New Zealand Competitors Make Headlines at the World Firefighter Challenge Championship 2024 in USA
19 New Zealand firefighters represented Team NZ at the 2024 World Firefighter Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee. With only one short downpour on the final day of competition, clear blue skies and high temperatures dominated the week for our winter-worn kiwis and it led to some fast times and fantastic results.
National Open men’s champion Aidan Grant showed his pedigree and more importantly, an indication of his trajectory with a 1.30.42 on day 1, an incredible 1.23.18 on Day 3 and then a 1.24.03 securing him 10th in the World in the <40 category.
National Open women’s champ Jodi Reymer started her Worlds with a run of 2.21.19 proceeding to turn the notch up in the coming days running an incredible 2.11.20. Unfortunately, Jodi had a fall in the last stage of the course in her individual final with caution thrown to the wind & eyes on the podium – Jodi was looking every part a medalist in this competition and no doubt we’ll be seeing more from her in future Worlds (quack quack).
However… Jodi teamed up with Maria Lebedynska from Ukraine and in a time of 1.43.53 claimed the World title in the 40 female Tandem!
Rupert Jackman opened his campaign with a 1.37.04, and like Aidan, knew there was a lot more to come. Rupert broke into the sub 90 second club after summoning the god of war into his pre-race warm-up and unleashed wraith and fury on the course running a 1:29:90!
Aiden and Rupert teamed up for a men’s open tandem in one of the fastest tandems NZer’s have ever run - 1.15.63
Sela Corbett from Parnell started off with a 2.56.18, then knocked 12s off that time in her next run! However, that wasn’t enough, and she took off a further 9secs from her qualifier run finishing with a ran 2.35.84. Ranked 4th in the World in the >40 women’s event.
Sela teamed up with Lynsey Nault in “Defib and Donuts” female tandem and took the bronze medal in the 40-45 female Tandem with a time of 2.19.28. Not content with that amount of bling, Sela & Lynsey joined forces with members from Team Poland & took silver in the >40 hybrid relay.
Sam Strafford- Bush set out like many before him to knock off his Lions Den at the World champs. With his Queenstown crew mates and mum Paddy there to support him – the hunt was on. With a first run of 1.48.81 with a few areas of focus, he was well on the hunt – however… Sam decided well on the way wasn’t good enough and destroyed his Lions den time by running 1.35.83.
Welcome to the den Sam!
Canterbury isn’t just well represented in the All Blacks, they came en masse to Nashville.
Ed Bowden from Christchurch Airport ran a good opener at 1.56.09, 5 seconds under his PB, then knocked a further 6s off running a 1.50.29 in his last run of the qualifiers he ran a 1.43.91 – very nice of Ed to save getting his Lions Den for his home crowd at South Island champs in 2025.
Bailey Erickson, Christchurch Anzac, took to his PB with a wrecking ball taking off 15 seconds in his first run and a new PB of 2.14.03, then took a further 4s off with a 2.10.60. In his final run, Bailey ran a 2.06.95 – a whooping 23s off his PB coming into the competition
Allan McClure from Rangiora 40-45 section ran a 3.05.13 and followed it up with a 3.14.13 – after some guidance from the maestro Tom Reid and some targeted areas, Allan pulled out a fantastic 2.59.84
Nic Van Florenstein running out of Christchurch (and also formerly straight out of Cromwell) ran a 2.39.67 then proceeded to knock a further 10s off that to finish 2.29.29. It was great to see Nic & Fliss’ tandems as well and expect even faster times as they train more & more with the powerhouse of the Canterbury crew!
Our Female firefighters from the South Island produced some pretty phenomenal results and like previous Worlds – brought back the bling!
Leading the charge was Claire Jones from Queenstown. Claire ran a 2.28.51, followed by a 2.22.48 then 2:18:34 placing her 8th in the World – only 2 months out Claire wasn’t sure she’d be able to compete after tearing her hamstring; with that context – we can’t wait to see her back fully fit & raring to go in 2025!
