MAXIMISING OLYMPIC DISTANCE TRIATHLON PERFORMANCE ...

Maximising Olympic Distance Performance – The Athlete’sPerspectiveChris HillElite Triathlete, Gold Coast AustraliaPreparation is not just the physical training in the months leading up to theevent. There are psychological, emotional, dietry, health and circumstantialcomponents that are critical to performance. A balance must be keptbetween these. An obvious but important factor is the sporting career of theathlete. Most elite athletes have dedicated themselves to sport from a veryyoung age. With this span of time comes wins and lossess and constantcompetitive experience. Understanding how an elite triathlete maximisesOlyimpic Distance Triathlon Performance is as complicated as it ispersonal. This paper will discuss these themes in the context of my careeras an elite triahtlete since 1991.____________________1. BackgroundMy triathlon career began in October1991, shortly after my sixteenth birthday.I competed in a Brisbane Milo eventover a distance of 300/12/3. I finishedeighth after coming out of the watersecond. I had been swim training sinceI was four so this was no real surprise tome. I had spent what seemed likeforever in transition; my bike was toobig and the distance of the run was tooshort. I knew my best run distanceswere 6km and above. This becameclear following my years in primaryschool as I had been beaten overdistances up to 4km. There was greatroom for improvement but I was hookedand I knew I would be more suited asthe distances became longer. I laterrepresented Queensland in the NationalSchools Cross Country Championshipsover 8km and was placed in a 5kmState Schools Athletics Championshipbut although I had achieved asatisfactory level in running racesneeded to be much longer whichOlympic Distance Triathlon offered.In the eight years since, I havecompeted in 51 Olympic DistanceTriathlons - four of which I did not finishdue to injury, sickness, or mechanicalfailure. I competed in:• 4 triathlons when I was 18 years ofage• 7 when I was 19 years of age• 4 when I was 20 years of age• 12 when I was 21 years of age• 15 when I was 22 years of age• 7 when I was 23 years of age, and• 2 so far at 24 years of ageMy introduction to olympic distancetriathlon was slow. I had competed infive olympic distance triathlons prior toracing in my first Olympic DistanceJunior World Championships andthirteen when I won the 1995 WorldJunior Championships.My early sporting career started withswimming. Apart from the long andregular eleven weekly sessions, Ilearned the finer points in stroke32