How Good Is Holly Aitken

Victorian young gun Holly Aitken is smashing Queensland’s dominance of the Aussie junior triathlon scene and putting senior national competitors on notice.

Cycling. Image: Getty Images

Holly Who?

“It hurts up to a point and then it doesn’t get any worse”. Echoes of Emma Snowsill there and her mantra “pain is just weakness leaving the body”. If it all sounds a little full-on and masochistic, then so is triathlon. And 17-year-old Victorian Holly Aitken certainly ticks all the right boxes when it comes to toughness in this most gruelling of sports. The teenager really came to prominence with a blistering win at the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Penrith in January. Gun juniors from around the globe converged on Sydney for the five-day event, with the unheralded Victorian coming up trumps.

Up until then, Aitken was a fixture on the local scene in nondescript, foggy, early morning hit-outs around Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay. Like swimming, triathlon is often dominated by Queenslanders at the junior level. The sun, beach and nipper culture churns out star upon star with bodies that belie their years. In Penrith, Aitken took on the Banana Benders, including two-time world junior champion Ashleigh Gentle, and beat them at their own game. She bided her time in the swim and bike legs and picked off her competitors one by one on the run leg to take home gold. The following day she spearheaded the Aussie girls in the teams event. Not surprisingly, given the home advantage and wealth of talent at our disposal, they went and brained ‘em.

Despite an injury-interrupted summer and limited training, January ’09 was kind to Aitken. She also claimed the Australian Junior title, but did it by the barest of margins. Indeed, after 750m in the water, 20km on the bike and 5km on foot, the judge had to call for the print after a mad sprint finish between her and crack Queensland junior Emma Jackson. She eventually got the nod, but it was as rare as a photo finish in a Grand National steeplechase.

The Olympic Youth Festival’s triathlon at Penrith holds happy memories for Holly Aitken. Images: Getty Images

What’s Her Story?

Aitken comes from good stock – her father Ian was an AFL premiership player with Carlton and is the man she credits as sparking her interest in running. Ian was king-hit in the infamous “Battle of Britain” exhibition game in 1987 and he’s no doubt thankful to be involved in the more genteel world of triathlon these days.Apart from her Year 12 exams, Aitken’s primary focus will be the World Junior Championships on the Gold Coast in September. Not surprisingly, the Australian team is chock-full of winning chances, but given her lead-up form, Aitken will be the headline act. Beyond that, with her long stride and core strength on the bike, she looks tailor-made for Olympic distance events (1500, 40, 10) where the big girls come out to play. With no free-to-air coverage and limited print exposure, triathlon can sometimes seem like one of those “once every four years” type sports. Aitken and her fellow Youth Olympic team-mates will very much be the torchbearers in terms of bringing triathlon back to the mainstream.

Who’s She Like?

The obvious comparison is with Snowsill, with the blonde hair and the Youth Olympics medal on the mantelpiece. But whereas Snowsill wandered into the sport as raw as they come and immediately dominated, Aitken has been competing since she was 11 and has progressed steadily through the ranks. While Snowsill came into the sport as a swimmer, Aitken had a strong background in all three disciplines. Like her hero, however, she doesn’t give an inch and will quite happily drive herself to the point of collapse. And like the Olympic champion, she’s pretty handy scholastically as well, having scored a rare perfect score for her VCE Physical Education studies at Melbourne’s Ruyton Girls’ School, despite being in Year 11.Snowsill is still very much her idol, however. Aitken took a day off school to behold her win in China, and when told that she carried the same Aussie flag in Penrith as Snowsill did in Beijing, she promptly burst into tears.

– Jonathan Horn

What Do They Say?

“Holly is a star and will only get better. There’s so much competition between the Aussie girls, and Holly seems to be the pick of the bunch. She’s definitely the one to watch.”

– Olympic gold medallist Emma Snowsill

“Holly has all the physical and mental attributes of our elite crop. She’s continuing the tradition of developing outstanding female triathletes.”

– Aitken’s coach, Jarrod Evans