In the Beginning podcast, Courtney Atkinson, it's not
about you and me. Today we are joined in studio by
the World Triathlon Champion Matt Hauser.
How are you? G'day Liam.
Good day Courtney. Good.
Good to be here mate. Obviously still buzzing in on a
high from from the weekend that was.
So yeah, we'll be living it up for a while.
Thank you for making time. Have you done what?
I mean I just thought you'd be on sunrise every morning.
What's been going on? What's your phone been doing?
Actually, what is the best DM you've had this week?
Who's it from? Well, I mean, I've had I mean
the I would say social wise, like I did get a follow back
from the two time Brownlow medallist Lucky Neil.
So I'll really I'll, I'll, I'll call that as as one of.
The Aren't you a Suns? Fan Oh, come on now.
Like they they invited me down, but I'll always be a Brizzy
Lions boy. But they I do love the boys up
at the Gold Coast. They've they've been legends to
me and I know a few of them now, so yeah.
Well, I just got you've got took Miller, he's coming to Noosa, so
he got him interested in triathlon, he's coming to race,
he said. I think, I think his mum has
done Iron Man's, yeah, Iron Man's and marathons before.
So he's it's well on the on the bloodline.
So what's the week been like that it's world champion from
juniors, Junior World champion, now senior world champion.
You're ticking them all off. The only thing left is the
Olympic gold. But what's this week been like?
Well, I think you were the last Junior World champion before I
was in, in 2017. That was.
Were you really? That is, yeah, 1999 was it.
Is that when you won it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 9999.
And when and when did you win it?
7/17. 2017. 17 So yeah, 18 years on.
So my, my first Sorry. We're gonna we want, we want
that. Yeah, we don't want to tell our
stories. But my first interaction pretty
much because we cross, we didn't really race each other, but we
crossed over. But I remember triathlon
Australia got me to. Tore you for mining?
It was a youth Olympic Games in 2014.
Yeah. So can I just say what a
pleasure it is to have someone who can actually remember things
on this podcast? Once I asked Courtney questions
about his. His own career I.
Cannot remember a thing so keep going.
So you he mentored you. Yeah.
So I think we met. We had one.
And then you, yeah, unfortunately, you broke your
heart. Crash.
Yeah, I broke my collarbone I think like literally six weeks
before the games in in Nanjing, China.
So yeah, I came off the big high of, of getting selected in this
Youth Olympic team in 2014 and 1516 year old.
And I'm getting told that Courtney's got my number and
he's going to call me and give me a Rev up for for the Youth
Olympic Games. And yeah, we, I think we had one
conversation and the rest of it was like commiseration.
Too hard you. Repped him too.
Hard. Yeah.
And I broke my collarbone, so yeah.
OK, so this is like you are now. This is week 1 of Matt Hauser,
World Champion. I mean, lucky Neil, follow backs
aside, how are you feeling? Like, you know, is it, is it the
thing of you still same old Matt?
Is it what's, what's the overall aside from, you know, training
and everything else? What's the feeling like being
personally and emotionally around all this for you?
I think, yeah, obviously same old Matt and I've got to keep my
feet on the ground as as my girlfriend would say she's,
she's making sure I'm not getting too big of a head, which
is good shout out to her. But I think, you know, triathlon
is great as it is, as it is, it is a it's a small bubble and it
is it's a growing community, but it still is a small bubbling
and, you know, in terms we're not, we're not out there saving
lives. So, you know, it is nice to call
myself a world champion, but at the end of the day, it is
triathlon. But it it was just so great on
the weekend to see these giant crowds and just everyone get
around the sport that, you know, we all love.
I guess I've been loving it and doing it for for 12 plus years
now. So I think just to have that
kind of recognition of the sport in my home country, where it
probably hasn't got the recognition in the last, you
know, 10-15 years after those, the golden eras of the mall,
Stewart's and the Greg Bennetts and the Courtney Atkinson's.
So, you know, I think it's, yeah, it's a really good time
for the sport for sure. And I'm just lucky enough to be
at the top of it. Well, I mean luck is I wouldn't
use the word luck. Like it's not like you you went
and bought a scratchy the service station.
You've changed your ring off for the last 12 years to achieve
this. So you can.
There's always luck involved in sport chore.
But you've worked for this so much.
We want to get to with you. I need to get to this off the
top. What is that celebration?
Yeah, your coach would have helped your.
Coach. We asked.
Up to Matt. Dixon, we asked Dan on
Wednesday's episode and he said the shotgun or whatever it is,
you asked Matt about that. What is it?
So LeBron James, yes, did it a while back with the Cleveland
Cavaliers and I think it was just like a after a dagger 3
that he hit. I can't remember what team it
was against, but I, I remember seeing clips of this all around
social media and I love him. He's he's my go to bar school.
Yeah, just for his consistency and he's just longevity.
He's just amazing. If I could be anywhere near
that, that kind of level for triathlon, that would be that
would be a dream. But yeah, he did the gun silly
and it was like cocked it and then loaded it back in the in
the holster. So I thought that was pretty
cool. So I tried to try to, you know,
give a bit of a sprinkle into that and triathlon.
But the first time I did it was at the Mooloolaba Triathlon this
this year and I rolled my ankle as I was doing as I was putting
it back in the holster. So I look like an absolute goof.
So thankfully no, no rolled ankles are on the weekend and I
was able to put it back in the holster safely.
So did you practise it? No, no, no, I've done it three
times and they've all been finished line performing at one
in Hamburg, at the World Series race in Hamburg this year, one
in Malabar rolled ankle and then one of the World Championships.
So I only do it when I've got enough time.
Time to do it 'cause the rest of the year's been a lot of Sprint
finishes and some close tight finishes, alright.
Well, we'll make sure we'll tag the king in the in this real so
he sees that the celebration's made its way down the.
Yeah, I think you're under selling triathlon a little bit
at the moment. You were it like your everything
to do with the all race was everywhere over socials.
It must be like you're blowing up.
What is it? I suppose when you're running
down that finished shoot at the end.
Explain the emotion going through into that celebration
because the crowds were huge. You got obviously the age group
is racing. You know, the the days before
you've got this huge crowd home. I mean, that's the that's the
unique part of this. It's not just a world
championship, it's a home world championship.
Not many people. And it's, well, I'm just trying
to think of anyone in Australia, maybe in Perth.
Chris McCormack, possibly Peter Robinson.
Peter Robinson, Yeah, yeah, he won in Perth.
Yeah, he won in Perth and then Emma Moffett won in 2009 at the
Gold Coast. Again, what a treat this has
got. What a treat to not only have a
world champion, but someone who can remember things.
Yeah. So what is going just take us
through actually start from the beginning, right?
Let's start at the beginning, in the beginning.
In the beginning, your swim start like nothing we're seeing.
And I'm, I'm talking about like all of the great swimmers are
seen in travel and that was probably the best.
It's gone viral. That is the viral moment from
this race, your swim start. Yeah, I think, I think it was
just like, I was just like a coiled spring just ready to go
and I knew that the start was going to be important.
It was only 180 metres for the first boy.
I think I had Miguel Hidalgo, who was second in the series,
like right next to me. And he was like asked me a few
questions about, oh, do we need to go around this siding boy or
what, which, which side do we need to stick on?
And I was kind of just like, yeah, whatever.
OK. Just like literally I'd, I had
the blinkers on and I was just like ready to pounce, like ready
to attack the swim. I knew that the water depths was
like, you know, quite shallow today, quite like very quickly.
So there's no need to dolphin dive at all.
And I just, yeah, pick my spot in the warm up and, and dive in
and couple dolphin, dolphin kicks and, and straight into my
stroke. And I didn't know at the time,
but apparently I had through the first half a lap, 10 or 20
metres lead on the rest of the field.
So it was definitely an adrenaline hit.
And then by the time I was halfway through the stream, it
kind of caught up to me and I had to settle into my rhythm.
But yeah, it was certainly a moment.
