Kitzbühel, Austria (18 June 2011) - Wet, windy and cold weather did nothing to dampen Alistair Brownlee's stellar Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series form, as the 23-year old decimated the field for the second time in two weeks to win Kitzbühel and take the lead in the overall 2011 standings.

Brownlee was the fastest man in the swim, equal fastest in the bike and then blitzed the field in the run for his second consecutive Dextro Energy Triathlon Series win - after taking out Madrid just two weeks ago - and move ahead of Javier Gomez and younger brother Jonathan in the overall rankings.

Afterwards, Brownlee said the conditions hadn't worried him - except when he went to slow down.

"It wasn't all difficult to be honest, I don't think the conditions had that much of effect on me until the last couple of laps of the run," he said. "I knew I had a decent lead and I knew I was racing next weekend (at the 2011 European Championships) so I kind of didn't push on too much and I think that kind of hurt, and I think maybe I should have pushed on, I might have stayed a bit warmer."

He also responded to comments that he was changing the sport, saying it was the best feedback he could receive. 

"It's fantastic, it's the ultimate compliment" he said. "I looked at the sport and I thought I want to be a kind of athlete who can win in any condition on any day, on any course, independent of how the race goes, and I think that's what I'm trying to do at the moment. I raced hard out of the swim today, I managed to get away at the end of the bike, and then had a good run today too, so it's great winning in every situation."

In tough conditions - with a starting air temperature of 17.2 degrees - Brownlee was first out of the water and then stayed at the front of a huge 50-man peloton for five laps before making a break with Stuart Hayes (GBR) and Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) with two laps to go. Those three then hit T2 with a gap of 30 seconds on the rest, just as the rain was really starting to pour. From there Brownlee was simply too good and too fast for the rest of the field, dropping Colucci and Hayes in the first lap. It's the second time Brownlee has won Kitzbühel, he won in 2009 before finishing 40th in 2010.

While the gold medal was decided early on, there was a thrilling battle for the other podium places as Alexander Brukhankov (RUS), Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS), Sven Riederer (SUI), Will Clarke (GBR) and Laurent Vidal (FRA) ran through and passed Hayes and Colucci in the first few kilometres. Around the 5km mark, Brukhankov made a break and stayed clear to claim silver. Sven Riederer (SUI) then made his break on the bell lap, holding on to claim his second bronze medal for the 2011 season - after also finishing third in Sydney.

Riederer said that wasn't a coincidence, as it also poured in Sydney, and he's a fan of cold weather.

"It was a perfect day for me, it's weather for me, I like it really much to have the weather like it was today and it's fantastic to have the second podium for this season," he said.

Clarke finished fourth, Kahlefeldt fifth and Vidal sixth. Russians Vladimir Turbaevskiy and Dmitry Polyansky, Frenchman Vincent Luis and New Zealand's Bevan Docherty rounded out the top-10.

In other notable results, Chris McCormack's return to ITU racing 14-years after he claimed an ITU World Championship, stumbled out of the gates when he pulled out four laps into the bike. McCormack was one of the last out of the water and was about four minutes down on the lead pack when he pulled out. Macca wasn't alone though as the conditions claimed plenty, with Simon Whitfield (CAN), Steffen Justus (GER) and Courtney Atkinson (CAN) also failing to finish.

Brownlee is now leading the 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series rankings after three rounds, with 1690 points. Brukhankov moves into second with 1663 points. Javier Gomez(ESP) and Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), who both didn't race in Kitzbühel, are in third and fourth respectively, with Sven Riderer moving up to fifth.

A few days ago I had my first race of the US season, Kansas 70.3. I have managed to get some good training under my belt over the past few weeks in Boulder, so was looking forward to seeing where I was at against the competition over this side of the globe…and what better way to gauge a measure of my progress than race against the world’s best in Chrissie Wellington! Chrissie is the type of athlete that comes around once in a life time…if lucky. I look up to her as both a person and an athlete, so it was awesome to be toeing the start line with her.


