ITU Oceania Championships Devonport, Tasmania

The swim was a beach start on the shores of Devonport. My start was reasonable, although a group of really strong swimmers to my left got out ahead of me. Early on I was able to swim across the gap managing to position myself in the top 6 after the first 300 metres. James Sears set a solid tempo at the front of the pack, which forced the lead group into a single file line. I was able to relax into my stroke once I could see that I was in a comfortable position near the front. I exited the water in 4th, right on the leader’s feet.

Australia’s plan for the race was to make sure all of our top athletes were in the lead pack off the bike, giving Australia the best opportunity to take the win. Consequently we had to immediately assess how we were going to approach the ride. We quickly realized that Australia were in a dominate position. Not only did the front pack include really strong Australian riders, but also some of New Zealand’s top athletes including Gemmell and Scissons were not present. Along with Atkinson, Sear, Amberger, Hickey and Box, we were maintaining a solid pace to keep ourselves away from the chase pack which included the 2 most dangerous NZ athletes. Nevertheless our efforts weren’t enough; with some incredibly strong riding from behind they were able to catch us before the halfway point on the ride. After the 2 packs came together the pace dropped with everyone’s attention turning to conserving as much energy as possible to ensure a quick run. Driving the pack was Jack Hickey, controlling the group he ensured a trouble free ride for Australian athletes sitting in behind. Coming into transition I followed the very experienced Courtney Atkinson and Kris Gemmell, knowing they would come off the bike at the front of the group. I had a few little problems getting to my spot and putting my shoes on which cost me a couple of valuable seconds coming out of transition.

Atkinson and Gemmell went out hard on the run, as did I, managing to tuck in behind Brendan Sexton’s shoulder coming out of transition. I felt stretched running with Sexton for the first 400 metres as we tried to bridge across to the lead two, and after 500 metres I had to drop off to ensure I didn’t completely blow myself to pieces. In the first few steps of the run I had committed and backed myself to go for the win, and although I wasn’t able to keep up with the lead 3, my initial intensity allowed a buffer between me and the chasing athletes. I didn’t want my early efforts on the

run to go to waste so I set my own tempo, making sure the guys behind didn’t bridge across. With the top 3 only 20 – 30 metres ahead during the first lap, I could see that Sexton was the stronger athlete, with the other two struggling to keep up. This kept my motivation high, knowing that if they spent too much energy trying to stay with Sexton I might be able to catch them later on. This did eventually happen, after the first of 4 laps, New Zealand’s Kris Gemmell couldn’t keep up with Sexton. I lifted my rating and started to close the 50 metre gap to around 25. It wasn’t enough though, as he must’ve got a second as he started to extend his lead again. At this point Brendan had pulled away, with Gemmell now running with Atkinson, followed by me, around 20 seconds behind and then about 20 seconds back to the next guy. At the 6 kilometre mark Atkinson looked like he had blown up and it didn’t take long before I had bridged the gap and then moved straight passed. With 2.5km left in the run I had moved into 3rd spot, with Gemmell 25 seconds ahead and Brendan another 30 seconds ahead of him!

I had crossed the line 3rd to finish on the podium two years in a row at the Oceania Championships. I was extremely happy with my result. Moreover I was satisfied that I could prove my form over the Olympic distance as opposed to the Sprint distance events I had raced in this season. I have managed to set up a good foundation to work off for the rest of the season and I can have confidence going forward that I can be up with the world’s best elite men. My next race will be the World Championship Series Race 1 on the Sydney Harbour with the highest quality field where everyone will be out to make a statement as countries finalise their Olympic Games’ selections.

The first race of the season is almost a guaranteed way of gauging how effective your training has been over the off-season. For me, this was back to back sprint triathlons with each having their own importance for the year ahead.

Kinloch in New Zealand would be a chance to gain early season ITU points and to ensure a start in future races. A small gap in swim groups meant 2 main bunches were formed where i was placed in the second group. Those strong enough to bridge the gap on the hilly and technical course were able to do so by the end of the second lap.

Unfortunately, i became tangled in a crash which left me with a small gap to make up. The accelerations and cornering in the lead up to crashing had me hurting which meant i was not able to regroup with second bunch.

Into T2 and i was deflated racing for 20th position and out of contention to gain points or prize money. Slightly frustrating but deserved after not being in the money bunch from the swim.