That was yeah, looking back on it really looks special.
But at at the moment I was just like, OK, just get into
business, get get into your rhythm.
I actually had the new time Impala song Dracula stuck on my
head during the first bit of the swim.
So I was kind of just like getting to the rhythm, like like
listening to that over and over in my head, which is our, yeah,
which is. Pretty.
Did I stay with you through the whole race?
Because I did have a question. When you're in the run, did a
song come to mind? Or if you were running to the
finish, what was the song? No, no, no songs.
I think the the crowd, the crowd cheers were, were the only thing
in my head ringing through on that day for sure.
That swim start, just go back because there's so much of the
race we do want to cover. And not that that feels like
something that coaches will be showing they're athletes.
Like that is a literal example where they had now have video
footage of coaches being able to show athletes this is how you
start a race in triathlon now. And what you just gave us then
that insight about knowledge of water depth because I've already
seen that many reels talking about look how he doesn't waste
energy with dolphin dive. No one aware of the water depth
obviously from a race tactic perspective.
I also love what you just said then about your nearest rival
being on the start line with you.
Are you normally that like antisocial on the start line of
races? Is that the way you approach it?
I wouldn't say antisocial. I think I'm just like, yeah, as
I said, locked in like no peripherals.
I made a point to be like put have a keywords is put the
blinkers on like a racehorse and and not worry about any of my
competitors. Because those two guys, Vasco
Velasco and Miguel Hidalgo, they've been like up my arse the
whole series. So they've been pushing me the
whole way. I actually had a conversation
with Vasco after the race about the swim start and he said they
spoke to each other before the race, 10 minutes before and said
like, OK, like Matt's going to get out quick.
We know that like you, you start just off his hip and then get
onto his feet. And then I, I won't like, fight
you, I'll get straight onto your feet.
And then they said they looked up like 10 metres later and I
was gone. Already gone.
Hey, there's a lot of people at the moment following the podcast
leading up to Noosa. Can you give us an insight and
give them an insight in just how quick you can swim that first
hundred? Are you allowed to let that one
out of the bag? I, I, I would not have a clue
honestly, because rarely do we swim in wet suits and training
to be like I've been doing a bit of practise with Phil Clayton
out of Berlin, which has been good in the wet suit, but.
What do you reckon? Guess you swim 100 in because
like. With the wet suits, salt water,
maybe mid, mid to low 50s. I don't know if the first bit
I'm not, I'm not too sure that's that's in the chop that's.
In the chop part, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, mate, I'd say mid, I'd say mid 50s, yeah.
It's. Quick, that's terrifying, I
mean. Anyone's gone to the pool and
tried to swim a hard 50 and tried to break 30, then that
puts it into perspective. So, but The thing is, it gets
easier from there, right? Like you're, you're into
Clearwater, everyone else is fighting like, like manic around
those boys and you see 40 or 50 guys like clumped up around
those boys. And the the boy, because it was
in an M shape, we weren't able to go out past the harbour,
harbour walls because, you know, the, the wind chop was too much.
There was a massive northerly coming through.
So yeah, there was too much chop for us to go out.
So they made it into an M shaped course, which made the swim
course a lot more compact and condensed.
So it's always important to get out, get out fast, and then the
swim kind of gets easier from there.
And so you've got Dracula going through your head for that
entire swim. It sounds a bit gimmicky, but
it's a good. Song, it's a good song, but I
mean we've, we've, I mean athletes talk about all the time
and now all sports how music is motivation.
They use it for whatever they need.
But when you get out of that swim, having completed the swim,
executing it to perfection, We've heard about your striving
and chasing for this perfect race.
Where are you at when you exit the swim?
Where like where mentally, do you remember what you're
thinking, where you're at? Is that just right?
Checkbox one. Now we go into transition.
What? Where were you at when you
exited the swim in the race? Yeah, definitely.
I think composure is a good, is a good way of looking at it,
like you really need to be composed because what you do in
the next, you know, 30 seconds to a minute through transition
can really make or break your race, especially if you're just
off the back of a pack or you're trying to catch up to a group
ahead of you. It's those moments where you
really do need to be calm under pressure.
So I, I like to kind of speak to myself like 100 to 200 metres
out from getting out of the water and just be like, OK, go
through the process of I'm hopping out of the water.
I'm, I'm feeling the depth of the water.
And as soon as my hand touch the touches the sand, I'm up and,
and trying to keep my keep my legs out, keep my keep my arm
hips up and and then running through in my head, like, OK,
I'll run to transition, take the wet suit off phone sleepover,
which I did that wasn't in the plan helmet on.
And then and then straight away. And it's like, it's, it's almost
like when you get to these points of the transition phases
and the triathlon, you need to kind of remind yourself the next
steps ahead. So you can't just be like, I'm
swimming. Oh, oh shit, I'm up and running
like I'm writing now, like it's, it needs to be a thought out
process. And I feel like I can get
through those moments a lot better when I prepare myself
mentally for it. That's so cool.
It's it's like I can see just hearing you even just talk about
that. Then I can see that, you know,
you talk about lucky to be the world champion.
You're not the detail that you're talking about that mental
process of thinking 100 metres out about as soon as you what
you're going to do when your hand hits the bottom.
The as as I said, the the commentary around your race and
your career to a point is this striving for a perfect race and
the commentary again, I gave it a shout out the other episode,
but I think Will McCoy did an amazing job of calling your
finish because I think the commentators there is a level of
responsibility to match the moment.
I thought he did that really well.
Was there any fault aside from the slip over in transition?
Was there anything, was there any fault in your race that you
found personally like it? Was that a perfect race?
Well, yeah, as I said, I don't really believe in a perfect race
and that's why the chase of it is so unique and special about
triathlon. You really do need a master, you
know, 4 legs including transition.
So but I think it think it it went as well as it could have
gone to be honest, like with perfect start in the swim got
out first got a little gap of like, you know, and with a six
or seven guy breakaway. I literally said to my
girlfriend Georgia before the race, I was like 6 or 7 people
would be perfect for this course.
Perfect amount of people on the bike to be able to work and work
with synergy. The second pack, you know, grew
impatient and then and then they stopped working together and
there was a few like attacks off the front that didn't quite work
out and they couldn't bridge it. And then it the gap like
sprawled out to a minute. And then I knew in my previous
few races that I had some hamstring tightness going to
that 10K run off the back of a hard bike in Calvary, which was
the last World Series race, I did have some hamstring cramps.
So I knew that that could be a factor late in the race.
So I wanted to, to kind of conserve in that first few K of
the run, you know, which I managed to do.
I, I changed my shoes because the A6 metre speed edges are
really like really soft and bouncy, But I find that the sky
is just like make you push up on your, on your toes a little bit.
So I had to kind of, you know, not sit back on my mid to to
back foot because I knew that would expose my hamstrings,
especially down like, you know, the downhill section of the run
course. So that that minute coming off
the bike really did allow me to to be a little bit more tactical
on the run. And as soon as I saw Dan, you
know, with a few laps to go, he said the gap was down from 50
seconds to about 35 seconds. I knew I had to kind of, you
know, kick it up to to another gear and try and get the gap out
again. And thankfully it went out.
Are you making those shoe decisions?
Is that less you by feel or if you got, is that the wider team
also contributing to that? By feel, yeah, yeah.
Because I mean, you do a lot of prep sessions and you do, you
know, a lot of black run sessions and you kind of always
like in the last few weeks leading up to race, you're
always over analysing how you're feeling.
You're like, oh, jeez, my legs pulled up a little bit sore
today. Or like, oh, I didn't quite hold
the power that I wanted to or everything's over analysed.
And especially in the leaks in the weeks leading up, especially
when nerves and pressure comes into it.
So, but yeah, we like, credit to Danny.
He prepared us as best as possible.
Like I remember the two weeks leading into the race, we have a
Commonwealth Games circuit which is around like Crumben Truman,
through Eleonora up Connection Road or down Connection Road and
then kind of looped around that. It's about a 13K13K loop.