Race start was an early 6.30am, which was good so as to beat the heat. The 1.9km swim was a one lapper in the Clinton Park Lake. It took me a while to get going in the swim, but after about a kilometre I started to find my rhythm. I exited the water in 5th place, made up a place in T1, and headed out onto the bike course in 4th. 


The 90km 1 lap bike course took us out through the hilly back roads of Lawrence, Kansas. The roads were smooth and the winds favourable for the first half of the bike. I was feeling strong and managed to reel in one of the lead girls at about kilometre 40. With about 15 kilometres to go I was passed by another girl, where I then held my position and headed out onto the run in 4th.


The 2 lap 21.1km run course wound through the Clinton Park campgrounds and dropped down to the lake car park, where we then had to climb up and out of. The first lap felt fairly average, and I knew that if I were to hold my position then I would have to get moving. Luckily I started to feel a lot stronger in the final 10km and ended up running a PB 21.1km time of 1.27. I crossed the finishing line in 4th place Pro female, about 2min down on 3rd and some 18min down from Chrissie (if you want to be the best, you have to race the best!)


I was aiming for a top 6 finish so was pleased to come away with 4th and gain some more World Champs qualifying points and a tonne of experience that I will take with me into my next race at Buffalo Springs, TX in 2 weeks’ time.


Thanks to Cheryl for providing us with such a great homestay, it definitely helps me to stay relaxed prior to a race knowing that I’ve got a comfy bed to sleep in! Also a huge thanks to Sam for making the trek to Kansas with me and taking awesome photos and keeping Mum and Dad updated back home.

My result today gives me the confidence I need going into a season of tough racing over here in the US and it is a stepping stone to bigger and better things to come in the future. Happy days :)

 
So I just finished the Eagleman 70.3 in Cambridge, Maryland this past weekend and by “just” I mean “just”… I almost couldn’t make it to the finish line.
 
I came into the race as the defending champion from the past 2 years and after a second place last weekend I thought I was in good shape to defend my title.  
 
After the Rev 3 triathlon last weekend we spent a few days with the Clif Bar team getting some footage for a video piece. We met up with friend and Ironman world champion Chris “Macca” McCormack in New York City, which coincided with his book launch “I’m here to win” and the announcement of the New York City Ironman triathlon in 2012.
 
The temperatures over on the East coast have been super hot and Eagleman is renowned for its Kona like temperatures so this was going to be a good test to see where things were at. We managed to have a few relaxing days to speed up the recovery before we hit it hard again.
 
The race kicked off and I felt good in the swim. Although I wasn’t able to hold the feet of John Kenny the arms felt strong and I led the chase pack. There were a small group of us that came out of the water together and onto the 56mile bike. TJ Tollakson who would later go on to win the race took off at the early stages of the bike and showed his strength. 
 
I felt strong on the bike, the legs were turning over well but the heat was starting to get to me. By the last 10miles on the bike I knew I was in a little trouble.  The watts had started to drop and the body was tightening up. 
 
Fellow Kiwi and training partner James Bowstead after a tough swim managed to bridge back up at the end of the bike and led the group in transition. We were still 4 minutes down on TJ. Off onto the run I tried to keep up with Bowstead and Big Matty Reed, but the legs just didn’t want to turn over. By the 3 mile mark there was nothing, the heat was too much and my body didn’t want to move forward. I couldn’t get enough ice and cold water and the finish couldn’t come quick enough.
 
I am so glad that I stuck it out and made it to the finish, I experienced the most amazing thing ever. Due to the nature of the course we ran 6.5miles out and 6.5miles back along the same route. In doing so I ran past a large number of age-groupers on their way out and the amount of athletes who made the effort to cheer me on and give me encouragement was overwhelming.
 