From NZ to Geelong and a high quality field meant the Australian Sprint Championships as well as premium continental cup status. From the gun, the swim pack remained tight with the odd super-fish shooting off the front. Into transition and a group of 50 athletes all eager to get towards the front had some well known bikers pushing the pace and stringing the field out on a very technical course.

The main groups came together as one long line of athletes before yet another acceleration snapped the bunch. This was a critical point during the bike where it was important to move up the front….. i did not. I was unable to get comfortable and recover from the initial pace and cornering that i fell back (again!). Disappointed with my tactics and ability to show myself at the front meant running from mid pack.

Although it is easy to overanalyse races like the last 2 weeks, it simply meant going back to training and tweaking some smaller issues that i felt were crucial in a sprint race. I was able to place myself in a position to contend these races but had higher expectations.

Both races were great to contest with testing courses and big crowds. The next event will be the Oceania Championships in Devonport, Tasmania. Devonport will be the standard olympic distance and is rumoured to be an unofficial olympic selection race for 2012.

I am also on the lookout for a new coach and new direction this year which means exciting times to come. Thankfully i have Mizuno Australia and The Bike Shed supporting me again this year.

Thanks,

Nick Kastelein

Subsequently, the results from the elite men's race have been amended with Roca Dalmau now as the gold medallist, Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales (ESP) will move to silver medal position and Benoit Nicolas (FRA) will be awarded the bronze medal.  All other athletes in the 2011 Gijon ITU Duathlon World Championships men's elite race will also move up one position.  All prize money will be adjusted accordingly. 

1.	Roger Roca Dalmau	ESP		01:51:22
2.	Victor Manuel Del Corral Morales	ESP		01:51:29
3.	Benoit Nicolas	FRA		01:51:30
4.	Sergey Yakovlev	RUS		01:51:35
5.	Matt Russell	USA		01:51:36
6.	Richard Hobby	GBR		01:51:45
7.	Philip Wylie	GBR		01:51:47
8.	Alessio Picco	ITA		01:52:06
9.	Ilia Mazhukin	RUS		01:52:12
10.	Nicolas D'Harveng	BEL		01:52:23

Where has January gone? From celebrating the New Year to celebrating us as Australians, it has flown past. For most of it, I enjoyed my time in altitude. Lacking the presence of oxygen, this did not faze us. We trained hard and co mpleted long days pushing ourselves with everything we had, with the aqueduct of freezing cold water being our reward. We were lucky enough to have a few visitors including AIS dietician Greg Cox, Pete Kerry our massage therapist and comedian and Lisa who took some great shots of us in action. Felt a little overwhelmed with a photographer popping out of the bush! We learnt about healthy cooking, food we should be introducing into diet and important foods necess ary to enhance and maintain performance.

NSWIS testing arose again to see how we were all travelling after our altitude camp and I was happy to see changes in my aerobic capacity heart rate and VO2 max. A few days ago we had a presentation done by Kell and Kristie on self confidence and social media. Both these have given me a new insight and help me reflect on myself and change of things I do in my training and skills that I can incorporate. 

Australia Day Aquathon, my 4th year in competing, I had gotten a 4th, 3rd and a 2nd.. a win would be nice. Feeling good after coming down from altitude I wanted to make the most of it. Getting a good swim start and continuing this I got a 30 second lead over the other girls in the swim and wanted to keep that for the rest of the race. I told myself never to look back, keep on your toes, pop and to continue to think what Bobby had told me to work on. Holding my lead, I was happy to get the win for the day and now train hard for NZ. 

This month as a group at NSWIS, we have been speaking about being 75% athlete and 25% person. For example, we can all run a 400m race but the first 300m is our physical fitness, that last 100m is the person who finds that confidence, persistence and positive self talk to push themselves to the end. This has definitely got myself thinking about my mental skills and I am happy to be in such a supportive environment at NSWIS, with my coach, my parents and my training partners. 

I watched a video this month by Jan Frodeno. He gave me a good insight into what I see triathlon as. Triathlon gives us an identity- something that we love doing day in day out. It gives us an honest measure in life that we go against ourselves and others with the day being either being brutally honest or brutally wonderful. It gives us great feelings of the strengths and weakness of ourselves but overall we do this sport because we enjoy it. I am happy to say my training is going well and I hope that the next few races I can develop and learn as an athlete moving up into under 23 for 2012. 

