The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
It took six months of training every day to get their times down to 2:06 and 1:39, and two local firefighters couldn't be happier. After training for half a year to prepare, Rob Trubiak and Darrick Graff competed in the SCOTT Firefit Championships and placed well in the standings. At 2:06, Trubiak shaved 12 seconds off his time last year Ð his first attempt at the course. "Rob Trubiak is an excellent firefighter and paramedic," said Fire Chief Jim Petrie. "He has been with the department for eight years and I for see him having an excellent career." Trubiak and Graff proved their skills in the past few months as they pulled hoses in the back alley of Hapnot Street, ran up and down three flights of stairs, hammered slabs from one end of a sled to another and hauled dead weights. Putting their practice to the test, the firefighters accepted the Regional challenge and competed in Prince Albert. Anyone affiliated with a full-time or volunteer fire department was eligible to compete. Going in for a second time, Trubiak said he noticed a difference in the way he competed this year. "The nerves before you compete, when you are watching everyone else, it's the same feeling (as last year), and the nerves and the anticipation," he says, are just as strong. "But once I got into my competition and I started, I felt a lot better." He also said he felt like he was making more precise decisions and not "tripping over my feet." Running through the course in full gear and a breathing apparatus, Petrie says it was evident the men wanted to compete. "The commitment that was shown was phenomenal," he said. "You have to do this every day for six months straight. "Before they went down, they were pretty darn tired, but when they got there, they made the City of Flin Flon and the Flin Flon Fire Department proud." Graff competed for the first time this year and according to both Trubiak and Petrie, he had a great time. Coming in at 1:39, Petrie said Graff was going to make a great firefighter. He came in four seconds after the regional champion Ð who set the record at 1:35. Graff will be going to fire college to obtain his degree before starting his career with hopes of being at a full time fire department. Both Trubiak and Graff set times fast enough to qualify for the National competition. Trubiak says he won't be attending because of the cost of the event, the time he would miss from work as well as his competition time. While it was fast enough to qualify, he didn't think a time of 2:06 would be fast enough to compete against the best of the best. As for Graff, he is preparing for school and has decided not to attend the competition in Ontario. "Darrick has the potential of doing very well," says Trubiak, "but he's thinking of college and his future. "Maybe next year." On the international scale, Petrie says the best of the best in the competition posted times around 1:20, with the world record set at 1:17.