I ended up finishing in 9th place. Thanks to everyone for the support out there and to the volunteers for doing an amazing job in keeping everyone hydrated.
 
Congratulations to TJ for taking out to win, Richie Cunningham in second, Stanislav Krylov, Matty Reed and James Bowstead for finishing off the top 5 and Mirinda Carfrae, Tyler Stewart and Sam Warriner for the top three girls.

Check out our race video at www.terenzo.com

And some pictures from our trip at www.facebook.com/terenzobozzone 
 

Regards
Terenzo

After arriving in Frankfurt airport and hurtling down the autobahn at 200km/hr, fellow Aussie Ben Lyons, and I settled into our new home in Crailsheim, just north of Stuttgart. After a warm welcome from The Magic Man: Steffen Mayer, Team Captain Luke Dragstra and a short tour of the triathlon warehouse where we would be living for the next 3 months, it was straight to business, i set off with my new team mates from Magic sportfood Team TSV Crailsheim on a short ride, and before i knew it, the first race was upon us.

After several pre-race mechanical and organisational problems, a very flustered Magic Team got to the start line at Forst with 5mins to spare, and no time for a warm-up.  In this team style race the rules are little different to back in Oz, you have to leave each transition with all 5 team mates. And the final time is taken as the fourth member crosses the finish line.  Teams we’re set off 20 seconds apart, and as defending champions we were the first team off.  We had a solid swim, but four of us left T1 with a little more enthusiasm than our fifth team mate.  After jumping on the bikes and realizing we were a man down, we chucked a ‘U’-ee and rode back to find him being held by an official. We lost 90seconds and watched three of the top contending teams ride straight passed.  Once we got going, we really flew: averaging 45km/h on the bike and posting a very solid run split.  We finished with the 5^th fastest time…not what we hoped for, which left us to rue a needless 90 second penalty.

Our next Liga race was set in the picturesque German town of Rheinfelden, tucked away in the southwest corner of the country, a stone’s throw away from Switzerland.  Literally…the town was on the Rhein, a river that separated the two countries.  We took advantage of this novelty which we don’t get in Australia, and on the morning of a race went for a 15 minute jog, crossing an international border, twice!  This week I had the honour of racing in the same team as Sydney Olympic Silver medallist StephanVuckovich!  Instead of a mass start, this time, athletes were sent off at 7 second intervals to make it a ‘true’ time trial.  A 1500m swim in the fast-flowing Rhein, followed by a 22km bike (which included a real kneecap-popping hill) and a very scenic 5km dash; all done without having much idea how you were doing compared to everyone else.  I finished with the 2^nd fastest time of the day.  Drags and Vuko also posted top 10 times which was enough to give Magic the win!’

With 4 weeks before our next Liga race, Ben and I made the decision to go and ‘see Europe’.  After countless hours searching for races in nearby countries where we might be able to win a bit of cash; we jumped on the train down to Kirchbichl, Austria…not far from the site of WCS race in Kitzbuhel.  This was an Olympic Distance race with some very long challenge climbs in the bike and run, in the non-drafting format.  The two Aussies were treated like kings by the race organisers who provided us with a hotel, and took us on a personal tour of the bike course in their car!  Unfortunately, race day wasn’t all smiles: Ben hit the ground hard on a fast downhill hairpin, and I was ran down by 3 very strong runners after riding 40km off the front in no-man’s land.  On the plus side I won the U23 division and walked away with 300 euro prize money!

For now it’s back to the track for some hard work before our next Liga race where we will line up next to some big names such as South African gun Richard Murray, and German uber-biker Sebastian Kienle for a draft legal race over the sprint distance.

Auf Wiedersehen,

James 

The inaugural Challenge Cairns iron distance triathlon race took place today in sunny North Queensland. There was a quality men's field lining up with current World Ironman Champion, Chris McCormack and a host of other top athletes from around the world.

