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Bergquist and McCoy make short list for USA’s Military World Triathlon Team

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FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Master Sgt. Michael McCoy, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape resistance training section chief has been among Fairchild's top athletes for well over a decade. Tech. Sgt. Michael W. Bergquist, 242nd Combat Communication Squadron satellite communications technician at Geiger, currently an augmentee with the 92nd Security Forces Squadron, has also been a top Fairchild athlete for years. They're both triathletes, but also compete in various other events. Sergeant Bergquist competes often, while Sergeant McCoy rarely signs up for the races. As a result, over a decade passed before two of the military's top athletes met for the first time last fall at Fairchild's new master's swim team, coached by Sergeant McCoy's wife, Cherese.

After realizing just how fast Sergeant McCoy was, Sergeant Bergquist encouraged him to apply for the All Air Force Triathlon Team. It consists of the top twelve men and six women in the Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. In addition to the team competition, the top six U.S. men and women would earn a spot on the World Championship team to compete in Estonia. Team USA would also send a master's team of three men and two women. Sergeant Bergquist, a three-time member of Team USA, including the World Games last year, believed Sergeant McCoy could medal in the master's category at the world championship competition.

They both applied for the team and were accepted. With just twelve men on the team, Fairchild had one-sixth of all men selected for the Air Force. They were placed on permissive temporary duty and headed to compete at Point Mugu Naval Air Base, Calif., which is just west of Malibu. Team members were given a race outfit and gear and housed in the beach motel. They arrived May 28 to allow a little time to settle in and do last minute training for the championship May 31. The race would consist of a 1,500 meter swim, 40 km bike and 10 km run with a transition between each.

May 31 at 10:08 a.m., 65 men plunged into the 52 degree Pacific Ocean. Sergeant Bergquist went wide right to avoid the swinging arms and kicking feet while Sergeant McCoy made his way up the middle. In training, they were evenly matched in the swim and this day was no different. At the end of the first of two loops, Sergeant Bergquist emerged with Sergeant McCoy hot on his heels. The second lap was pretty much the same as Sergeant Bergquist and Sergeant McCoy came out together in 25th and 26th place respectively. Their times were 22 hours, 39 minutes and 22hours, 41minutes. The icy waters turned the athletes' skin beet red in all areas not covered by their racing wet suits.

Athletes hurried to their bikes, removed their wet suits, put on their helmet and shoes and sped off for the four-loop bike course. It only takes about a minute from the time they leave the water to the time they're on their bike. This race is draft legal, so athletes work together to ride faster. One will lead for a while, pushing the wind while others rest in the draft. He will pull off and get in back of the line while the next person does the work. Bigger groups go faster because riders get more rest. This can save several minutes on the 40 km ride. Sergeants McCoy and Bergquist had the advantage of training together, so although their group was small, they worked well and were able to pass quite a few athletes. Sergeant Bergquist rode a 57 minutes, 53 seconds while Sergeant McCoy was a bit faster with 57 minutes, 40 seconds to make up the short gap at the start of the ride.

Another race-within-the-race was the transition from the bike to the run. They'd rack their bike, remove their bike shoes and helmet, put on their running shoes and head out for the run. Every second counts, so it's no surprise that the second transition only takes around 30 seconds. Sergeant Bergquist started the run in 13th place, three seconds in front of Sergeant McCoy in 16th place. Sergeant Bergquist timed in at a blazing 35 minutes, 4 seconds 10 km run through the heat and high winds, moving him up seven places to finish sixth overall in a time of 1 hour, 57 minutes, 11 seconds. Team USA sends six men to compete in the Elite Division at the world championship, so Sergeant Bergquist was an automatic qualifier. It would be his fourth time on Team USA and his third consecutive time. Sergeant McCoy, 41, still has plenty of speed, running in 38 minutes, 17 seconds and managed to move up two more spots to finish 13th overall with a finish time of 2 hours, 26 seconds. In addition, he finished third among the masters and was also an automatic qualifier for the world championships. Navy was this year's top team while Air Force finished second.

Although one is on loan from Geiger's ANG base, Fairchild has two athletes in the world championships in Estonia. With approximately 2.69 million troops in the U.S. military, only nine men will go to Estonia. It should also be noted that the top finisher and six-time champion, Tim O'Donnell of Navy, took sixth place at the Olympic Trials.