Rebecca Dubber makes her way to the water for the start of the Weet-Bix Tryathlon. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Rebecca Dubber has wanted to do a triathlon since she got a hand-adapted bike two years ago - and yesterday she got her wish.
The North Shore teenager - the face of the 2007 Variety annual appeal - joined the throng in the Weet-Bix Tryathlon, dubbed the world's
largest sporting event for children. "It was hard," said the 13-year-old, who was born with sacral agenesis, which limits her use of her legs.
But the adventurous and independent Carmel College student is already eying her next race. She aced yesterday's swim leg, emerging out of the water at the front of her pack.
Rebecca, who swims six times a week and is up for selection to go to next month's Oceania Paralympic Championships in Australia, propelled herself along using only her upper body because she does not kick. The bike leg was the toughest, said Rebecca, because she had to power her adapted bike uphill.
She completed the run leg in her wheelchair. Rebecca's brother Alex, 12, and sister Maddy, 9, also took part. Her mother Sue said watching Rebecca use the hand-powered bike, adapted with a grant from the children's charity Variety, was "awesome".
"It was the first time she could go out with her brother and sister and kind of keep up," she said. "She'd never been able to get that speed up on a wheelchair."
Applications for a new Variety Gold Heart Scholarship Fund, which helps children with special needs, close on April 8.