It was perfect calm conditions for the start of the race, and with no sign of any crocs or stingers, we chopped out the swim with Graham O'Grady leading out with Clayton Fettel and the World Champ close on their heels.

I exited the water with Matty White and Tim Berkel and was joined by two others, David Dellow and Britain's Jonathan Hotchkiss, to form a chase group of five. It would stay that way for the entire bike leg with the gap between the two groups holding around 5 minutes.

The mercury was climbing into the high twenties by the time we ditched our bikes for running shoes. The run started extremely fast but I knew that there was still a long way to go and that the hot weather would likely take its toll. So I controlled my pace early in the run and in doing so, slipped back to 8th but slowly started to pick them off in the second half of the run. I moved into 4th with 5ks to go and   dug deep to see it through to the finish.

McCormack showed why he is a 2 x World Champion by clearing out to take a comfortable win. Matty White and Tim Berkel ran strongly from the chase pack to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.

The Challenge Family have once again run a superb Iron distance event. Amazing effort by the team to get this stunning race up and running. I would highly recommend it!

It's been a fantastic four weeks of training in beautiful Cairns hosted by local triathlon identity Greg Wilson. Massive thanks to coach Gordy Walker for laying out a great training regime to prepare me well for the race which has been rewarded by a solid result in my 3rd iron distance race. Finally thanks to my crew, Mum, Dad and Fiona, for their amazing support today - I couldn't have done it without you!

Best regards,
Jamie Whyte

Canadian 

Findlay has now won four of her last five Dextro Energy Triathlon Series races, including London and Kitzbühel last year and the 2011 season opener in Sydney. That ties her with reigning ITU World Champion Emma Moffatt for most total series race wins, impressive given that Findlay is yet to complete a full season after only starting halfway through last year.

Today in Madrid, Findlay was in the lead pack from the start, quickly established a break with a group of three in the run and then turned on the burners in the final 200m to hold off Great Britain's Helen Jenkins and France's Emmie Charayron - who overtook Andrea Hewitt in the final lap to take her place on the podium.

Despite her record, Findlay still said she came away surprised - particularly when she heard the news she'd tied Moffatt's record.

"No idea, oh man, I don't even know, I didn't know that. It's so cool. I just respect the Emmas (Moffatt and Snowsill) so much, I'm so shy around them, I just respect them so much and just every single person I race against, I'm so star struck at the pre-race meeting every time so it's really really so cool to be running with them so being on top of the podium is really really cool," Findlay said.

"I can't even describe it, it doesn't feel it like it at all, I still feel like an underdog everytime I come into these races and I am still starstruck by seeing the Emmas and everyone, so it's just amazing to be winning them. I'm very happy."

The swim in Madrid startedin the same way as the season opener in Sydney, with Laura Bennett setting the pace, the only difference was that Findlay - along with Hewitt - was right on her tail. There were two packs at the start of the bike, but they quickly became one and it was that lead group of 16 that set up the race from there. That group included Findlay, Hewitt, Jenkins, Barbara Riveros Diaz and Lisa Norden, and they established a consistent 30-second lead across the tough bike leg on the first chase group, which was led by Daniela Ryf, Annabel Luxford and Moffatt, and took that into T2.

But coming in the run, it was clear that Findlay meant business and immediately surged to the front - first with Hewitt by her side. Jenkins and Barbara Riveros Diaz quickly bridged that first gap and the four ran together for the next few kilometres until Riveros Diaz was dropped. It was then Findlay, Jenkins and Hewitt for the majority of the 10km, Hewitt was dropped on the final lap and quickly caught by Charayron - who had completed an amazing run through the field to make it onto the podium. With about 400 metres to go, Findlay started to stride away and collected her second consecutive win in 2011.

It was the second consecutive Madrid podium for both Charayron and Jenkins, in 2010 Jenkins finished third and Charayron second behind Switzerland's Nicola Spirig.