So we did that three times to to emulate the 40K bike course.
Really punched hills. Aim was to kind of tempo with
the group and then punch up the hills like a Zone 4 race pace
practise to emulate the course in Wollongong because it was
quite undulating and I remember in back to back to week weeks I
held 360 watts for that hour which was my best best ever
power in back to back brick session.
Over the in duration of the 40. Duration of the 40K and in in
the race on the weekend, I averaged 355.
So it was like bang on what we prepared for and yeah, down to a
tee and and obviously emulated the course challenges really
well. Those numbers are huge, by the
way. I mean, I'm a big boy foreign,
definitely. Yeah.
Yeah, I'm. An 80K boy so I'm like.
A typical trial. They're foreign numbers to me
when it comes to Watts. Oh, really?
Yeah. There's even to you.
Big numbers. Yeah.
So that again, that we're gonna stay with the race for a moment
because we've just talked us through it beautifully and it
sounds like is a close to perfection as you could find
making all those tweaks and those little decisions in the
lead up and then the race plays out.
If you could have drawn it up, it couldn't have been any
better. Do you remember crossing the
line? Yes, I do, I, I, I remember them
for the most part. I remember the last like 20 to
30 metres the most because that's where I really like
switched off and, and was able to celebrate and, and the
pressure was off. And it was almost like that
release of pressure was so overwhelming that like I broke
down crying at the end. I hugged my girlfriend, like her
parents, my parents, my, my old coach, Brian Harrington up from
they all drove, drove down from Harvey Bay to, to come and
support me and, you know, a host of other friends and family that
came down from the Gold Coast as well.
And I embraced him and then kind of walked off to the side a bit
and kind of just like looked back at the crowd and, and
everyone's so hyped and so animated to, to watch this event
and to watch this triathlon go down.
And I just had this moment where I was like how good this like
this is, this is bigger than me. Like I'm, I'm so happy that I
could stand on top of the dice on this like historic day for
triathlon in Australia. But it's, it's, it's much more
bigger than me. It's, it's the seeing the
emotions on, you know, my support crews faces, the QAS
guys, Tim Rigby, Josh Mayer, you know, Alyssa, my dietitian, like
to seeing those guys like embracing and hugging and, and
shedding a tear after the race. It's like this is much more
bigger than just my world championship.
It's, it's everyone's journey together.
And I, I really do feel like that was what made Sunday so
special, was that like, it means a lot more for the triathlon
community in Australia moving forward.
And I hope we can continue to cultivate this success moving
forward. That team, that team you talk
about, how's that evolved over the years?
And is it like even since the last Olympics, how has that
changed and what you are now? Was it the same for the last
Olympics or that teams got stronger?
Because I mean, we spoke about this the other day with Dan,
like they just all seem to have so much respect, but yourself as
an athlete, but for each other as well and what their jobs are
day to day. What's that look like?
For sure. I mean the, the teams have
changed like over the years I mean I've, I've been on the Gold
Coast for like 9 years, almost 10 years now working with so
many staff members through the QAS, through US triathlon, a lot
of moving pieces yeah, but probably this core team has been
constant for about the last year or so.
So it's been, yeah, it's been a little journey, but it's been a
really meaningful one because they're like their energy and
just like the way, you know, they support me and just love
the process of just like the day in, day out, like Katie Kelly
puts it. Well, Well, I apparently I said
this to Katie Kelly a while ago, our Paralympic gold medalist
from, from Rio, She said one day I rocked up to a training
session when we were there on the Gold Coast, you know, a few
years back. And I just said.
Feel the dream skating feel the dreams have exists like this is
a Field of Dreams. This is where dreams are are
made and cultivated and happened.
So I think just that feel the dreams mindset that that they
are, that the daily processes are just as special as the end
result. Do you ever feel the weight
like, and this is probably a question a bit for you is
calling from over your years. But Matt, at the moment, you
just mentioned that whole team, coach, nutritionist, physio, the
Qas, everybody. But do you ever feel the weight
of responsibility in that? To some extent, these people's
jobs, livelihoods depend on you, the athlete performing.
They all have roles and responsibilities to play.
It's a team effort. But at the end of the day, if
you're not switched on with the music in your head on that start
line, or if you slip over in transition and hurt yourself,
you know, theoretically their jobs are at risk.
Their careers are at risk if they can't get you their product
to that perfect point to compete on that race day in wooling.
Do you ever feel that responsibility?
Yeah, I do. But it's, it's coming from a, a
place of inspiration. I think like those guys inspire
me to, to be better and I, I remind myself on the daily that
I'm doing it for, for much more than just myself, you know, for
my partner, Georgia, who's been with me for, for five years now
and just having a support, my family support, like I'm doing
it for, for more than just myself and my, my accolades.
So yeah, it is, it is, I guess I do feel the weight of it, but I,
I managed to, to push in a, in a positive light, I think for
sure. And I, and I've made that like
my mission over the next few years to try and like carry the
weight of Oz triathlon a little bit.
And I really want to take that upon myself because guys, you
know, previously like Courtney and, and Jake and like Jake Burt
whistle, who did it for so many years, you know, I think I'm
really inspired by those guys. And just for me to be able to
carry the torch moving forward is, is pretty special.
And it, and it comes from a, a privileged position.
So I'm, I'm really, really grateful because.
Unlike like team sports Locky, who you mentioned, I mean, Locky
has a bad calf, misses the prelim final, his teammates pull
their weight and get Brisbane line into a grand final and
Locky comes in and performs like he did.
Now Locky's reputation is unquestionable, but he's able to
essentially miss a game, two games, some games throughout the
season and rely on teammates. You can't afford to miss a meet,
a world championship, a race because it is you.
It's an individual effort, this sport.
And so that's what makes it truly unique, and that's why I
ask about that weight of expectation.
Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm in awe of those guys.
Like they certainly they do have a good life.
The Aussie footballers like don't get me wrong, they get
paid a shit tonne to and hang out with them.
They Mace and go to Bali and and Las Vegas every year.
But it is, it's pretty cool. Like the amount of weight they
have on their shoulders, like they've got 100,000 people, you
know, cheering for the OR cheering and against them, you
know, on the day. And just to be able to stand up
under pressure. Like I'm, I'm inspired by
performances like that on the grand final day, just having all
that weight and pressure and knowing that like, yeah, OK, you
do get to share the pressure and expectation with 2324 other
guys, but your one slip up could cost the rest of their glory
and, and the rest of the team success.
So I think there is so many like finite details about that, that
that makes it much more, much more than just yeah, yeah,
exactly. Right, the footy players have
got a pretty good life, mate. You as a triathlete living here
on the Gold Coast, that's your full time job.
I can tell you now, because I'm on the other side of it, what
I'd give to be back exactly what you're doing right now at the
level you're doing it too, of course.
But give us give the people who are listening what?
What's a few days look like in your life here at the Gold
Coast? Like beautiful place to train,
beautiful place to be, like run us through bit of training for
us. Yeah, it is.
It is beautiful. I think growing up in a in a
place like Harvey Bay, always being next to the beach, I think
the Gold Coast is really special to me.
Felt like a bit of a big city type of situation coming from
Harvey Bay. But lucky enough I had Dan and
and the friendly culture that he kind of brings to the team and
having so many mates here as well really makes it special.
I think it's just got such a good life balance.
I think life sport balance is, is really important.
And just having the ability just to go down to Croman Beach in
the morning and walk the dog and, and go for like a really
nice cup of coffee and breaky or whatnot and then then hit
training straight afterwards. I think those are the really,
yeah, the really key things that I kind of attribute my longevity
in the sport to. Like I couldn't be like a
Christian Bloomfeld living in the mountains for for 9-10
months of the year, like just training my ass off being a
robot. Like that's just not who I am
and not who I was raised to be. So I feel like the, the off
field stuff, no really does complement the on field stuff
because because when the off field stuff is going really well
and it's really fluid, I can push a lot more in training.
