What a day for the ladies at Ironman Geelong 70.3!

20 athletes on course2 x race wins1 x podium5 x World Champs QualifiersFemales stand tall

Kelly Miller continues her performance growth taking out her first 70.3 and Australian AG Title. Penny Tomkinson picks up 2nd in her AG with a World Champs Qualification. Narissah Shaw, Amanda Thompson and Melissa Wilson all stamp tickets for the World Champs. The depth of our female program, including medical and allied support, peer support and coach knowledge is market leading.

You can’t hide from the results we turn out each year.

Phil Hanley also smashed his AG with a solid win. Mark Deagan tested his legs on the bike, securing the fastest male 40-44 years ride of the day in addition to some new learnings. The first timers, Michael Korunoski and Shaun Bannister had great days out with solid races.

Matthew Sullivan, M25-29, 4:25:30, World Champs Qualifier

Mark Deagan, M40-44, 4:27:52

Carl Fannon, M45-49, 4:32

Kelly Miller, F40-44, 4:48:04, 1st

Mark Quin, M30-34, 4:56:10, PB

Steph Demestichas, FPro, 5:01

Phil Hanley, M65-69 years, 5:07:13, 1st

Nate Walsh, M30-34 years, 5:07: 17

Mark Costello, M60-64 years, 5:08:31

Narissah Shaw, F25-29, 5:08:24, PB, World Champs Qualifier

Melissa Wilson, F40-44 years, 5:14:22, World Champs Qualifier

Amanda Thompson, F40-44 years, 5:16:26, PB, World Champs Qualifier

Paul Vallay, M40-44 years, 5:17:44

Michael Korunoski, M25-29 years, 5:39:07, 1st timer

Shaun Bannister, M55-59, 5:41:29, First timer

Gary Nicholls, M65-69, 5:42:29

David Britt, M60-64 years, 5:51:12

Penny Tomkinson, F60-64 years, 5:57:52, 2nd, World Champs Qualifier

Anthony Egan, DNF

David Deakin, DNF

Congratulations all on an amazing day of racing

People taking part in prolonged endurance exercise, such as triathlon training, don’t need supplements to maintain normal levels of nutrition (ie. sodium in the blood) and prevent the life-threatening sodium deficiency condition known as hyponatraemia. That’s the reassuring conclusion of a study of 413 triathletes who completed the 2001 Cape Town Ironman triathlon in South Africa.

This study set out to test the prevailing wisdom that athletes need to ingest 20-40mmol per litre of sodium during exercise to preserve their normal blood sodium concentration and prevent hyponatraemia, particularly during ultradistance events, when total losses of sodium in sweat might be as high as 400-650mmol.

A total of 145 triathletes were randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group for the event, which comprised a 3.8k swim, 180k cycle ride and 42.2k run. Subjects in each group were given 40 tablets to take ad lib during the race, with a suggested range of one to four per hour. The tablets given to those in the experimental group contained 620mg of table salt while those given to the controls were filled with starch (placebo). Food and fluid intake – water or sports drink – were also allowed on an ad lib basis.

After the race, the researchers compared the blood sodium levels and various other parameters of these two groups and of the remaining 299 triathletes who had taken neither supplements nor placebo during the race.

Subjects in the sodium group consumed a mean of 14.7 tablets during the race, giving them an additional 156mmol of sodium. The placebo group took 15.8 of their dummy tablets.

Nevertheless, there were no significant differences between the three groups in the following measures:

finishing time;sodium concentration before and after the race;weight before and after the race;temperature and blood pressure after the race;perceived effort, muscle soreness and mental wellbeing.

Only one athlete – in the placebo group – developed dangerous hyponatremia during the race. He was the only athlete to show a substantial weight gain during the race and his problem was put down to drinking too much water.

‘We can reasonably conclude,’ say the researchers, ‘…that additional [sodium] supplementation is unnecessary during prolonged endurance exercise to maintain the serum [sodium] within the normal range.’ According to the scientists, this may be because athletes may sweat less or lose less sodium in their sweat than is currently believed, or that during states of acute sodium loss, additional sodium may be released from body stores to compensate for these losses until sodium supplies can be replenished at the next meal.

Br J Sports Med 2006;40:255-259

This article was taken from the Peak Performance newsletter, the number one source of sports science, training and research.

Take a moment and look in the mirror. When was the last time you can say with honest certainty you have shown the magic in training?

What’s the magic you ask? Well it’s no voodoo cultural thing that you need a blood sacrifice for that’s for sure.

The magic, in my world, refers to those moments of greatness in training and racing that science, logic and evidence-based thought can’t explain.

I want and I expect magic from my athletes regularly. I facilitate this in my daily training environment, and I expect athletes to be emotionally mature enough to understand and embrace this type of thinking.

Moments of greatness

Are you great and can you be great? Yes! Greatness is subjective and is in the eye of the beholder. Why not remove your boundaries and rethink your approach to training and racing? Make greatness a part of your training experience. If you challenge yourself and let go of the learned behavioural parameters you have created to support mediocrity, you may find greatness happens.

Science

While science is critical to understand, and every athlete should have a basic understanding. Science, in my opinion is often over emphasised by scientists and the person (athlete) is misunderstood. With a basic understanding of the science of training and physiology, any athlete(s) will have marginal success. The truth is, an athlete who is daring enough to ignore parameters placed upon them by science and conservative coaching philosophy will ultimately be more successful in most cases.