Jenkins was happy with her silver, particulary after cuts from a bike crash in the opening round in Sydney became infected and put her out of training for two weeks in the lead up, saying she just couldn't catch Findlay.

"I managed to catch back up to Andrea and Paula and I was really suffering then, I was kind of hanging on and my legs weren't feeling great and I knew that Paula was going to push on stage so I just wanted to hang with her, but I just couldn't keep up she was just too good over that last 400 metres," she said.

Charayron was happy with her efforts, that saw her move through the field with ease and posted a run split of 34 minutes, 38 seconds.

'I'm very pleased because I had an injury during the winter and the first series in Sydney was very hard, so I'm pleased to have another medal like last year," she said.

In other notable results, New Zealand had two athletes in the top six, with Hewitt and McIlroy, and two Americans in the top 10 with Sarah Groff and Bennett finishing seventh and eighth. Reigning Olympic champion Emma Snowsill couldn't get much closer to the leaders than her first round race in Sydney. Snowsill lost time in the swim again, and finished 21st. Reigning ITU World Champion Moffatt finished 13th.

In the overall Dextro Energy Triathlon Series rankings, Findlay has extended her lead, Riveros Diaz stays in second place and Hewitt third. Bennett is in fourth and Jenkins moves up into fifth place. 

Madrid Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series - June 5, 2011       Final Results - Elite Women - Official                                                                             1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run                                                                                 Gold - Paula Findlay (CAN) - 2:03:46                                                                                 Silver - Helen Jenkins (GBR) - 2:03:49                                                                              Bronze - Emmie Charayron (FRA) - 2:03:58                                                                           4th - Andrea Hewitt (NZL) - 2:04:00                                                                                     5th - Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) - 2:04:43                                                                             6th - Kate McIlroy (NZL) - 2:04:57                                                                                        7th - Sarah Groff (USA) - 2:05:28                                                                                         8th - Laura Bennett (USA) - 2:05:33                                                                                     9th - Svenja Bazlen (GER) - 2:05:35                                                                                    10th - Rachel Klamer (NED) - 2:05:58

Monthly Report-May

Nothing is more exciting than a little rest to end the domestic season. After arriving back from the Philippines, I had the opportunity to reflect on my season, do relaxed sessions and go collect some “stamps” for the first couple of weeks of May.

After coming back from the break, training was all about strength and fundamentals. With the fundamentals of efficiency, speed and the required outcomes will come with minimal effect on the body. In the pool we have been working on interaction with the water, meaning a 2 beat kick and a strong pull. Something new this month, that only looks normal at URAC is swimming with our joggers on. When I was a swimmer we wore drag shorts and it was all coming back to my the feeling that you are drowning alittle. I am enjoying this thoroughly as it is something different in the training environment and helps with our pull, paddles and band sets. I can see my huge biceps already!!

With our bike and run we have also been doing endurance sets. When we found out that we had to ride for 4 hours-120km it was kind of abit scary considering that I thought this time last year about 20km was a lot. Going out with the girls on a Sunday, riding through the scenic national park up and down the hills or sometimes what our legs think are mountains is a great way to end the week. We have been working on three essential running drills that will help improve our running technique. I am also working carefully on integrating my stretches and stability work after my runs to help my flexibility and stability mostly around my hips.

Middle of this month, we got the all clear to book our flights for our overseas trip leaving on the 20^th June. I am excited and nervous as there are many races that we are competing in and travelling all over the place but I feel confident as my first international race in the Philippines was a surprise success. I tell everybody where we are going, it almost sounds like a bit of a contiki tour, yeh I would be jealous too :P

Late this month we completed our usual NSWIS testing. My results were fairly similar to my previous tests so I was happy considering after coming straight off a break. Our first start list came out for our race in Dusseldolf. It has all hit home that we are travelling to the other side of the world but its okay, I feel like I fit in, my last name suits it perfectly!! To end the month, in the latest Triathlon and Multisport Magazine, I am featured in the Young Guns section of the magazine. I have attached this and I hope you enjoy reading it!