Fliss Matheson from Christchurch (via Cromwell) continues to impress with a 4.04.93. Fliss is around half the size of Rescue Randy – so as a comparison, what she does means a lot men would have to drag a 200kg+ Rescue Randy! Fliss knocked 24s off her time and 3.40.40, then a further 4s to finish on 3.36.12.
The pocket rocket of the team, Aoife (Fi) Sheehan, ran a 4.47.90 to get her first run completed and followed up with a 5.18.95 to round out her individual comp.
Central North Islanders needed to no time to stamp their mark, Rob Graham from Manutuke Brigade in the 60-64 section and he ran a 3.09.75, backing it up with 3.02.52 & finishing up with a 2.56.50! Rob was seen on a number of occasions setting a baseline for his slalom off the locals squirrels (he was quite taken by them). Rob’s wife Liz was a massive part of the support crew working out when each team member was competing and giving hugs pre & post-race reminiscent of a certain Te Awamutu Mumma duck!
Neil Paton opened with a 2.30.46, hard nosed and determined, he then knocked out a 2.18.90 a 12 second improvement! After a disagreement with Randy in his 3rd run – Neil came back and hit a 2.15.46 a further 3sec improvement to claim 6th in World in the >50 mens.
Napier’s Brad Edwards best run of the competition of 3.02.52 took an incredible 1min & 8s off his NZ PB! With Brad still being relatively new to the sport, these times will no doubt tumble further!
Aucklanders are never in short supply in Team NZ… and speaking of short, Nicole Paulin from the Laingholm volunteer fire brigade beat her PB first up by 28 seconds! Nicole ran 3.01.35 just missing her Lions Den by 1.35secs and ranked 5th in the World in the Open women’s event. Nicole also dragged her partner to Nashville… it was a good idea as watching Matt Sparrow in their co-ed tandem, we may have found a new lion prospect for 2025… these Laingholm gators are lightning!
Dan Brady running in the >40’s category ran a 1.33.92 after getting a 2 second penalty for hammer placement. Having had surgery to repair a snapped bicep tendon just before Worlds last year, he was looking for the ultimate comeback and some redemption.
It came the next day with Dan running sub 90’s with a time of 1.29.96 to be the first over 40 male in NZ to do so and the only brighter than the shine off his bald head was his smile for the rest of the day! Dan ran a 1.31.27 on finals day to place 5th in the World.
Lynsey Nault in the >40 womens had a big goal of hitting the open women’s Lions Den of sub 3mins; she was agonisingly close, but came away with a new PB of 3:12:14, 6th in the World and… a World record and a silver medal in the Co-ed Hybrid relay as well as the Bronze with Sela in the >40 female tandem!
The godfather of NZ firefighter challenge Tom Reid had some very specific goals in Nashville; with his tandem partner Stephen McAleer, they ran 2.10.81 tandem in qualifying and an incredible 1:55:46 for a new World Record in the 65-69 men’s and the World title. Tom is an absolute institution in not only New Zealand, but internationally for his performances and the countless hours of coaching & pieces of advice he gives to competitors new and experienced.
At the Lions Den inductee's ceremony, we collectively recognised Dr Paul Davis in memoriam and celebrated to his life’s work which improves the lives and abilities of firefighters all around the world. Team NZ also was able to celebrate Rob Graham, Sam Stafford Bush, Sela Corbet and Lynsey Nault being inducted into the Lions Den.
In a unique accolade, Dan Brady was inducted into the Firefighter Challenge Hall of Fame for contribution to the sport after being unable to attend last year due to injury. After accepting his induction Aiden Grant performed a Haka tautoko to which Dan responded in kind. In an extension to a touch of tikanga miles from home, Nicole Paulin sang a Waiata tautoko, a massive sense of Aotearoa in Nashville that night.
Team NZ have again excelled at this elite level and proudly wore our Team NZ apparel sponsored by Hard Yakka. The team was highly noticeable in this gear and was very much sought after by international competitors wanting to swap items!