SUSF Elite Athlete Program (EAP) scholarship holder James Goswell has taken the idea of raising money for his partner charity CanTeen to a new level, completing the Melbourne Ironman Triathlon in just over nine grueling hours.
Goswell has been actively involved in running a Sydney charity ocean swimming team, ‘Babewatch’ – a group of 80 members, most aged between 14-24, who take part in various Sydney ocean swim events and who raise money for charity.
The former rower turned triathlete founded the team back in 2011 and since 2012 Babewatch’s partner charity has been CanTeen – a charity that exists to support, develop and empower young people aged 12-24 who have cancer, have a parent or sibling with cancer, or if a parent or sibling has died from cancer.
The cornerstone of Goswell’s fundraising was his participation in the Melbourne Ironman Triathlon, which is a grueling combination of a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike leg, before finishing with a full marathon (42.2km).
Goswell, who spent many hours on the bike, in the pool and pounding the pavement in preparation for the race, finished 175th overall in a time of 9:07:46. If the swim had been full distance (it was reduced to 1km because of the windy and rough conditions on the day) then he more than likely would have completed the course in a time of 9:37.
Goswell was pleased with his performance and even prouder of his Babewatch team.
“I am really proud of what I’ve achieved already this year with Babewatch,” said Goswell.
“The team has jointly raised over $21,000 for CanTeen, and I’m hopeful this will soon grow past $25,000. We have really been embraced by the Sydney ocean swimming community. Inspiring others to set and achieve goals is something I really enjoy doing and I look forward to new opportunities to do the same in the future.”
Goswell also thanked ACCOR for their sponsorship of his race in the Melbourne Ironman Triathlon and to Body Science for their continued support.
The University of Sydney Bachelor of Law student will now turn his attention to training for the Australia Age Group Championships (70.3km half ironman) in October as well as the Australian University Championships Gold Coast Marathon and Triathlon later in 2013.
If you would like some more information on Babewatch please visit either of the websites below.
James Goswell Babewatch fundraising page: www.everydayhero.com.au/babewatchjamesgos
Babewatch website: www.babewatch.org.au