It's a lot easier. Things are more, things come
more naturally. So, but, but yeah, on the Gold
Coast, I think we swim about 5 * a week, four in the pool and one
open mortar, usually riding four times a week with a brick
session in there. So probably about 300 and 23130
KSA week average across a year. And then other runs, I found
that sweet spot for me is about 80 KA week and running.
Yeah, so a little bit over that. I'm kind of struggling to pull
up from sessions and can't get that second session in during
the week. But yeah, I guess you just got
to find your sweet spot for sure.
And then obviously gym sessions. 22 by 1 hour gym sessions a week
with with Tim Rigby. How did you get into triathlon?
Because you mentioned you've already referenced your body
type. You're not your classic, you're
a big like you talk about. I can hear the love of other
sports coming through you. Your body shape.
You could have played almost just about anything.
You've been a great size for a a key mid these days in on the
footy field or basketball go. On with this lean no I'm.
Just curious the. Next thing he's going to say is
put on 12 kilos and you can get in the the Clydesdale category.
How? Did you get into this sport?
So basically like I was a runner back in the day, like cross
country athletics really had a passion for that.
Which we have here as well on the podcast by the way.
We want to revitalise cross country, running, running.
Podcasts and we we do love it. Yeah, it is the best of the
three sports. I must have been like, I just
find when I'm running well, it doesn't matter whether I'm
swimming or biking like shit or terribly, if I'm running well,
it's, it's, it's a good, it's a good, it's a good feeling.
So you're so you're a gun cross country runner?
Yeah. Where did you run, Where's Cross
when you're up at Harvey Bay? Because for those Harvey Bay,
you're inland from Fraser Island.
Did you ever run, Did you ever get to run on Fraser as I did?
A couple of times, but you know, not really meant to run like
there Cos of the dingoes, right? Like, I got a project.
Like we were literally doing a project and parks were likely.
You're not going to work for Queensland ever again if you run
on. Yeah, they're pretty serious
about it, right? Yeah, yeah, I, I mean, yeah,
Frazer's such a great place. I actually feel bad that I
didn't take more advantage of it when I was growing up there in
Hubby Bay, where I've only been over four or five times.
So having a playground like that so close is something I
definitely took for granted. But yeah, like Gympie, we we did
a lot of cross country there. Bundaberg, Maryborough.
Yeah, just all over the shop. Do you consider yourself a like
growing up as a central QLD kid? Central QLD is a bit of a
stretch, yeah. Like when it's when it's like 4
hours South. What do you, what do you call
yourself in that between Brizzy and I'd say upper?
Southeast. Extends.
Now, yeah, but I, it didn't, I mean, it didn't make the drives
to the Gold Coast and Brisbane like easier for my parents, like
they were they were doing some long car Rd, car Rd trips.
But yeah, I'm, I'm certainly fortunate to go out from a place
in such a great community as well.
I've been going out there in a few weeks time to compete in the
the Harvey Bay 100. So that'll be a really good race
to to go and see everyone and and kind of give back to the
community there because that the that's kind of how I got into
triathlon. Being from Harvey Bay.
I had had guys like Tate Dixon, Christian Wilson, like we at the
at the time in our squad with Harrow, we had like four or five
national schools champions from Harvey Bay, like, you know, 1
squad. So that was really special kind
of having that culture there and that that small town feel to it.
Yes. So that's kind of where my love
for triathlon grew. And I actually I've actually got
a photo. Oh, here we go.
Here we go. You have to shoot it.
So we can put it up in the big. Screen of you, of you and me.
At the no. The Harvey Bay Triathlon.
Oh, Jesus. Look at this.
OK, maybe 12/20/12 or something like that.
This is in 2012. Courtney, do you recognise your
suit? This is the only way he
remembers. Any part of it I recognise me.
I don't reckon I wouldn't recognise you.
Isn't it? Yeah, yeah, with a hand me down
Nike singlet in there as well. How old is it?
He's a bit how old fella. Now how?
Old would you be? How old would you be in this
photo? 1414 or 13 I reckon, yeah.
And and Courtney what? What, what?
What rate? I miss that.
What race was it? Harvey Bay triathlon run by Ron
Ackett back in the day. Look at that.
Yeah it would have Olympic non drafting I.
Think AIS AIS logo on the. Front.
Yeah. So that would have been around.
I love this. You don't.
You haven't aged, by the way, Courtney Atkinson.
You look, you look, you do. You look exactly the same.
So that's gold. Thanks for bringing in man.
So you're a you're a good cross country runner.
I'm assuming you're at the pointy end of your cross country
running. Does someone just come to you
and say, can you swim or can you bike?
Or have you considered this sport?
Like how do they? Bring you what was the first
try? What was?
Can you remember the very first try?
So I, I don't have AI mean surprisingly, I don't have a
great memory from back then, but I think it was like Harrow
needed me for a a school sport relay team.
So back then the relay was like someone swims, someone bikes and
someone runs like the traditional Noosa tribe relay.
So that they knew I was a good runner.
I just needed to compete to try complete a triathlon and then
I'd I'd be available for the relay.
So and yeah, so I'd I'd swam and I borrowed a bike.
I think it was a giant back then.
And yeah, kind of just stuck at it.
I think it would have been like a Wide Bay trials or something
like that. Yeah.
And when did you, obviously you mentioned your you won the
Junior World title, but when did you realise or did someone tell
you, mate, you can, you can go? I've always in this sport like
did you realise it? Did someone have to convince you
of it? Did you know how did that play
out? Yeah, like anything back then, I
think it's like sports success was like as simple as getting up
on parade and receiving an award for for the the sports gold
award at school or something like that and just trying to
impress your mates. So I think any, any form of
sport or activity I was kind of kind of semi good at.
Like I stuck to it and ran with us because that's what got me
respect and, you know, got me, you know what not so I think it
was the Busselton School Sport Nationals, which I would have
been under fourteens or something like that.
And I remember it was there was flying over like a few days
before there was a shark attack and it was like pasted all over
the news as we were flying over. So there was, there was no swim,
It was a cancelled swim and we had to swim in a pool, a time
trial format. And then we had a, a bike and
run like a handicap after that. So, yeah, I just remember being
a really windy day, I outrode everyone by about a minute,
minute and a half and then ran on to, to win it.
And I came like 4th or 5th at state titles and then won that
that day in nationals a few months later.
So that's when I kind of knew that, oh, this could be
something, this could be something cool.
Like I'd never won a, a cross country title or, or athletics
title. Maybe triathlons are one for me.
So stuck at it and then fell in love with the draught legal
staff through, you know, the, the triathlon QLD Talent Academy
made it into the National Talent Academy, which was at the time
kind of run by Craig Redmond, who was the the pathways
director at the time. And yeah, just getting a free
bike was like the the best thing in the world.
Free carbon bike that you get to keep and and give back at the
end of the year and then you get a new one.
It was like this is Christmas, so.
How good are free shoes too? Free shoes are very you would
know from Courtney. Yeah, yeah.
Courtney's a couple of times. He's gone.
I've got a present for you. I'm like, yes.
What funny shoes and the U bikes aren't I was going.
To say, how many bikes do you keep at once?
Because you were specialised, right?
Yeah. How many?
How many bikes do you roll at once?
I try because I've only got a small unit garage so I can't
really hold on to too many. But at the moment I've got both
Olympic bikes. I got my current racing bike and
I got the TT bikes so and a few, a few E bikes as well.
I just roll around with the pool with.
So yeah, it's it's getting a little bit too much, but I try
to offload them to friends and I think I gave Danos one the other
the other year as well. So yeah.
I want to talk a bit about news, Sir, because I know you're
racing in that, but can we talk Olympics because you've you've
got this enormous tick on your career CV now world champion.
Can we go back to Paris like that?
As a you know, Courtney's talked about his Olympic experiences.
Paris your first, Olympic second.