Winning Challenge Wanaka in 2011 meant the world to me, so to come back and defend the title, against the strongest pro mens field ever assembled for the race was a huge occasion. The Challenge series directors were even calling it one of the best ever pro mens field assembled for any of their events world wide with multiple Ironman champions from New Zealand with Kieran Doe (Ironman Canada champion) and Bryan Rhodes (4 x Ironman champion); from Australia with Courtney Ogden (2 x Ironman Champion) and Aaron Farlow (Ironman UK champion in 2011 setting the course record); and then the Europeans Jimmy Johnson (DEN), Marc Pschebizin (GER), and Petr Vabrousek (CZE) all with a handful of Ironman and Challenge series victories.

Pre race media conference - from left, Aaron Farlow, Courtney Ogden, Jamie Whyte, Bryan Rhodes, Kieran Doe.

Last year we woke up to strong winds, and this year wasn’t any different to start with. The north-wester was already cranking at the crack of dawn and the lake filled with white caps ready the for the 6:30am start.

The pre race talk came from Doe and Rhodes. They are both exceptionally good swimmers in the world of Ironman racing and made a pre race call to pair up and help each other through the 180km bike leg. And that is how it played out through the swim and the early stages of the bike. I exited the 3.8km swim in 4th place with Ogden, 3:40 down on the front pair and 50 seconds down on Farlow and had put some good time into the other contenders. The swim felt great in Blueseventy’s new Helix for 2012. We will see big things from this product in 2012.

Exiting Lake Wanaka in the Blueseventy's new 2012 Helix

On to the bike and I was feeling great from the get go. I immediately dropped Odgen, who is a renowned runner, so it was good to get rid of him early. I settled into good rythym on the Cervelo P4 and was pushing some solid numbers on my SRM power meter. It was also my first time racing on F6R and F9R Fast Forward race wheel combo. It was the perfect wheel set for the conditions. So the chase began.

The early stages of the bike via Glendu Bay

Early time checks to the front showed I was holding a 3:30 gap. However the big move was coming from Farlow, who after 50km had rode himself up to the front. I was pretty happy with how I was feeling at this stage. I was riding the best I ever have in an Ironman and was banking on Farlow’s big effort to jump across so quickly, to hurt him later in the race. The front group of three soon become 2 when Rhodes punctured. From 60km all the way to 120km on the bike the time gaps hovered between 3:30 to 4 minutes. Then we hit the big head winds along the Tarras flats. 3:20, 3:10, 2:55, 2:30. After battling away for 140km I was finally starting to make some dents in the lead. Then I got the call that Farlow had dropped Doe. I continue to catch Doe, but Farlow found another gear for the final 30km to Wanaka and re-extended his lead to 3:30 by transition.

The Cerveloo P4 and Fast Forward wheels made a perfect combination for slicing through the Central Otago winds making it back to T2 with the 2nd fastest bike split of the day.

I was pretty happy to be back in Wanaka. The Central Otago winds and the heavy chip seal make for a pretty hostile environment for riding a bike. It takes it out of you and wears you down. It makes you hungry but you are too nauseous to eat anything. The small hills and undulations become a blessing, giving you a chance to temporarily change your position and get out of the saddle for a bit. What a way to start a marathon!

Hitting the run I always had in the back of my mind the big effort Farlow made early. It has to hurt him in the last 10km. I knew that Doe had fell off the pace towards the end of the bike and would be hurting. I past him about 6km into the run. He would hold on for a comfortable 3rd place. I controlled my pace well the first lap on the run. Through the half way point I had run a 90 minute split which was good considering the off road nature of the run course. But I had dropped another 2:30 to Farlow, now 6 minutes down. I tried to extract more pace from myself on the second lap but struggled to find another gear running into the big head wind. I was still hopeful of making inroads on the last 10km and to make a move if he was to fade.

The Challenge Wanaka run course, 80% off road and stunning views. Has to be one of the best in the world!

But fade he did not. With 10km to go his lead was seven minutes. My solo ride was catching up with me too and chase mode slowly changed to survival mode. It was a tough pill to sallow but that was becoming the reality of the situation. I was not going to defend my title.

