OLDS — Local throwing athlete and coach Rachel Andres is hoping to set a world record in the masters pentathlon Aug. 27 in Calgary.
The throws pentathlon involves doing discus, shot put, javelin, hammer, and weight all in the same day.
Then the distances athletes obtain in each of those events are put together and scored as points, somewhat like officials do for the heptathlon and decathlon.
“I’ve never competed in the throws pentathlon, so that will be something fun to end the year with,” Andres wrote to the Albertan in an email.
Andres says her best events are discus and shot put, so she’s working on improving her distances in others that she hasn’t worked on for a while like the javelin and hammer throw.
She figures she has a good shot at that record.
“The girl who previously held it is Canadian and I’ve pretty easily got her in javelin, discus and shot (put), but I’ve got to practise a little bit to get weight and hammer up to over the marks that she’s had,” Andres said during an interview.
Brianne Theisen-Eaton, now retired, won the 2016 world indoor pentathlon championship and a silver medal in the 2014 world indoor championships.
The Aug. 27 meet is one of three smaller meets (roughly 20 athletes competing versus about 400) being held in August and September in Calgary to wind up the throwing season.
One was held this past weekend (Aug. 6), however, results weren’t available at press time. The last one will be held Sept. 24.
In addition to her goal of breaking the world record, Andres’ other goal is to strengthen her core after having had a baby this spring to the point where she can obtain a personal best discus distance at one of these meets.
Andres was told she’s one tough competitor to go for a goal like that not long after having had a baby.
She laughed.
“It’s hard with a second baby to bounce back, but this one was born at a different time than my last one,” she said.
Andres not only coached but also participated as an athlete in the provincials, held July 8-10 in Calgary. There she proved she had already recovered well from delivering her baby.
“I threw discus and decided to throw shot put as well for my first time since having my baby girl,” Andres wrote in an email. “I took first in discus with a (throw of) 48.18m (metres) and second in shot put with a 12.96m.”