Well, it felt like my first Tokyo was a bit of a.
Under. COVID.
Yeah, of course, the COVID stuff, talk about the Paris, the
Olympic experience, a truly unique Olympics from a triathlon
perspective with swimming in the sand, the river, and we saw the
what all that was like. And where did you end up
finishing in Paris? I was 7th.
Right. How did that leave you feeling
like the Talk us about the race experience and and how you
walked away from that? Well, to to Miles Stewart, he
was pretty happy because he he said to me after I see he's
like, oh, thank goodness you didn't beat my 6th place in
classic in classic moles. Yeah, but for for me crossing
the line, I think going going from Tokyo to Paris Tokyo was a
bit of a disappointing campaign for all of us Aussie.
I think I can say that genuinely.
But yeah, to just feel walk away from that experience in Tokyo,
not really feeling a part of the Olympic movement, kind of just
feeling like it was a bit of a is just go there race, get the
hell out of there. Like you shipped off 2 days
later. So not really being able to like
be involved in the Olympic experience.
So then going to Paris and having the build up that we had
swimming in the sand, the awful town in the background, riding
in the Champs Les like it was, it was incredible.
And I think the organisers, they definitely knew if they if the
water wasn't good and they mucked it up, they would have
looked like idiots. But if they if they pulled it
off, they would have looked like geniuses.
And I think it was the, it was the ladder for sure.
And especially with the the finish that we got in the men's
and and the women's and the MTR as well.
Like with Alex always hunting down Hayden wild in the in the
last stages of the run. I think it was just a spectacle
that I was just my, my individual success, like aside
like result aside, like I was just so proud to be a part of
the sport and to have it have so many eyes on it as well in that
day. And the crowds, I mean,
Wollongong crowd was great, but the Paris crowd was absolutely
bloody awesome. Like it was ridiculously
electric. Olympics is a different a
different level and. I guess in London for sure it
would have been like the same in Hyde Park with the brownies and
and everything like. That it's unique.
It's unique in the sense that because it's a free event,
right? It's the one event that everyone
can come down to and the crowds get you huge.
Yeah. Yeah.
So looking forward to LA then, for sure.
Do you know the course? You know what you're in for
there. Yeah, well, it's Venice Beach,
so knowing the beaches in LA, they're pretty, there's like 100
metre beach. Isn't it like a?
Lot. Yeah, a lot of soft sand.
A lot. Of soft sand running so I'm
going to have to be doing that with with a few of the surf guys
up here I can like. Does that already, but do you
think, do you look at that as an as an Aussies growing up on the
beach and all that? Do you instantly go advantage
mate? Well, if I wasn't 8080 kilos,
yes, I've, I've got a mate Brandon Copeland, who, who I
race and train with in the squad.
He, he always tells me up in the barely swim run because he, he
is like a sand crab across soft sand.
He is electric and it comes with the weight, I guess.
But yeah, for, for me, that's definitely something that like
I'm looking forward to as a challenge.
But it's, it's going to be hard for everyone.
And, and it's good that we've got obviously soft sand beaches
here on the Gold Coast that are pristine warm up.
Conditions. Not many hills around there to
be. No, no.
I think it would be quite a technical course.
They were planning to have it at Long Beach, which would have
been like I heard Taylor Nib from the American team said that
like it was going to be in Long Beach.
She wouldn't even compete. Like she she was that like hard
stance on it because it was wasn't going to be a good
course, not very like suiting her strengths for the being the
bike and and whatnot, being quite like a plane out and back.
So I think hopefully Venice, I can mix it up.
I'm not sure we'll get out to the Hollywood Hills at that far
into the beach. But yeah, I'm looking forward to
I think it's it's going to be challenging for the organisers
because LA as we know, is very car centric so and America in
general. So it's going to be, it's going
to be hard, but it's, I mean, it's, it's America that they're
big and bold, so. So when do you start?
Have you, have you been over there yet or when did, when did
the team start looking at that one?
So there's been oz troth and stuff that have that have gone
over and actually checked it out.
Team Tim Rigby actually checked it out after he was at a
conference over in America. So there's there's been people
flying in and out of there. Sean Stevens has been checking
it out as well, a new new performance director.
So that there is like things like that in motion at the
moment. So yeah, that's, that's the
beauty of before you build up, you, you get some afforded some
good time to to prepare and and get ready for it.
Do you the the you I've talked to Courtney a bit about, you
know, you get to where he is and he looks back and, you know,
forgets things and but you know, you now that you've you've
kicked off world champion, not that sport and racing and
everything is just a list of of achievements to hit.
But when you are at the point of any of your sport, you can kind
of view it as right. I want to achieve these by the
end of this career, I want to have achieved XY and Z world
champion done. We'll get to know Sir in a
moment. Do you now attack these upcoming
Olympics with a different mindset than you had going into
Paris? Now that you are I'm a world
champion, is it a different attitude towards the LA
Olympics? For sure, I think the period of
time between Tokyo and Paris was was just me learning to to be
able to win, learning to be on the podium and I did have a few
good results and performances there.
But now I really look at this like 4 year or three year now
cycle going like all right now I'm at the top.
Now I'm at the pointing end. It's about trying to consolidate
that and keep, keep building on my successes and keep the
momentum rolling because I'm, I'm in a four year position now
where I'm at the top and I can just keep, yeah, learning of
from my experiences and, and just learn how to win and win
consistently. So I think that's, that's really
exciting and that's where I that's exactly where I wanted to
be at the start of this four year cycle.
And, and to know that I've got another three years to, to try
and grow and develop with the sport.
Yeah, it's pretty cool. So cool.
I you mentioned a fella I do want to touch on now.
I haven't checked this question with you in advance, Matt, if
you don't want to answer, you can just give me a secret signal
that people won't be able to hear, but you can just put your
hand up. What's the relationship with you
and Hayden Wildlife? We're we're acquaintances.
OK, for sure. OK.
He is, he's a ruthless competitor, I'll give him that.
And he is very, he's a, he's a tactical genius.
And I think he lets, he lets on less of what he knows and then
what he actually knows. So I think that is a sign of a
true competitor. Yeah, for sure.
He is a great bloke. He's a great bloke off the
course. But on the course he certainly
does some things that that turns heads.
And I think that's what that's what makes him entertaining.
That's what makes him, you know, you know, stand out from the
crowd and, and that's what gives him the the edge at the end of
the day. So now, credit to him.
Honestly, all things aside, credit to him.
He is a he's a great athlete. OK, Yeah, you're a diplomatic.
Well, you also have a unique like if you go back to the
previous generation, you know, with the Brownlee brothers and
Javier and everyone, and then now you're in this new
generation of Alex Yee, Hayden yourself.
There's going to be, you know, a lot of years to come where
you're going to be fighting each other.
You know what, I suppose have you, what have you changed from
that Olympic experience and then to now like what's been the
biggest shift? I think just trying to tell
myself that I belong at this level, like I kind of did have a
bit of imposter syndrome throughout those those Tokyo and
and somewhat of the Paris campaign and lead up.
And I think it was just learning to deal with the pressure of
having to compete against those guys and those guys like proven
guys like Alex and Hayden and and, you know, believing that I
do belong next to them and alongside of them and stop
putting them on a pedestal so much obviously respect what they
do and their abilities are amazing.
Like on and off the trial and feel like we see Alex going to
do Valencia Marathon this, this week.
And, you know, I reckon he's probably going to run a low, low
one like in the half marathon. So that's, that's the kind of
targeting, like that's the kind of guys I have to come up
against. But it's yeah, it's a fact of
like not putting those guys on a pedestal that knowing that like
on my best day, I can, I can well and truly mix it with them.
And I think over these last 12 months with them kind of taking
a bit of a step away from the sport, I think it's been great
to see the sport move forward without them a little bit.
And hopefully they'll come back and have it a little bit harder
next year. And, and, you know, try and try
and take it up another notch as well, which is what we love
about the sport. It's like it's, it's quite a
young sport and you know, in terms of like, you know, the
Olympics and it's only ever been since 2000 in Sydney.
