By Kim J. Harmon

There is probably no reason to state the patently obvious, but it takes a different kind of person to endure a triathlon – an event which combines not one, not two, but three (hence the word tri-athlon) grueling events . . . any one of which would be too much for a less driven athlete to handle.

But Lance Panigutti, 17, a senior at Newtown High School, is the sort of driven individual who will routinely test the edges of his ability and his endurance in said triathlon and did so most recently as a member of the United States Junior National Team at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada.

In 2 hours and 7 minutes, Lance finished 48th out of 100 competitors in the 16- to 19-year-old division. He was eighth American in his division to cross the finish line and 12th member of his team.

It was a great finish.

“I had no time goals,” said Lance, who qualified for the Worlds through his performances in races in Maryland, Florida and California. “I just wanted to put it out there. But I dropped 14 minutes from my best time.”

It was also a very interesting race. From the perspective of the what each athlete has to do (a one-mile swim in the Olympic Rowing Basin, a 24.8-mile bike ride on the Grand Prix track, and a 6.2-mile trail run), the race itself is grueling enough but the experience for Lance went a little bit beyond that up there in Montreal.

“The swim was rough,” he recalled. “There were 120 people in this small area and I just got beat up the first half-mile. And then, on the swim to bike transition, my shoe fell off. So, I had a little trouble.”

That may be nothing compared to when the tire on his bike went flat at the Nationals the week before and he had to ride his rim for about 12 miles – but that’s for a little later in this tale.

In Montreal, the real trouble for Lance ended after the rough swim and the recovery of his shoe. Even though swimming and biking are his two strongest portions of his triathlon, he needed to make up some time when he finally got to the final phase of the race – the run.

Usually his weakest aspect.

But even though he came off the bike 30th and saw 18 people pass him on the run, Lance said, “It was one of the best runs I’ve ever had.”

It was the first time Lance competed in an event of that size and magnitude. Up in Montreal, the event was treated like it was the Olympics. There was the pageantry – the parades and stuff – and the practices with the professional triathletes before the race and then the race itself, which took place in and around Olympic venues.

Was he nervous?

Nah.

“I felt like I had nothing to lose and everything to gain,” said Lance. “I was more nervous for the Nationals. I put a lot of pressure on myself to make the (US Junior National) team.”

The Nationals in St. Louis, Missouri will be Lance’s stepping stone to the ITU World Championships in Perth, Australia next year. Lance went to Missouri knowing that the top 15 – not a large group – of the 60 or so runners in his age division make the Junior National team and qualify for the Worlds.

He was 14th.

Which was an accomplishment in itself, considering the other hardships – once again, in addition to the race itself – which Lance had to endure. It started in the swim (“I had a great swim,” he said, “ninth out of the water.”) where the sun directly in his face made it difficult to navigate. And then in the 12th mile of the bike, his tire went flat and he had to ride the rim for the last 12 miles.

“I was hoping (the tire) would just roll off,” said Lance. “I think I lost about five places and about four minutes. The only reason I even thought of doing it was because my coach told me once he rode his rim for eight miles. What’s another four?”

But the effort took something out of him, yet also added another layer of resolve.

“It did take a lot out of me for the run,” Lance said. “I was thinking that no one could pass me. I knew I was 14th off the bike and I bolted out of the transition because I was so mad at my bike. That helped me drop a minute on the run.”

And he remembers that last mile.

“That last mile, looking over my shoulder, I knew I had it,” said Lance, who described his feeling at the finish line simply as, “Relief.”

Lance took about a week off after the World Championships and has already begun preparations for the next World Championships in Perth, Australia on April 30, 2000. It means running three or four days a week, biking from Newtown to Wilton almost every day, and swimming almost every day with the Wilton Wahoos. But, hey, it was pretty much what he did to get ready for the Nationals and the World Championships.

“That’s why I think it was so much relief,” he said of his emotion at the Nationals. “Because I knew all of the hard work paid off.”

The 2000 Nationals will be held at the end of August and that’s when the process starts all up again. Lance sees that as another chance to achieve his goal of scoring by the time he has to move up into another age division.

It seems not long ago that Lance experienced his first major triathlon. It was back in 1996 and the World Championships were being held in Cleveland, near where Lance’’ brother, Tony, was going to school. The family, figuring it could kill two birds with one stone, decided to go out.

Before the big race, there was a local citizens race – the equivalent of a fun run – and Lance went right there into the first wave.

“That’s where I wanted to be,” he said.

But first came the long preparation – the training, training, training. And then came the first stages of the triathlon experience. Lance remembers his first Nationals (which he needed three qualifying times for), saying, “I was so nervous you couldn’t even touch me.”

Now he’s there – at the Nationals and the World Championships, running one of the most grueling races in sports (the Iron Man Triathlon probably being the most grueling) and he’s going back for more.

As Lance might say, see you in Perth.