Claire Jones, 38, Jesse Johnston, 36, Sam Stafford-Bush, 36, and Julian Facci, 37, are off to compete in the World Firefighter Challenge in Dallas, Texas, next week.
The challenge — involving competitors donning full breathing apparatus and completing gut-busting firefighting scenarios such as climbing a six-storey tower with a 20kg hose, using a sledgehammer to simulate forced entry and dragging an 80kg dummy 30 metres — has been described as "the toughest two minutes in sport".
In 2023, also in the United States, Jones was fourth-fastest 40-and-under woman, then last year she finished in eighth with a personal best (PB) of 2 minutes 18 seconds, which would have won her a bronze the year before.
She’s aiming for 2.10.
"Everyone’s taking it more seriously and just getting better every time," she says.
In his first worlds last year, Stafford-Bush entered the prestigious ‘Lion’s Den’, which Jones belongs to, too, with a time of 1.35, even though he failed to qualify for the final — he’s now aiming for an amazing sub-90 seconds next week.
Johnston, who’s attending his first worlds, has a PB of 2.08 but would like to smash 1.40 to also enter the Lion’s Den.
Fellow newbie Facci, whose PB is 2.03, is targeting sub-2 minutes.
The quartet say they’re grateful to the support they’ve had from the community, including FreshChoice’s Tony Wild and the airport for letting them fundraise in the terminal.
