Rotorua police officer: How being a triathlete helps in ‘high-pressure’ situations

Rotorua triathlete and police officer Constable Angie Keen has won three three triathlon world championship titles - all while serving the Rotorua community on the front line. Photo / New Zealand Police

Rotorua triathlete and police officer Constable Angie Keen has won three three triathlon world championship titles - all while serving the Rotorua community on the front line. She speaks to journalist Megan Wilson about how her vigorous training helps her to stay focused and calm on the job in “high-pressure” situations.

Constable Angie Keen trains almost daily as a triathlete, trail running and mountain biking “around those amazing Redwoods” in Rotorua.

The 35-year-old says she usually trains six to seven days per week - twice a day most days - while working fulltime as a police officer.

The police officer of five years said her fitness helped her to stay focused and calm in “high-pressure” and stressful situations.

“If you’re dealing with a really angry person, if they’re really heightened, aggressive, then being fit makes it easier for you to be able to stay calm and focused and make decisions on the spot,” she said.

“I would say that’s the biggest thing. And that’s that kind of cognitive side of everything.”

If she had to chase someone, she had the “stamina and energy” to do so, she said.

“I feel like my sport and work, they kind of complement each other in a way.

“It’s taken a while but I’ve just learned to listen to my body and just adapt my training in and around the shift work.”

She said her triathlete training had helped a lot with her job, including passing the fitness tests at Police College.

Becoming a triathlete and competing in Spain

Keen said she was “inspired” by a former colleague to become a triathlete in 2012.

“She sort of helped me out, lent me a bike, gave me training tips ... and I entered my first triathlon and I was just hooked from there.”

In May, Keen won the cross-triathlon world championship title at the 2023 World Triathlon Multisport Championships Ibiza in Spain, which she described as an “off-road” triathlon including mountain biking and trail running.

In June, Keen moved from New Plymouth to Rotorua.

“One of the main reasons we wanted to come to this area was because of the training grounds - the mountain biking, the trail running, the lake swimming.

“And then, of course, Tauranga is not far away for the ocean swimming.”

In September, she won the standard distance aqua bike and super sprint triathlon world championship titles for her age group at the 2023 World Triathlon Age-Group Championships in Pontevedra, Spain.

Keen said she had been to “five or six” world championships.

“One of my huge passions is travelling, so being able to combine travel with sport has been so cool.”

Keen said it was a “big year” last year and while she was exercising daily, she did not have another triathlon scheduled at the moment.

“Sometimes ... you need to have a rest and let your body recover. You can’t just go at that level all the time.”

What fitness is required to become a police officer?

Applicants complete a physical appraisal test at least twice during the recruitment process. The test consists of a 2.4km run, push-ups, a vertical jump test, and grip strength test.

Serving police are required to pass a two-yearly physical competency test.

The New Zealand Police is seeking applications from those who are physically fit and able to meet its fitness standards.

Details are still being worked though, but current planning is that the police will need 50 to 60 recruits from the Bay of Plenty in the next year.

Source: New Zealand Police

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.