West Auckland Sisters Overcome Surgery Through Triathlon Training

Participating in the Barfoot & Thompson team sprint triathlon will give West Auckland sisters Jill Harvey and Joan Henderson the ideal opportunity for a quicker rehabilitation after both having surgery.

The sisters will take part in a team over the sprint (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) distance on Sunday, using the Auckland waterfront event as a chance to return to fitness. It is a first attempt at triathlon for both.

Harvey (60) is recovering from a hip operation and Henderson (55) from a shoulder reconstruction. Harvey’s surgery was in October and Henderson had a rotator cuff shoulder reconstruction in December.

Harvey who lives in Grey Lynn and works in Henderson consulted former top triathlete Matt Brick for the operation.

“I had an arthroscopic operation on my hip, the edge of the femur bone was rubbing against the socket, so after diagnosis of MRI's and other X-rays the specialist Matt Brick advised he could do the operation arthroscopically and shave the overlapping portion of the "ball" away to eliminate this and perform cartilage repair on the socket which regenerates in time.

“Added to this I was having issues with both knees locking (weak), and Matt advised intense physio post op to attempt to strengthen the muscles around the knees and avoid further surgery,” said Harvey.

“The physio programme has been designed specifically for my rehab with consultation between Matt Brick and Karina Balle (Fit Fit Fit) of which I have been doing 5-6 days a week training and all thanks to them for my speedy progress, resulting in the participation and training for this Tri,” she added.

Her progress back to fitness has been excellent to the extent that Harvey after consulting with her specialist decided to do the cycling leg of the triathlon. A friend Cathie Klatt is doing the swim and Henderson the run.

Being their first foray into a triathlon, their aim is completion.

“We’ve trained and we are focussed and our mission is to complete the course – challenge set,” she said.

Henderson’s husband is sponsoring the team through his company Henderson Demolition by paying the entry fee and providing T-shirts and caps.

The sisters and Cathie will be amongst hundreds taking part in a variety of events over the course of three days, starting with the twilight swim/run on the Friday evening and including a 5km Brunch fun run on the Saturday morning before the triathlons on the Sunday for all comers over either the standard or sprint distance.