Cooper Purdie at the top of the tower during the hose coil hoist. Photo / Stuart Whitaker
Te Puke firefighter Jodi Purdie and her son Cooper are set to achieve a world first when they compete together at the World Firefighter Challenge in Texas later this month.
The punishing firefighter challenge has been dubbed the hardest two minutes in sport. When Jodi and Cooper take it on in a “tandem” run, they will be the first mother and son to do so at the world level.
“There’s been fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, but no mothers and sons,” said Jodi.
The Firefighter Challenge has five elements: climbing a six-storey tower carrying a length of 70mm 19kg hose, chopping using a 4kg shot hammer to drive a beam 1.5 metres, extending a charged hose to knock down a disc, and dragging a life-sized dummy for 30.5m.
Cooper began watching his mum compete in New Zealand events when he was 9 or 10 – he’s 16 now – and said almost from day one he’s wanted to emulate her.
The flames were fanned two years ago when Jodi competed at the worlds in Florida where Cooper got to pitch in.
“I was helping on the track, doing resets, watching the big guns go do the big times, and it just made me want to do it one day.”
He got a brief try on the world stage two years ago as a member of a cadet relay team, but wasn’t eligible to compete on the full course until he was 16 and had become a fire recruit.
Cooper’s first taste of competing on the full course, kitted up and wearing a cylinder and breathing apparatus (BA), came at the United Fire Brigades Association North Island Championship in April.
He completed the course in about two and a half minutes.
“That was phenomenal,” said Jodi. “I didn’t know if he would finish at all, because I know what it’s like to wear the BA. I was worried he might not pace himself.
“He missed out on a chance to improve his time in May when the New Zealand nationals were cancelled due to high winds, but has gone faster in practice.”
In the United States, Cooper will be competing in the Explorer division.
As entries came in, he could check out others’ times, and his times in practice compared favourably with those of others he would be competing against.
When he became a recruit, he started practising more, not just to compete, but to be stronger as a firefighter.
Each competition category had a threshold time – beat that and you got membership of the Lion’s Den.
“My main goal is to achieve Lion’s Den, which [for me] is under one minute 40, and to win maybe would be good,” Cooper said.
“But one of my goals is to also show young people through Instagram that it’s possible to join [the fire service] young and be strong enough to be a firefighter.”
While there was a standard course layout, Jodi said she noticed there could be small differences between competing in New Zealand and in the US.
“It can be just the little things that are different – eg the rope’s thicker and the hose drag felt a lot different to ours too.”
With no tower to train on locally, the pair regularly travelled to Auckland and Te Awamutu.
“Cooper has definitely sped up his stair runs and [top New Zealand competitor] Dan Brady has worked with Cooper on his haul, so over the last few months he’s refined his technique on that,” Jodi said.
Cooper also knew what to expect, having seen the worlds before.
When they do their tandem run, it would be Cooper who did the first part of the course and Jodi the second.
Cooper was also scheduled to compete in the men’s tandem competition with national champion Aidan Grant, who finished 10th at last year’s world championships.
Jodi said her goals were about challenging herself rather than beating anyone else.
“For me personally, my biggest goal all the time is to maintain health and fitness, so it’s good having this challenge as goal posts that I’m always going towards.
“Being a firefighter, you want to be strong and fit. I’ve found this competition seems to be the best way for me.”
Last time Jodi partnered with a Brazilian firefighter for the women’s tandem, but this time she has a Kiwi alongside her – Sela Corbett.
“She’s not far behind our national champion.”
Jodi had been a volunteer firefighter before she started competing in not only the firefighter challenge but other competitions such as the firefighter drivers’ challenge.
“I’d already had a lot of impact from [emergency] calls, and I found the [competitions] were great ways to bring balance back doing something fun through the fire service with the camaraderie, and that balances the trauma of calls.”
As a recruit, Cooper did not often go on emergency calls, and Jodi said, as a parent, she wanted Cooper to discover the fun side before being exposed to the emergency situations.
There is a 31-strong New Zealand team travelling to the World Firefighter Challenge in Farmers Branch, Texas that starts on October 20.
Following four days of qualifying, the finals are on October 24 and 25.