Posted on 02/09/2026 11:48:19 AM PST by Olog-hai
The “beep test”, a standard aerobic fitness test for prospective firefighters for the last 40 years, discriminates against women and advantages younger candidates, a tribunal has found, following a legal challenge by a prospective recruit.
Cork Fire Brigade has been ordered to pay €8,000 ($9,536) in compensation to Terézia Foott, a part-time firefighter aged in her 40s who failed to advance in a November 2023 recruitment competition for a full-time post because she did not make the cut.
Ms. Foott, a qualified sports therapist and personal trainer, said she passed every element of the fitness test on the day on 17 November 2023.
She was already working with Cork County Fire and Rescue as a part-time firefighter, engine driver and mechanic, and was subject to aerobic fitness testing every three years to stay in the job.
The “beep test”, the tribunal heard, consists of a timed shuttle run where candidates must repeatedly dash a set distance, keeping time with a recorded beep track, getting faster and faster each time until they fail to hit their mark and fall out, or complete the course. […]
Ms. Foott’s case was that on the day, she was held to the same standard as the man in his 20s who completed the beep test alongside her on the day. […]
The complainant’s position was that the beep test was “cheap and dirty” as a way of assessing aerobic capacity compared to other methods. …
(Excerpt) Read more at rte.ie ...
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Major /s
You can’t have different tests for different people ,LOL
Stylish!
The “Beep Test” is a brutal type of fun. We did it on soccer teams I have been on. The USMNT has used it for quite a few years. Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey were reportedly “animals” that were super competitive. Going to total exhaustion is not really required, UNLESS by golly, you are determined not to let a friend (or foe) go longer and farther than you.
So they discriminated against her by making her the only one who had to take the “beep test”?
There was a guy in his 20s who completed the same test on the same day, apparently.
“..and was subject to aerobic fitness testing every three years to stay in the job.”
Not sure how this is different than the aerobic fitness standard based on the beep test but either it is valid or not. If the difference is not valid then her complaint was legit. If there is a reason for the two different standards her complaint should have been thrown out.
It’s not clear that she was singled out for the aerobic fitness test, which she apparently did pass. The beep test is (or now, was) administered to every firefighter.
Without knowing Anything else, I’d go with the 180 lb. 20 year old for the rescue.
(that’s just me, I may inherently be a bad person...)
Any firefighter who fails the “beep test” should be assigned to the companies serving the areas where the lawyers, lawmakers and judges live.
“There was a guy in his 20s who completed the same test on the same day, apparently.”
I know - sorry, I should have used the “/s”. Her complaint just seemed so blatantly stupid.
She passed every element of the fitness test, except one, the ‘beep’ test. Sooooooooo, she didn’t pass every element.
That is sooooo unfair. Screw the ungrateful jerks who are burning to death in burning buildings. As LA Deputy Fire Chief Kris Lawson said, "you got yourself in the wrong place if you expect this 40-year-old woman to carry you out of a fire.'”
She's a strong and independent modern woman who don't need no man ...
Many talk about aerobics but a sprint with stop and go actions is a lot closer to anaerobic as it requires more physical strength to adjust the failing lung power. And this is why women don’t do as well. Their body strength on a norm doesn’t compare with men’s.
The beep test for years was a mainstay for entering the Air Force academy and I have tested many candidates with it. The problem is not the test, but the job requirement. It calls for something needed that is not consistent with both genders. And with the need for same capacity in the job, there will be a problem comparing women’s to men’s times and distances.
I, also, find it interesting in women screaming about having men compete with them in their sports, but they are wishing the level of competency with physical requirement for saving lives to be segregated or altered for their convenience. I don’t think fires and smoke will assist.
wy69
Many talk about aerobics but a sprint with stop and go actions is a lot closer to anaerobic as it requires more physical strength to adjust the failing lung power. And this is why women don’t do as well. Their body strength on a norm doesn’t compare with men’s.
Compare sprinters’ bodies to long-distance runner’s bodies.
Sprinting is basically lifting weights.
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