Lesley West

My triathlon story started about 13 years.
I couldn’t swim at all - when I got in the pool, the coach at the time told me to swim to the other end and my response was literally “i don’t know how!”.

Despite that, I threw myself right into training with Fluid Movements / Melbourne Tri Club. It wasn’t smooth-going - I have vivid memories of getting drop within 5km of our club Saturday morning flat ride and I still remember the first time I made it to a turnaround point with the squad, just 26km away! I was very proud of myself.

My proudest races are probably overall ag win at Busso 2019; 3rd place 40-44 70.3 WC in 2024; slogging my way through Kona 2022, 9.5 months post-part I’m and 1st 40-44 and 2nd overall (behind the lovely Chelsea) at Cairns IM 2026. Proving to myself that age doesn’t mean anything! Running is by far my strength - standalone marathon pb is 2:43(and change), and at Cairns IM 2026 I ran a 3:04! We love our annual trip north to Cairns so you’ll likely find me there for the half.

My overall outlook on achievement and training has changed a lot in recent years. With a good base behind me, it’s more about still working hard, but in the most efficient way! I have no spare time for faffing, ha and now have more balance around family. As a female over 40, I’m waiting for time to properly catch-up on me and slow me down, especially on the run. But until it does, I’ll just keeping running away from it (oh and building more strength into my week!). Also, despite being in the sport for 13 years, it’s taken me until this year to really nail my nutrition! Every session is fuelled, and what a difference! (Shout out to my wonderful sports naturopath and nutritionist for that one).