luceo non uro

About Luke McKenzie

Luke is a Professional Triathlete from Australia born in the rural New South Wales township of Taree. Growing up on Queensland’s Gold Coast he now lives and trains in between Noosa, Queensland, Australia and Encinitas, California, USA

A bit of History

He supplemented Triathlon with Cross Country and Track running and held numerous Queensland school titles and the 16 yrs Queensland Steeplechase record over 2000m.
Luke was selected in the Australian Duathlon team at 16 yrs old to compete in the World Championships at St Wendell, Germany. As the Under 20’s youngest competitor he finished 7th. In 1998 he became the youngest competitor in the St.George triathlon series, learning some valuable lessons in the Grand Prix style of racing. Subsequently Luke was selected in three Australian Junior teams for the World Championships. His best result was at Edmonton in 2001 where he finished third. He suffered the disappointment of a flat tyre at Perth 2000 and finished 9th U23 at Queenstown in 2003.
Luke was born and raised in NSW on the Mid North coastal town of Taree. From an early age he pursued sporting interests with a passion.Starting with Soccer and progressing to Rugby League, Cricket, Tennis, Golf, Little Athletics, Basketball, Running, Swimming and Water Polo.Luke became a State level swimmer at Primary school and then represented NSW in Under 14 Water Polo.
His interest in Triathlon was fired in the early 90’s when he was taken to Forster by his parents to help man an aid station at the Australian Ironman.
In 1995, he entered his first Triathlon at South West Rocks, NSW and won. From this point he was “hooked”. In 1996 the family moved to Queensland’s Gold Coast- a mecca for Triathlon training and racing. Luke was in his element, training and racing, honing new skills and challenging himself against older, seasoned competitors whenever he could.
In 2001 Luke competed in the inaugural Sydney Youth Olympics and won by a considerable margin. This result helped to secure him a place in the Australian Institute of Sport Triathlon squad and provided Luke with valuable support , training and learning experiences through AIS camps in Australia and in France. It was from here that Luke launched his international triathlon career chalking up some very creditable performances in Europe.
Luke became fascinated by the US triathlon scene and in 2003 set off to pursue the American circuit where athletes specialize in the non-drafting format. Showing a preference for longer distances, he managed three first placings in his first year. In 2004 he returned to the US again, recording two first placings, a second and some minor placings.Through racing half-ironman races Luke experienced the thrill of going head to head with some of the major world players in the longer distance events.This experience coupled with his youthful memories of the Forster Ironman lured him towards Ironman. He began training in earnest for his debut over this distance in the WA Ironman,Bussleton. Luke finished 3rd in his first outing in a brisk time of 8.34, tired, totally spent but wildly elated as he passed down the finish chute.

In 2006 Luke realized his dream of competing in the Ironman World Championships in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Although Luke suffered a stress fracture in his knee after a bike crash in training just a few weeks before the event, he decided to compete anyway. Limping to the finish he achieved a major life goal.

2008 saw Luke achieve his goal of winning an Ironman title when he not only won Ironman Japan but also finished in a new course record time of 8:29:11. The win was a breakthrough performance and set the tone for four more Ironman victories in Malaysia, Japan, China and Brazil in 2009 and 2010. Both Ironman China and Ironman Brazil again saw Luke resetting course records.

2011 saw Luke battle injury and illness in the early season but with much determination he finished the year on a high placing 9th at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Graced with perfect weather conditions which saw the race record taken by Craig Alexander, Luke set a personal best and the 6th fastest all-time bike (at the time) split over the Hawaii Ironman bike course (4:24:16)

2013 was a breakthrough year for Luke. He won the Ironman Cairns event in June and then went on to finish at the 2nd in the Ironman World Championships.

The 2014 season brought some challenges and Luke didn’t achieve his lofty goals at Challenge Roth or the Hawaii Ironman but the birth of daughter Wynne was the biggest highlight of his life.

The 2015 season however he returned to his winning ways with another dominating victory at Ironman Cairns as well as recording the fastest ever Ironman time on Australian soil claiming the Ironman Western Australia title in 7.55.57.

Luke continues on his quest to one day win the Hawaii Ironman.

Getting to Know Luke

Name: Luke Jarrod McKenzie
D.O.B: 26-July-1981
Place of Birth: Taree, NSW, Australia
Resides: Noosa, QLD, Australia & Encinitas, CA, USA
Year Started Triathlon: 1994