Participants from the beginning ...
The Gold Coast hosted Australia's first modern triathlon on April 5 1980. Organised by Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team (SCMT) members from Brisbane as part of the team's global contribution to promoting personal growth through "self-transcendance", women and men participated in the Invitational event. The first woman, Meredith Bennett, wrote a race report for Fun Runner magazine. It is also reproduced on the SCMT website.
The SCMT also organised the second modern triathlon on the Gold Coast, held 2 January 1982. Open to the public, it is not known whether women participated in the event. The race results are not available and the race report does not mention women competitors. Given that the 1980 Invitational Triathlon and the first open SCMT triathlon, held in Adelaide March 22 1981, both included women, it is likely that women did compete on the Gold Coast in 1982. Early triathlons often listed only the first finisher as the winner, rather than identifying winners in age and gender specific categories.
Barry and Julie Voevodin organised the next triathlon on the Gold Coast, held May 1 1983. Barry Voevodin participated in the 1982 SCMT Gold Coast Triathlon and wrote the race report for that event. In 1983, the novice race directors struggled with torrential rain, underestimated the amount of time needed to set up in the morning, and sent volunteers off to set up aid stations that turned out to be in the wrong place. Yet the event attracted interstate competitors and inaugurated an era of Voevodin-organised triathlons that put the Gold Coast on the map in a flourishing new international sport.
Starting with a swim in Currumbin Creek, the cycle leg took in new suburban developments, before following Currumbin Creek westward up the Valley, while the run retraced the end of the bike leg, with a turn around up a very steep hill. It then followed the creek back to the start/finish area. In later years, the run took in the iconic Currumbin shoreline. Brisbane cyclist Liz Hepple was the first woman to finish the 1983 Gold Coast Triathlon.
The Voevodins coordinated with Victorian race director Ramon Russell to include the 1984 Gold Coast Triathlon in a foundational national series. Promotional flyers indicate that the event, held in and around Hinze Dam in the Gold Coast hinterland on Saturday May 5 1984, offered equal prizes to top female and male finishers, but anecdotal evidence suggests that some prizes were not awarded as advertised. A second triathlon, named the Australian Triathlon Relay Championships, was meant to take place on Sunday 6 May, but no print or oral records have yet been obtained to confirm whether the relay event actually took place.