// Air Force Recruit a Multi-Sportsman
By Maike van der Heide (Marlborough Express)
Tom Francis
"Why make it easy for yourself?"
With an attitude like that, it’s no wonder Tom Francis is able to prise himself out of bed at 4.30am most days to go for a 12km run, which is followed just a few short hours later by one or two physical training sessions.
Tom, 19, is an Air Force recruit but his new career goal and the intensive training that comes with it have not stopped him from pursuing the other goal in his life: triathlons.
Once a "short and tubby" Wanganui school boy, who had only played rugby for two years at intermediate school, Tom was too short to join the front row in his high school team so he became a referee instead. His training runs from that soon became a passion for duathlons after he got on a "huckery old" steel frame Jefferson bike and realised he was quite good at cycling.
Soon Tom was entering the New Zealand national duathlon championships, where he placed fifth and qualified for the junior elite championships in Canada where he placed 19th. Last year he travelled to Italy for another shot at the world championship, but tough European opposition meant he placed 30th.
Through duathlons Tom became interested in triathlons, which he found more challenging, and he has qualified twice for the world triathlon championships in the 18–19 age group and then the 20–24 age group. However, last year he had to pull out because he travelled to the duathlon championships instead and he will have to miss this year’s triathlon champs because of his air force training.
But that has not slowed his motivation at all. With a goal of doing his first Ironman in Taupo in the next five years, Tom’s training regime is rigorous. He hopes to eventually compete at the World Ironman championships in Kona, Hawaii, but knows years of training will be needed to reach that.
First, as a former duathlete, he has to work on his swimming, which he already does most evenings in the Base Woodbourne pool. Besides his daily run and swim, Tom also joins his fellow recruits for all their physical, practical, and classroom training.
He says the physical training has made him stronger but he is wary that building up too much bulk, particularly in the upper body, is not ideal for a triathlete. However Tom says the team work, life skills and also physical skills, particularly the discipline he has learned will no doubt come in handy in his athletic career.
Tom says getting up before dawn in winter temperatures, is no easy feat and his fellow recruits thought he was mad at first but now support him and his goals.
As for his Air Force goals, Tom hopes to become an aircraft technician to satisfy a life-long interest in planes. He says he tried to become an architect and an engineer but soon discovered he could not sit still long enough. Eventually he would like to be posted to Base Ohakea to be near his parents in Wanganui.