne when they announced World Champs in Townsville – I thought that was a good goal.”

However, when Geoff returned home to Wagga, he was told that the radiation hadn’t got all the cancer. That’s when his training ramped up.

“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn-out shouting ‘Wow! What a ride!”
“I trained pretty hard thinking I was dying of cancer,” he said.
“I started getting some good results … I didn’t care how hard I went.”

The 2022 Multisport World Championships in Townsville were postponed due to Covid, however Geoff went on to win his age group at the Australian Aquabike Championships in Huskisson in 2022 and 2023.

“When I was crook with cancer my wife put a quote up on the wall in the dining room: ‘Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain’,” Geoff said.

By 2024, it was looking like Geoff was in the clear, but testing months out from Multisport World Championships began showing small positive markers for prostate cancer.

Determined to live his life, Geoff travelled to Townsville to compete as planned and secured 3rd place in his age group in the Cross Duathlon and 5th place in both the Aquabike and Standard Duathlon. He was given ‘legend’ status after competing in six out of six World Championship events.

Although his latest tests show that his cancer isn’t completely gone, his doctor and specialist both agree that the result is as good as could be expected.  “Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful” Geoff quoted.

Consistency is everything.  The 60-year-old swam 1km, ran 5km and cycled 10km for every day of 2023 and 2024.  In 2025, Geoff will attempt to do the same. “Bite off more than you can chew … and chew like hell.”

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