by Curtis J. Phillips, ACAC Sports Writer, Keyano Sports Information Officer

09/19/2010...Fort McMurray - Growing up and living on a wine vineyard one would assume that you would have tasted or at least sipped from the odd bottle of wine.

Growing up on a poultry farm one would assume that you would have had, at least once, tasted scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Well, assume as you may, but despite the fact that he grew up only 100 metres from the Atlantic Ocean, Keyano College’s cross country coach Deon Flynn had never learned to swim until three years ago. Now at age 37, he is a triathlete on the world stage.

Flynn, along with two other members of Fort McMurray’s Northern Lights Triathlon Club, returned recently from the 2010 ITU Sprint World Championship which was held in Budapest, Hungary.

Hungary is a long long way from his place of birth (Croque, Newfoundland) and instead of taking in the sights of one of the most beautiful cities in the world with Andrassy Avenue, Buda Castle Quarter, Heroes’ Square and the amazing banks of the Danube...Flynn decided to torture your body by pushing it to its mental and physical limits by swimming 750 metres, cycling 20 kilometres and then running five kilometres in a little over one hour!

Flynn finished the event in a personal best time of 1:06.52 placing 18th in his age group (Male 35-39) and was also top Canadian in same age group.

“The whole event was a great experience,” said Flynn. “Joining the (Northern Lights Triathlon Club) helped me bridge the gap where you are a swimmer, a cyclist or a runner. I have a history of running so that took care of itself.”

Although it is only his fourth triathlon – all achieved within one year – it is truly amazing that he competed in the event at all.

“I was running the pool one day (about two and a half years ago) and I decided that maybe I should switch to triathlon because of the pounding me knees had been taking.

"I thought maybe that I should teach myself how to swim. So I spent hours and hours observing people swim and I learned to do it on my own.

“I could not swim a stroke before that. It was on my birthday (age 34) that I got into the pool and it took me four or five attempts to finish one length (25 metres) and I was exhausted.”

Growing up in the small fishing village of Croque, Newfoundland, maybe “60 or 70 people,” recalls Flynn; his house was probably less than 100 metres from the water’s edge.
“We were right on top of it but we were taught to stay out of the water,” replies Flynn to the simple truth.

Now 37 years later, Flynn placed “in the middle of the pack” of the swimming portion of the world championships with a respectable time of 12:39.