When you have been through everything you have for the past eight hours, realise you can’t get to the front, you have got 2nd place stitched up and the thought of Ironman New Zealand in six weeks time, the body and mind are looking for a break. I was hurting big time and considering the situation decided to ease up and just try enjoy the experience for the last 5km into town. I made an effort to thank every volunteer and as many supporters as possible on my way to the finish chute. The volunteers make the event possible and the spectators make it exciting. Without them it would just suck, so they deserve all the thanks I can give them.

The finish chute experience was equally as good as last year. I never thought finishing 2nd could feel as good as this, but it was a mixture of emotions. I was very proud of the way I raced and the crowd was treating me like a champion, but at the same time I had fallen short on my goal to go back to back.

The Challenge Wanaka finish chute...well worth the experience!

I had had a perfect build up, was in the best shape of my life, raced as good as I could of, or maybe a slightly faster swim could have paired me up with Aaron for the start of the bike? Either way I was cleanly beaten by the better athlete on Saturday. He laid it on in all three disciplines and I could not come up with any answers for the way he raced. He is a top athlete, the current Ironman UK champion and course record holder, so there is no overwhelming disappointment in falling short to a guy like this. But if I am to win here again I will need to continue working on my arsenal as an Ironman athlete. The race really reinforced some important fundamentals about the sport and I learnt plenty from finishing 2nd. Things are continuing to head in the right direction, so I will just keep working hard and will be back for the top spot again in 2013.

I was very fortunate to have Fiona greet me at the finish. She has been a key part of the training machine for the past month down in Queenstown. She is incredibly understanding of my commitment to the sport and makes it possible for me to continue training and racing. She too had a successful day finishing 2nd in her age group for the half ironman event held in the morning. Well done Fee!!

Also a big thanks to:

• Coach Gordon Walker for doing an amazing job in getting me in the best possible shape. Enjoying every minute of training under this guy. Big year for him with coaching the NZ kayaking team to London Olympics. All the best matey they are in great hands with you!
• My parents for providing a fantastic training base at their home in Queesntown.
• To dad and the team who kept me informed all day of the time checks to the front.
• Matt King, my secret training weapon down in Queenstown. Congrats on the 2nd place overall in the Half Ironman.
• Neki Patel at One on One Physiotherapy, and Rebecca Whyte and Rosanna at Peak Performance Massage in Queenstown for keeping my body in tune while down south.
• And all my sponsors who have been incredibly generous with their product support leading into the event – Cervelo New Zealand, Fast Forward wheels, Blueseventy, Hammer Nutrition, Nike, Oakley, Biosport, Vittoria tires, ISM saddles.

…And if all that wasn’t enough, immediately after finishing and a couple of post race interviews it was straight back for a shower and getting suited up for groomsman duties a great mates wedding in Arrowtown. I went through survey school at Otago University, flatted with him and then worked at the same firm in Auckland as Josh Munro for several years.  I was very fortunate that despite me doing an Ironman and missing the wedding service, that we still wanted me to attend the reception as a groomsman. An incredibly top mate, now a very happy husband to the beautiful Anna Munro and father of young Nico. Was great to be a part of your day guys. Look forward to hauling up a few Blue Cod with you this week.

Within one hour of crossing the finish-line, three interviews completed, showered, suited up and ready for the drive to Arrowtown for the wedding!!

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement leading into the race and all the kind comments post race.

For the moment a big week of recovery is planned, maybe with a spot of fishing as mentioned above. Chat soon.

With an overall increase of 15 per cent, prize money from the eight series events and the year-end bonus pool will total $2.06-million (all funds USD).

"Across the board we are seeing tremendous growth in our premier series - from spectators to participants to sponsors to broadcast partners and now with prize money for our elite athletes," said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member.  "On the back this growth, 2012 is poised to be the greatest and most exciting triathlon season to date."

The Grand Final in Auckland will feature a $270,000 prize purse while the prize money for every other series event will be $170,000. Also, each race and the Grand Final will also now award prize money down to the 20th place, whereas in 2011 only athletes who finished in the top-15 claimed prize money.