So it's got a lot of growth to, to go.
And I think we're starting to see, you know, that come to
fruition. Like I stepped it up a lot this
year had Hidalgo and Vasco also stepped it up massively.
Like we ran 1336 off the bike in Fray Juice.
You know, I was 3300 and 43150 watts on that bike and had to
run that to win it. And a few guys were around that
1340 mark as well, including Alex.
So the sport's just evolving as well.
So it's great to, it's great to kind of evolve with the sport.
Do you have aspirations to jump in?
Any running yourself testing it out?
I would love to, I would love to do like a 5 and 1010 road for
sure, just to see how I how I mix it up with those guys.
I I was I was always considering doing the Bolt Noosa double like
that would be that would be pretty cool yeah.
I don't want to disrespect my competitors on the Sunday though
because I haven't actually won the race yet.
So my training partner Braden Merson is like 7 years.
My youth we've. Heard this advantage.
He is obviously the defending champion so so I've got a lot to
a lot, a lot of work to do next weekend to to try and top it.
Moving on to Noosa, do you, do you know the field?
You know what you're up against. Yeah, there's a few
international competitors. I think Henry Schuman's coming
back. He's got some relatives in
Australia so he's coming back to to race.
I think Jake's away racing my Bay a world champ 17.3 the next
weekend, so I don't think he's making the the trip over.
Luke Willan is obviously one of the four, Olympic teammate,
Brandon Copeland, Braden Mercer, We've got Jack Willis, who's a
British competitor, John Reed, American competitor.
So we got like a quite a few, you know, really decent guys
that are coming across for it, which is exciting.
A few of the internationals have had yeah, which is.
Which is cool. Like coming off the back of
Wollongong and and having them kind of stay on and and compete.
I think Cassandra Begrand as well, the Olympic champions
going to be there. So that's going to be maybe
that's why Ash took a step back and isn't racing.
I don't know. Maybe she's like oh I did too
much hate but. It's funny, we're having that
conversation before you walked in.
Let's, let's talk about, I want to get to Ash because I know
that Dan mentioned that she's had something of a, of a mother
bear influence on your career. Noosa as a as a title or as a
race, how important is it for you to win one at some point
during your career? I think it's definitely a super
important like I, I tried to win it two years ago, but Hayden
Wilde rocked up and stole the show.
And he's obviously a lot more experienced on the TT bike than
I was at the time. But yeah, I think it just holds
a rich history in the sport. Like my coach, my ex coach
Harrow, he's done like 30 or 35 of them and he's like a noose or
immortal or something like that. So I think it's always been like
on my radar as a as a race to tick off.
And you know, the names obviously, like yourself,
Courtney and, and Craig Walton and the guys that that have won
it multiple times and Aaron Royal as well.
I think, you know, a lot of kids my age had Aaron's poster up on
the wall, that of his finish line in 2014, grabbing the tape
and doing like a growl or something to the camera.
So there's a lot of historic moments throughout the the
course of the Noosa Noosa triathlon.
So I really wanted to, you know, try and add to that history.
And it's it's the rare occasion that as a short course guy, you
get a chance to race on the same course as the age group is.
So I think there's a lot of mutual respect there.
You know, a lot of the time our short course athletes with our
draught legal element until we don't get as much as many eyes
or as much respect from from the age group fields because that
they don't they don't know what it's like.
They don't get to race on the courses.
They don't know what it's like to sit in at 47 K an hour and
roll around. I think you know.
What is that like? Because I've got no idea what 47
K an hour feels like to roll around.
It's a lot easier with mates, that's for sure.
But it's it is still hard. It is still hard, that's for
sure. But I think, yeah, it is it is
kind of a rare occasion that we do need to do get to like
compare times. And that was the biggest thing I
found two years ago when I came second to Hayden.
It was like at the after party at the surf Club where there was
too many people there. I was getting.
I was like, Oh my God, like you did like you wrote like 52
minutes. How like that's crazy or like
you, the whole triathlon was like an hour 41.
It's like for us that the times don't really matter.
Like it's as you can't compare times with the courses because
it's so like interchangeable across the world with all these
different courses and and elements like hills and stuff
like that. So just to see the age group is
kind of like geek out about all the time, just like compare
things and stuff like that. It's kind of cool to be like,
yeah, to kind of get that recognition, I guess and and to
kind of compare and contrast. Yeah, well, it'll be exciting.
I'm so, yeah. Quickly, you mentioned you're
running maybe 5K10K. What are your PBS?
Out of curiosity, 'cause there, as a, you know, lots of runners
listening to this 5 or 10 KPB, what have you got?
Well I did my 10 KPB off the bike on the weekend so that's
29/29/16. That was your.
That was your 10 KPB. Yeah, I have another chance to
do to do a 10K fresh same with the same with the five K 1336.
That's my PB. That was 4.97 KS, so it was
pretty much on the nose. I think on the weekend it was
10.02, so just over that 10K mark.
But yeah, both my PBS and five and 10 have been off the bike,
so it'd be good to just. Just want to triathlon.
Australia's guys still get out with a trundle with.
Yeah, they do, yeah. Normally we rely on the French
'cause they're pretty, they're pretty well versed with that.
They they get out of the trundle wheels quite often then then
share their stats. So.
You're a weird bunch triathlete. Cause yeah, it was the same for
you, wasn't it? You reckon you didn't couldn't
run a better 10K than you'd done off the bike?
I just. Said I never ran any 10K in
individual races to compare, so yeah, they're all done in
triathlons. And that's, that's why I want to
like do it because it's like, it'd just be cool to, to know
what you're capable of. I, I don't think it'll be too
much quicker to be honest, because the swim and bike really
do complement the run quite well.
Like as long as you're not packing on James Magnuson
muscles and the swim, you know, it does like complement it in
terms of like the aerobic capacity for the run, the bike,
obviously the overall strength and conditioning.
So I think there's a lot of elements to the trial from that
compliment you're running in general.
Like I found that coming through the junior ranks in like still
doing some cross country and athletics races where I'm going,
coming up against these like skinny, skinny runner guys that
are like haven't gone through gross bets and stuff.
And I'm here with like some quad muscles and, and A and a booty
and I'm. I'm you.
Know like telling them up doing doing something completely
different. So I think it does complement it
well. We saw that with Gwen Jorgensen
when she she went for the marathon post her Olympic
triathlon career and and kind of probably didn't like exceed her
expectations or even made her expectations as to how she was
going to go just fresh running. You're a you're a strong, like I
know how much you're doing in the gym, but like you're a
strong runner. When you when you watch you run
it, it looks just so efficient. Like you the the pace you're
running it when you're watching it on it doesn't.
Yeah, it doesn't matter. Yeah, no, it's kind of like even
even around the track. We were talking about a video
that you were doing on the last track session.
I was watching it and I'm like, are they jogging or are they?
It's very, very hard to tell. But I mean, the times tell the
story, right? You fly.
So it's, it's, it's super interesting to see just how
strong you are. Like there must be so much glute
involved in like, So what you're saying between the bike and the
running, there's a real technique to that.
And if you go and run just fresh, it doesn't always equate,
right? Like fresh runners may run in a
bit of a different patterning and using different muscles.
Yeah, yeah. And I think for me personally, I
spend a lot more contact time on the ground like we've analysed
my, my stride rate and whatnot. I spend a little bit more time
on the ground. So it is it is nice to have
these carbon shoes these days are trying trying to get me off
the ground nice and nice and quickly.
So you're running with the ASICS like did you have you always run
in carbon shoes? Because when did it?
Pretty much. Well, ASICS kind of brought out
their carbon shoe maybe around 2018-2019, but it was quite a
basic model. Like it wasn't like the 4% was
that revolutionizer game and everyone like soon after
followed. But I think ASICS are definitely
up there with one of the best, if not the best now in terms of
like performance and and shoe tech.