Vancouver, Canada (31 May 2011) - The International Triathlon Union (ITU) today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Star Production SARL to officially recognise the distances of the TriStar series events into the ITU rules.  The TriStar races are made up of a 1km swim, 100km bike, 10km run and also a 2km swim, 200km bike, 20km run.                      

Star Production will organize TriStar races under the ITU Competition Rules while working with ITU's affiliated National Federations.  The distances will be officially recognized in ITU rules at the ITU Congress in Beijing this September.   Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member, said:

"Recognising TriStar's distances under ITU rules is another exciting step for triathlon's future.  Triathlon is a dynamic and exciting sport that, at its heart, is about performing across three disciplines - swim, bike and run, regardless of the distance. It's very promising for the entire sport of triathlon to have organisations come together and working toward a common goal of developing the sport worldwide."           

Georg Hochegger, CEO of Star Production SARL, said:
 "We are sure that Triathlon can become one of the most popular sport in the near future due to its natural specificities including swim, bike and run which are the 3 sports that everyone can do and learn to practice from the earliest childhood on. Nowadays endurance sport receives more attraction then ever and this also means we need to work on ideas to grow our sport and build the enthusiasm. I am very happy to see that Marisol Casado shares the same vision then us here at Star Production. Accepting our new distances within the Triathlon family just shows that we are on the good way to develop the sport together, whatever the topic."

Click here for more on the TriStar series 

Guy Crawford made everyone sit up and take notice at Busselton 70.3 a few weeks ago. With a smoking fast swim and bike split, he hit the final run leg with a lead of three and a half minutes and toughed it out to the finish line in 6th place in a stacked filed.

Below Guy has a chat to Triathlon Tribe about his race at Busso, his favourite swim sets and how things have changed since he made the move to full-time pro athlete......


Triathlon Tribe: First of all, congrats on your fantastic result at Busselton 70.3 last weekend! You led the race out of the swim, off the bike and into the run before hanging on to finish 6th. A great solo effort off the front! Tell us about the race from your perspective. Were you happy with your performance?

Guy Crawford: Happy, Yes . I felt good in the water and knowing Bryan was on my feet, i thought we could get away together on the bike,  if a few of us could get away on the bike , it could have been a race changer. However after a quick T1 and going totally anaerobic it was apparent Bryan was still suffering from doing a 70.3 six days earlier.  So basically I though bugger it, put my head down and went hard.... Yep those tactic's probably bit me in the ass later on.. But I knew I had at least a minute on the other guys out of the water and knew I was in good riding shape...so it was head down and time to chew my stem for 90k...Off the bike I had 3:30.. I knew I needed 5mins and a 1:18 half .. in any case I ran the best I could on the day and 1:23 was all the body could do on the day.

Triathlon Tribe: As a relatively new (just heading into your second year full-time) professional triathlete, what is your background? Tell us a bit about yourself!

 Guy Crawford: Well I have been involved in the triathlon world for about 13 years..In my youth I was a runner , which surprises me now , as today a pensioner ran past me on her Zimmer frame.. I started swimming at  17 a relatively late age for swimmers.. however from 17-20 I swum A LOT and barely rode or ran. I then worked as a bicycle courier for 5 years. whilst throwing in a bit of university. Soon after that I got a job with blue seventy where I was there sponsorship manager. This involved travelling the globe working with athletes and event organisers promoting the brand. An awesome job with a great company!



Triathlon Tribe: What has been the biggest difference in the transition from working and training to training full-time? Have there been any unexpected challenges?

Guy Crawford: two big things... 1) you can train more when you don't have a job and that's great..... 2.) you get paid less. when you don't have a fixed income.... and that's not so great.

 Triathlon Tribe: You have based yourself in Perth, WA over the previous summer. How have you enjoyed this and what have your highlights been? Any races, training opportunities or destinations you would particularly like to rave about?

