Free Heart of a Champion by Patrick Lindsay

new confidence in his Ironman performances. He took this new attitude into the 1988 season and his results began to steadily improve. He broke through to win his first race at the Lake Macquarie Triathlon, beating Steve Foster, then ranked number one in Australia, in the process. Mick Maroney was there: ‘Greg actually stopped and apologised to Steve for running past him. Greg slapped him on the back and said, “See you at the finish line.” And he was genuinely apologetic, out of great respect, about having passed this guy. He crossed the line and won the race, and at the end was just completely gracious to everyone. He didn’t acknowledge the fact that he’d won the race, he acknowledged everyone else in the first ten. It was all he spoke about—it was generous. I remember sitting there, staring at him and thinking, “This guy’s just not like us, there’s something strange about him.”’
    Greg’s first victory earned him the nickname that would follow him throughout the rest of his career. It came when his mates read a report of his win, written by journalist Mark Cashman in Sydney’s Daily Mirror . The opening paragraph began: ‘Plucky little Sydneysider Greg Welch won the Lake Macquarie Triathlon yesterday…’ From then on, ‘Plucky’ Welch it was.
    Mick Maroney was pleased to see that the recognition didn’t change Plucky. ‘One of the things I noticed about him was that as we improved and were reported on, the egos got involved and we all got a bit too ahead of ourselves. That never happened with Greg at any stage. He was always the sort of guy who brought it back down to earth. He was always family oriented and he’d have time for everyone, but he’d still go out and he wouldn’t let a good time get in the way.’
    Greg showed his versatility shortly afterwards when he was chosen for the New South Wales team to compete in the Australian Cross-Country Championships in Darwin. Greg’s triathlon commitments meant that he couldn’t take any more time off work. The race was set for 5 pm on Saturday at Darwin High School. Greg flew out of Sydney at 6 am that same day and arrived at lunchtime. He was picked up by the team manager, snatched a few hours’ rest at his hotel and then went down to the track, where he joined Steve Moneghetti, Rob ‘Deek’ de Castella, Brad Camp and the cream of Australian distance running.
    â€˜Nobody expected little old Greg Welch the triathlete to do anything against the best runners in Australia. They’d said they would take the first six to the World Cross-Country Championships. It was still stinking hot when the race started—12 km (7.5 miles) in four 3-km (1.9-mile) loops across a river and over very hilly terrain. I think Brad Camp, de Castella and Moneghetti finished the top three. I finished ninth, out of 70 or 80.’
    Greg was proud when he was selected as an active reserve for the World Cross-Country Championships because of his performance in Darwin—while still a triathlete. ‘Deek said something like, “You’re probably capable of running a 2-hour 12-minute marathon,” but I didn’t see it. I left running because I really loved the amount of racing I could do in triathlon. Who knows what would have happened if I’d focused on running? But I loved the challenge of triathlon.’
    While he waited for the big triathlon races, Greg joined his mates from Cronulla Surf Club at the 1988 World Surf Championships—against club teams from Japan, Germany, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and many European countries—at Southport on the Gold Coast.
    Each team comprised 12 members, selected for their special skills, such as open surf swimming, pool events, surf skis and surf ironman. Greg was chosen for the 2-km (1.2-mile) beach run. It was too close to call all the way, and as the championships drew to an end,