So yeah. And have you noticed like say
even in the last four years that shoe Tech had the one new models
they're bringing out, they're still improving or are you like
they feel better but speed wise? Sometimes, like I think the
second version of the meta speed was a bit of a hit and miss for
for our six. I think I preferred the first
version like really, really well, and then the 3rd and the
4th. Now they're just getting better
and better. Speaking of running do, can we
talk about that safety video, the running section, can we talk
about? We talked about this on an
earlier episode of the podcast Matt Not.
Not at your expense, no, No it. Wasn't his expense, let's be
honest, blaming the government. We were blaming the government
and we were. Brief and I had to execute it
so. If people can't remember those
that can't remember, Matt Hauser was the star of the Queensland
Road and Transport Safety video. With the boom in run groups on
how to safely run, do you indicate that when you go to
turn now when you run? I, I actually, I, I do on some
occasions if it's a big group, I do.
I definitely do. I definitely do with a couple of
us that that have been running the same roof for a long time,
probably not to be honest. But I think the message was just
to make sure you're you're communicating it where you're
going and when you're crossing the road.
And I know it did look a little bit goofy.
No, don't worry. We were just envious we didn't
get the contract. We exactly, exactly what's your
call as you approach runners? I mean, you, I don't imagine
you, you're behind too many people.
But we talked about this on an episode the other day.
Heading around Burley Hill when? You're heading around Burley
Hill. What do you call out?
I Do you have a call? I just say, excuse me, I don't
know. Yeah.
Excuse me? Like, thank you.
You don't go the scuff, you don't go the scuff Feet so that
they hear you, no. That's yeah, that's a good one.
That's a good one. But I like to to use my voice,
OK, You know, OK, It's polite. Yeah, fair favourite.
Run. Like if there's one run session
that get you ready, can you share it?
You show everything on Strava, don't you?
Yeah. If anyone wants to follow you
go. Go to my Strava, follow me
along. I think I really do like the
Palm Beach Loop. I think that's gotten really
popular around like Telebudgera drive around the soccer fields
there. It's like a 4K like basically
closed off because at least as long as there's no soccer games
onto the the park, it's it's pretty quiet.
Dan really likes to have a bit of like that fart like type of
ideology into our runs. Like a few runs we did, it was
like 8 minutes at like a threshold pace, so 305 to 3:10,
then into like like maybe maybe it was like minute, like float
into like 2 minutes or two minutes harder than that
threshold pace. So you go from that 305 pace
down like 2:50 to 2:55 and then back off again and then back
into the 8 minutes. And we do that about three times
so. How much rest would you do off
the back of the faster one? It'll just be a minute float
each time. So it'd be continuous 3035
minutes or so, 3540 minutes. But it would just be like that
change of pace, you know, going from that threshold, like
changing up the rhythm, changing up the stride rate into that
faster work. So I find like I'm more suited
to like the shorter, sharper stuff like the 5K.
So I find that session really good for me to like, you know,
boost up my my endurance in the run for sure.
But you can't go past K reps like K reps are are the golden,
are the golden run. You you didn't know what float?
What's float mean to you? Well, you don't if we put it in
the. Dictionary.
What's a float? Float's like a zone, Zone 2 to
zone 3 type of type of run where you kind of you're, you're
coming off the pace a little bit, but you're still kind of,
you're not letting your heart. Rate.
What do you float at? So I'd probably float at like
3-4 years, shut up 3-4 years. You're not losing your rhythm
too much. You're not definitely not
jogging, but you're just keeping that kind of, yeah, that
momentum going. But you never want to see me
float, mate. I can't float in the ocean, can
we? Life is a what are you, 27?
Yep, 27 years of age, world champion Australian has a
Australia has a rich Olympic history.
We have this we went through, you know, you mentioned the
golden era of triathlon where guys like Courtney and Chris
McCormack and and Brad Bevan and, and these guys and, and
then on the women's side, Emma Carney and Snowy and all the
rest of it. And then we have like I work on
a radio show with Liswell Jones, who was in the golden era of our
swimming, right? Liswell Jones comes out of her
career with aside from an incredible CV of Olympic Games
and medals, financially not a lot to show for it.
How what is life like now as a professional triathlete in 2025?
Like from a financial, are you able to how hard is it to get
out there and grind and obviously you've just won the
world championship. How sustainable are you now
through this the next Olympic cycle?
Going off the tax rate in Australia, it's pretty, it's
pretty hard, yeah. So it is hard to make make a
money in the sport. I think if you're at the top it,
it's good. Obviously you get remunerated
from from race results, sponsorships, bonuses, whatnot.
I basically don't have to don't have to pay for too much in
terms of travel and and accommodation wise.
Oz triathlon really does help with that sort of thing.
But that that also depends on your categorization.
So I'm up, up towards the top of the categorization table.
Now, a lot of the guys, you know, down the down the bottom,
towards the bottom of the categorization scale, they still
have to pay for flights over Europe.
They still have to pay for probably 40 to 50% of their
accommodation costs while they're over there.
So it is a, it is a tough graph if you're definitely not in that
top three in the world. So that's why there's so many
guys, you know, turning to social media and trying to get
get views and comments and likes and trying to trying to spark,
you know. And what do you make of all
that? What do you make of because we,
it's, we've had conversations with Andy Buchanan, right?
Fastest marathoner ever been Australian.
And he accepts that athletes need to do better.
If this is the new world, there's no point fighting
against the tide. And he's is that we as athletes
or he and his mob as athletes need to get better at selling
themselves from a social perspective.
What's your attitude towards all that?
For sure it is hard because obviously you're in triathlon or
running like it's not like ATV sport like footy where you
don't. You can post about having beers
with your mates and I'll. Tell you what, the footy players
are coping strays today. All due respect.
I love footy. I have a great passion for it,
but yeah, certainly it's it's been a necessary evil for me
over the past few years. I think it is draining at points
and you do have a bit of responsibility to sponsors and
partners with it. But I, it just kind of comes in
waves, to be honest. Like I'm really motivated a few
weeks and then I'm not might be one week.
I'm kind of off it and not really doing much.
And it just, yeah, it kind of ebbs and flows.
And I don't know, even with all this social media attention, I'm
getting like and collabing with posts and there's me all over
the feed. I'm kind of just like feel a bit
bad for everyone. I'm just like, sorry for like
clogging your feet because I just, I don't want to be
annoying because in the tall poppy syndrome of, of this world
in Australia, it's, it's, it's a fine line we run.
So I don't want to really want to be flooding the feed too
much. Yeah.
Oh mate I couldn't, I agree with you more with what you just said
but I mean I'm I'm sure with world championship now things
are going to improve very quickly.
What? Outside of triathlon what do you
do? What's your hobbies?
So, like any endurance sportsman, love coffee.
Got my coffee. Machine.
That's not really new, is it? Not really new.
So I, I collect vinyl as well. So I've got a vinyl, vinyl
record player. My dad got me into it.
He actually, he gave me all of his old records for Christmas
one year and and then a few years later he's like, oh, can I
have a few of them back? Is it, is it just listening?
It's kind of DJ as well, no? I would love to, I love to beat
mix. That would be pretty cool goal
of mine maybe once I retired to to kind of delve into that.
But yeah, just listening for now.
I've got a dog now, a 1 year old Vishla, so taking her out is is
a joy to my day. Watching footy and kicking the
footy when I can, when the hammies are not playing up is is
really fun. AFL or AFL?
Yeah, AFL So. You mentioned your partner
Georgia. And how long, how long have you
guys been together? 5 1/2 years, yeah.
It must be taxing at times because you have to be
incredibly selfish about your job, about what you do to
achieve what you are achieving and what you want to achieve in
the future. How do you manage that?
How do you manage that relationship of essentially
saying and we, it was interesting because Dan last
week talked to us about the conversation that he and Georgia
had after your last race in Europe before the World
Championships. So she's obviously on board with
it. But how do you manage that?
