By Alesha Capone
MY WYNDHAM: Earlier this month, Luis Lopez became the third person in the world to complete a total of 30 Ironman Australia events, making him the third member of the organisation’s Immortal Club. He chats with Alesha Capone.
How long have you lived in Werribee?
My wife Wendy and I bought a home in Hoppers Crossing in late 2000 and six months ago we bought in Riverwalk/Werribee. We love the open area on this western side of Melbourne, it’s become my favourite training ground, getting away from street traffic in minutes, and I love riding out to the You Yangs, Geelong and the Brisbane ranges. I ride roughly 30,000 kilometres a year and regularly ride for my commute to work in the city, doing 40 kilometres each way. I then ride with my friends on weekends. We meet at South Corner Cafe in Werribee at 7am or 7.30am on Saturdays and ride about 80-100 kilometres and return back for coffee and food.
Did you ever think you would reach the milestone of competing in 30 Ironman Australia events?
Yes, the next goal is 35 years, 40, 45 and hopefully 50. I have done other Ironman races around the world, such as Hawaii (the World Championships), New Zealand. I have completed over 50 Ironmans over the years. In 2005, I broke my arm and the radial nerve was damaged. It was basically a dead arm, so I swam 3.9 kilometres with one arm and had the crowd cheering me – plus all the lifesavers escorting me – to get to the finish. I just made the cut-off time of two hours. The 180 kilometre bike section of the event was my biggest worry. But once I got into the run, which was 42 kilometres, I was comfortable. I even slowed down to help another female competitor who was suffering from dehydration for half of the marathon run. The race was important to me, as it was my daughter Abbi’s 13th birthday on the day and my personal race number is 13.
What do you enjoy most about Ironman events?
Apart from loving to race and pushing to my limits, I get greater pleasure from catching up with other competitors as they are like family to me, who I see every year and catch up for dinner and drinks, and also out on the course supporting each other. This year a Spanish competitor needed a bike to do the race. I loaned him my spare training bike and showed him around the course. We have become good friends and he wants to invite me to the Rotary of Las Palmas from the Canary Islands.
What inspired you to first get involved with the Ironman competitions?
In my teen years I played table tennis at competitive state level juniors. I began to do running and loved it. March 26, 1988 was my first Ironman Distance race, I started to do triathlons in late 1986 and quickly learned that I enjoyed longer races. In mid-February ’87, I did my first Half
Ironman in Ballarat and I was hooked doing long endurance events.
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