Athletes will vie for an additional $600,000 in the year-end bonus pool which pays the top 30 ranked women and men - up from top-20 - at season's end. This figure is up from $500,000 in the 2011 season. Overall, it means that there is an increase of $260,000 to the overall pool, up from $1.8-million to $2.06-million.  Finishing the year atop the series rankings will not only earn an athlete the coveted title of "ITU World Champion" but also net $60,000 of the bonus pool.

The 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series kicks off on 14-15 April in Sydney, Australia.  With eight events in eight different countries, the 2012 ITU World Champions will be crowned at the Grand Final in Auckland, New Zealand on 20-22 October.

The ITU World Triathlon Series was launched in 2009, expanding the former single-day World Championship race.  Points are accrued throughout the season and athletes who win the overall series are crowned the ITU World Champions.

Click here for more on the ITU World Triathlon Series

Monthly Report-December

Falls Creek never lets me down in the unexpected adventures and experiences of training and everyday life. I was hoping my legs would survive and get me through what ended up being a 135km week of running. I was pleased and satisfied with sessions I got through and was happy that the other girls were there to help me through them. We were luckily enough to get a run in with Steve Moneghetti, a famous Australian long distance runner who definitely showed us who was boss when he dropped us running up a hill.  Bobby McGee also made a visit to us, going through the essential drills for triathlon and one on one session with him. I got some great feedback from him, allowing me to implement it into my daily training environment. The girls and I have been in the kitchen cooking together every night and successfully made 14 dinners together without killing each other. 

Coming back home for my birthday and Christmas for a little downtime was short lived with a 5km TT on the track and a 16km max aerobic run. I wasn’t expecting too much from track and did not feel that great on the day but was happy with the overall result after such big weeks before hand. The 16km run I felt much better and more comfortable trying to think about what Bobby had been telling me about running more on my toes and letting my shoulders drop. I want to thank Shane Barrie for helping my get through the last couple of kms when I swear my legs were yelling at me to stop running.

A new experience to end the year was riding on the velodrome in Wollongong on track bikes- bikes that have no brakes and pretty much scary in general. By the end of our 3 sessions, I enjoyed it thoroughly, learning new skills and important concepts that are necessary for that kind of training. It is actually an intense workout, with Jamie constantly reminding us of the intense natural of French Grand Prix. I even decided that I was talented enough on the rollers to try and get on the backwards- not my smartest moment. I always received my new bike this month, thank you to Spearmans Cycles and Giant Bikes for the 2012 TCR. It has been riding beautifully on the long rides that we have been doing over the time we have been home.

Triathlon NSW has been apart of my development in the triathlon world and we were luckily enough to be involved in a few sessions with them. Riding and swimming with them was a great experience as I saw their strengths and weakness. I loved the swimming set on Monday as it was the first time in ages I have been pushed in a race pace swim set. I even got one of the boys to say I was swimming too fast…looks like I beat him to the first buoy in a race. 

It is now a new year. A time for new experiences, new expectations, new dreams and new resolutions, mostly to stay upright on my bike but to also see what I can achieve this year. I am currently back up in Falls Creek now till the 24th of January before heading back down for Australia Day Aquathon at Wollongong Harbour.

Following the elite men's race, Wiltshire's unsafe and unsportsmanlike conduct during 2011 Pontevedra European Championships was investigated.  The ITU Executive Board-with the exception of members from the British and Spanish federations-voted to impose a six-month suspension against Wiltshire based on violations to the ITU Competition Rules (2.1 a.) (i), 3.3 a.) (i), Appendix L 6. and Appendix L 7). 

Wiltshire filed an appeal against ITU in CAS on 10 August 2011 to challenge the decision of the Executive Board.  The CAS panel reviewed video evidence and heard testimonies from Wiltshire as well as from on-course technical officials and the race referee.  The panel concluded that Wiltshire did in fact violate ITU Competition Rules with reference to "repeated unsportsmanlike conduct" and that the Executive Board had the right to sanction Wiltshire with a suspension.

Furthermore, the panel decided the 6-month suspension was not evidently and grossly disproportionate as Wiltshire had contended.  As a result, Wiltshire's appeal was dismissed and CAS required the appellant to pay ITU the amount of 2,500 Swiss Francs as compensation for this legal process.

ITU is strongly committed to maintaining the integrity of the sport by ensuring athletes are competing within the competition rules and with a high degree of sportsmanship.