Guy Crawford: I love WA, it's a great place and if your a bit worried about riding on the road WA has the best footpath riding in the world... hundreds of kilometres of safe riding... Only person you need to worry about is yourself....

I have enjoyed the races here, in particular Kalgoorlie where Kate and I went for an Olympic distance race and while it was a 7 hour drive into no-where the people made it worth our while.. They were great and it really made the race for us. When it comes to training.. Anywhere in the Busselton area is great. We venture down there when we can for some big miles. Busselton is the home of WA's 70.3 , so if your down that way make sure you make the 30min trip to Margaret river. Great wineries, food and people.. you won't regret it.

Triathlon Tribe: As I mentioned previously, you are a bit of a fish and had the fastest swim of the day at Busselton 70.3 a few weeks ago. What are your favourite key sessions that you do in the pool? What are your top tips for people who want to improve their own swimming?

Guy Crawford: I like to mix my swimming week up. I swim 5 times on average.
one session is an ocean swim or wetsuit swim if you can't get to the ocean one longer swim , like this morning was 8x 800's broken..
  .     
The sessions that gets me race ready are short rest high intensity sessions. Of which I    do about two per week. These are only 3-3.5 k...Leading into Busselton I did this set each week and I think it made a difference

300 warm up
10x 100 on 1:25
10x 100 on 1:20
3 x100 on 1:25
3x100 on 1:20
4x100 on 1:15
200 warm down

My advice to people looking to improve there swimming. Would be firstly make sure you've got people to swim with and a coach to seek advice from . no one wants to be staring at a black line for hours on end and be getting nothing from it . Once you've got that sorted getting a balance in your swimming week is important.. Smashing yourself every-day isn't the answer.. Get a good balance keep consistent and soon enough you'll be swimming dolphins off your feet...that's my two cents anyway.

Triathlon Tribe: As the Australian summer triathlon season wraps up, it is time to head overseas. You had entered Ironman China, which unfortunately was cancelled at the last minute, which would have obviously been a huge disappointment! What is the plan now? What other races do you plan on racing this year?

Guy Crawford: yep China was a pain alright. I had planned to race 70.3 Boise on the 11th of June , So there is a race just round the corner. After that . things are up in the air. I will be racing more 70.3 races and they will mostly be US based. My goal is to race 70.3 worlds on September 11th . So I'll be aiming to peak around then.

Triathlon Tribe: Your girlfriend, Kate Bevilaqua, is also a professional triathlete. It is helpful to have your partner also competing at a high level the sport? Do you train together?

Guy Crawford: Having Kate in the same sport is amazing. We train together almost every day. Some times she has longer sessions and sometimes I have quicker sessions. Kate and I love the fact we get to train travel and race together , We know we're extremely lucky in that regard. We spend 6 months over seas each year so if I or Kate had a 9-5 it'd be VERY hard. Best  we retire at the same time.

Triathlon Tribe: As a Sponsorship Manager for Blue Seventy, any tips to aspiring athletes on how to approach and work with sponsors?

Guy Crawford: What can you do for them? Ask yourself that question before you get in touch with potential sponsors. If you can answer it... Your chances will increase ten fold..

Triathlon Tribe: Speaking of sponsors, who are yours? Any products or brands you would like to recommend?
Guy Crawford:
K-Swiss.. best clothes and shoes in the sport.
Blue Seventy..... The wetsuit is amazing. flexibility and buoyancy are second to none.
nuun hydration
Ceepo bikes .had my first race on it at Busselton.. best bike I've ever had!
Xu1 sports Rolf Prima wheels

If you want to catch up on some more of my antic's/ photo's and mayhem please drop into my website www.guycrawford.us<http://www.guycrawford.us> and have a look around.

Thanks Guy! Good luck for the coming season and we look forward to seeing you race on Australian shores again later in the year.