After winning several categories in FireFit regionals, the Strathcona County FireFit team will be headed to nationals.
On June 3, regionals were held in Strathcona County as firefighters from across the region took place in an obstacle course that tests the six essential tasks of a firefighter.
Brad Dicks, a firefighter from the county, scored first in the individuals' category.
"Our mixed team won the open category for the relays, Carla Morrison won the female individual, and Dave Murray got third place in the individual races."
Securing these wins means that the Strathcona County FireFit team will be advancing to nationals, which takes place in September. They'll see the Edmonton Firefit team there, who was their biggest competition in regionals.
"Edmonton is super strong, and those guys train all summer. They're beasts," said Dicks. "Fredericton has a really strong team, and there are a few places in Ontario that have really strong competitors as well."
Although the nationals take place in Canada, the event is more of an international competition.
"We'll have Jared Johnson, he's a national champion in the U.S., as well as two Polish teams, and the Germans. Typically, every country sends their best competitors."
Dicks added that the Strathcona County team will be training hard in preparation for nationals.
"In the off-season, we'll do dry land training around four to five times a week. Around January we start training once a week at our tower. While we're in season we're training about two times a week."
FireFit Worlds & Canadian National Championship gets started on September 13 at Lambton College in Sarnia, Ontario.