I think it is just making sure like they feel valued in the
journey. Like I think that's that's the
most important part and giving, giving back to them and giving
them, you know, just supporting them through their life as well.
And I think I get just as much of A kick out of hearing her,
you know, achieve things at work or get a promotion or she's also
doing some running like she does.
She did like a 120. Oh geez, what did she do?
Like a mid one maybe one 26125 half marathon So at the Gold
Coast of half marathon so. Race on your hands, Liam.
Ohh mate, just. You're gonna get 10 minutes. 10
minutes ahead of me. So like I, I like, I really love
supporting her through that. And yeah, as I mentioned, like
when life outside a sport is going really well and is really
fluid, like I feel like I can push so much more on on the
course. So like, I feel like the more
energy I I give to her that the more I can give back out in the
course to my sport. So, but I, I always joke that
I've got a lot of catching up to in terms of being selfless in
the, in the back end of my career slash in retirement.
Like I'm going to have to be making up for the for a lot of
years because it is a selfish, you know, pursuit.
And yet you do have to put yourself first a lot of the
time, which is, you know, which is a necessary evil.
So, and, and she, she's great. She understands that and she,
she's really supportive. And through the first few years
of our relationship, like we actually met in COVID.
And so that was like the one opportunity where I was staying
in the country for, for 8-9 months of the year.
So I would have never got a chance to develop, develop a
relationship and get to know somebody without that kind of
period of time. So I'm.
As bad as it was for, for, you know, our community and, and
social things, it was, it was a great way to to meet someone
like Georgia and to, to develop that relationship and connection
while I wasn't travelling overseas.
And, and then with the in the years after that, I think she
she realised that I wasn't going to be around for, for all the
time. So, so it was tough to tough to
manage that. Obviously just face times and
whatnot, whatnot and just endless calls and, and stuff.
But yeah, I mean, so it's. It's working now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah of. Course going well.
It's been worth it. It's been worth it.
Been. Worth it for sure.
Triathlon as a whole, Where's it at?
I think I think it's in a good place.
It's it's diff. It's probably not where it was
in the 90s when it was so fresh and new and everyone was like
Ironman, Koner and stuff like that.
Like I think it's still definitely got a ways to go and
it is a young sport. So that's just the reality of
it. But I think it is a
participation sport. So you're never going to have
people watching it without a connection to to the racing.
You're always going to have that at that age group side of
things, you know, really supporting the the elites and
and vice versa. So, but I think with this, this
massive boom and running at the moment that that we've seen post
code, I think that's kind of starting to transition across
the triathlon, which is really cool.
Like once you go to the half marathon, the marathon, the
ultra marathon for for those who last that long, you kind of
start to to try and pick something new and something
different and something challenging.
I think a lot of people that I have gone through that journey
now and and done the marathon and tick, tick times off like
that. I think they're starting to kind
of go to triathlon and experience that, which is which
is pretty cool, I think. I kid you not.
Bronte Lanebrook, She's. Going to do a try.
Wants to do Noosa next year. Wow.
This is Bronte, who ran her first marathon at Gold Coast
earlier this year. I spoke to the other day, I
said, what's next? She said.
I think I've got to do Noosa. Natural progression.
There you go. Marathon to try well.
I think I thought half of them skipped these days and just go
straight to Iron Man. Yeah, Yeah.
Well. That's the thing, 70 point
threes is like so popular, right?
It's like the, the TT bike, the, the, the gits, the gadgets and
whatnot. So yeah.
Well, mate, we're rooting for you for for LA.
We cannot be. I'm I'm rooting for him sooner
than LA Oh, I'm ready rooting for him noose.
I wouldn't. I mean well.
I've I've actually given him Noosa already after hearing
today. Are you just pencilling him in?
Yeah, there's pencilled in all of us now.
Already gone to LA. Defending champ Brazenman has
gotta. Gotta get.
Given the respect he deserves, like, well, that's he's gonna be
out for vengeance. You go in as the underdog.
I mean, yes, world champion, it's good you go in as the
underdog. Flying to the Raider.
Did you want to ask about Ash? Oh, I did, I did want to ask
only because Dan mentioned it on on the earlier of this week.
This is the queen of Australian triathlon.
What is it? What do we get up to it?
Noosa wins 1011111314 more than 10 and and Dan mentioned that
she early on took a very like motherly approach to you in not.
Sure, she would appreciate you saying that.
Sorry Ash, but well you know a mentorish type role with you in
the sport. Can you speak a little bit about
your relationship with Ash through the sport of triathlon?
She always used to call me a junior burger, Junior burger,
junior burger. So.
But no, I've been racing on teams with Ash for oh goodness
me like 8 or 9 years now. And yeah, for sure, she has
definitely been the one to stand up on the woman side of things
over the last decade. And obviously the amount of
Noosa wins is is uncountable. So, yeah, I think just like, I
think she was racing World Series races at like 15 or 16 or
something ridiculous like that or a ridiculous age.
So she's been around forever and I think, yeah, just having
someone like that to look up to and to ask advice and to being
around with teams and stuff like that.
And she's already always treated me with kindness and, and
compassion and, and yeah, kind of taking me under a wing as
well. So it's been great to yeah, kind
of experience and go through those, those moments and triath
and with her. I've we've had good, good
moments. We've had like pretty average
moments like the Olympics and and I remember even like in 2017
at the at the mixed team relay World Championships when we're
kind of fighting in about third or fourth, fourth position at
the time when went on went on to win it with Jake Burles, who
famous print finish from him getting the job done.
But I think it was just after she crossed the line in her
third leg and she was like coming over to me and she was in
tears. She's like, I've stuffed it up.
Like I didn't have the best race.
Like Jake's in fourth, like how are we going to get this done?
And she was kind of like almost like tearing up and I was just
like this 19 year old going like this is Ash channel.
Oh my God, Oh my God, Ash Channel's like crying to me.
That's kind of crazy, right? Like I'm, I'm in my first world
championship team. Like just like going gun for
leather. And yeah, just having to
experience like those kind of moments with with her gives me
like great pleasure and joy to look back on.
And yeah, it is cool to to kind of have those relationships over
the course of your career. And no doubt I'll continue to
have some more. And now do you and now just
because on that, this is again, we've talked about the nature of
triathlon, where it's at. It's a young sport and it's a
sport that does rely on names. I've mentioned some of them,
we've mentioned some of them. You mentioned some there in Ash
and over the years Courtney and Bradden and the likes.
So you now we've talked a bit about your team, but from a
sport perspective and the need to be that that guy to be out in
front. You've mentioned LeBron James as
your inspiration. This is a guy who accepted the
mantle and the throne of basketball around the world.
Are you comfortable with your position sitting on the throne
of Australian Triathlon World Triathlon?
Yeah, for, for the moment, for sure, I think, yeah, I take a
lot of pride in, in leadership and, and leading the charge.
And I think that's, yeah, as I said, been one of my goals over
the past like half a decade to to try and bring this sport back
to what it was in Australia. And I feel like it's it's time
for the men to step up after obviously the, the Olympic
domination that the women have had over the past, you know, a
couple of decades. So yeah, it's time for us to try
and start clinking to medals around our necks.
I love it. I love.
It I love it. Well, thanks for your time,
Matt. I know it's been if it's a huge
weight for you and. Looking for world champion along
and the world champion. Yeah, Courtney, we finally got
one in the studio. We haven't had many guests.
Well, junior, we Junior World champions.
You got a junior? World champion?
Yeah, it doesn't count. But no, but seriously, Matt,
again with with world championship, as you mentioned,
your phones gone nuts the and you and you're straight back
into training. You've got Noosa on the way.
So we really appreciate you giving us your time.
Please share this episode because if you've never been
subscribed or or shared the the podcast previously, this is the
one you do wanna share. Matt Hauser, thank you so much
for your time. Thanks, guys.
Thanks, really appreciate it. Amazing.