Evidence based thought

It’s easy for us to want evidence-based thought to dominate our training environment. The challenge therefore lies in an athlete’s ability to remove poor training episodes from memory, which somewhat control behaviour, and create an environment that strives for “magic” at every opportunity.

I truly hope this article is thought provoking and you take some time to work through your association to training and racing.

If you need any additional help with this type of thinking, please contact ETPA via email on mat@etpa.com.au

Written by Mat Tippett, Head Coach ETPA

An athletes daily training environment can be one of the most critical components of a comprehensive and successful training program.

Triathlon coaching has seen a trend in the development of correspondence programming/coaching in recent years. This trend has led to the establishment of individual keyboard coaches who operate without any real governance or base of operation. Their only real checks and balances come from customer/athlete satisfaction and therefore, you could argue results.

But does correspondence programming really work, and is it comparable to a daily training environment that provides a framework that supports athlete success?

Coaches who deliver such correspondence programs will argue they do work, and they may have some valid points if considering the demographics of the triathlon industry competitors and the percentage of longer distance events such as Ironman.

However, talk with most true high-performance athletes and they will likely agree, when they have been in a highly focused squad environment that supports them at an appropriate level, they were at their best.

So, what is the answer?

Let’s start by segmenting the sport into its specific demographic segments and look at the distances they are racing and the level of performance.

To start, we will look at the Junior Athlete:

It’s fair to say that most junior triathletes start with a dream of racing in the Olympics. As they progress in the sport, some start to identify they may not have the raw speed across all three disciplines to compete at an Olympic or even Draft Legal level. While this is not a failure, it does require a change in focus in the daily training environment and the overall nature of programming. So, we then further segment junior athletes into Draft Legal and Non Drafting streams of participation.

Draft Legal:

These athletes are victims of the race. That is, they must be conditioned both physically and mentally to be racing in a high-performance group environment. Each discipline is measured and delivered in a way that enables everyone to operate at his or her best across every facet of the sport. This is a highly regulated environment. Daily training needs to be morphed/altered from what’s planned and expected into what’s appropriate for the athlete and energy in the environment at the time. The word environment is used to explain what’s happening around the athlete / internally with the athlete at any given training session. Understanding, planning for, and reacting in real time to the “environment” of the session is crucial for any successful training session to be delivered at an optimal level for the athlete.

Specific factors that contribute to a successful daily training environment;

Standards of executionConstancy in motivationSupport across all levels of performance, including failure, within a given sessionDelivery with the group animal in mindWillingness to understand and therefore strive for greatnessFinishing a “training session cycle” with an appropriate debriefPrepare in advance for each “training session cycle” to ensure athletes are aware of the importance of each session as in relationship to the end game.

Non-Drafting:

Non drafting is a similar environmental field. Adolescent athletes still need to be dealt with at the same level, with the same care. However, subtle changes in delivery, execution and feedback are critical. So, what does this look like?

You can run an 800 but you don’t need to chase the leader. Athletes need to be more measured at the top end of their range and have better control More direction provided to each athlete about his/her understanding of the feelings/science of movement, particularly under loadDevelopment of internal source of feedback for each athlete while trainingAthletes feed off the group’s success and energy, but the responsibility for performance and success is athlete centric

The Group Animal:

What are we?

If the correct group environment is created and you have “buy-in” from all parties including athletes, parents and coaches, magic will happen. Why will magic happen? Largely we are group animals. Group dynamics are a crucial thing to understand and manipulate in order to best develop a young athlete. Let me give you an example. If the group expects extraordinary things from itself each day, is it feasible to assume the individuals in the group will execute extraordinary things because the group expects it? Obviously, the answer is yes!

The challenge is then how do you create an environment that supports such a high level of performance?

Start with rituals that support fun, allow for exploration of excellence, provide feedback that helps an athlete understand when they have achieved excellence. Then provide a cycle that supports this process and makes it repeatable. Seems easy hey, well it is. Try it for yourself and amazing things may happen in your group.

The training session cycle:

Seems like a useless phrase hey. Why can’t we just say, “training session”? let us explain.

The term training session cycle implies each training session goes from start to finish in a cycle that must have specific characteristics met.

We use a methodology developed by David Kolb. The Kolb Cycle is an experiential learning cycle that has widespread implication for individual learning and development. Consider now a training session as a cycle. This cycle allows for further growth, understanding and experimentation from each athlete.

Below is a pictorial explanation, with supporting statements of the Kolb Cycle.

If you focus your resources on intertwining the above principles into your training, programming or coaching structure you will see a definitive change in the training environment and racing outcomes. Even if your coaching/training knowledge is limited, the adoption of these principles and the performance benefits they will create far outweigh the potential performance losses associated with lack of knowledge.

When considering our initial question about correspondents’ programs and their effectiveness it is clear they have a place. That place however should be secondary to a well thought out and emotionally sophisticated daily training environment. An athlete should look for a mixture of group training and written programming. The written programming must allow for intuitive decisions from the coach to get the best out of people. Without this, don’t hand over your cash as the program is floored and the athletic outcomes will be significantly reduced.

We hope you have enjoyed the read and it inspires you to delivery/participate in training at a higher standard.

We will talk about adults and Ironman racing in a future article. For now, stay healthy, have fun and train hard when you need to.

Acknowledgements

Mat Tippett, Director of coaching, ETPA, Master practitioner, NLP.

David Kolb, the “Kolb Cycle” modified.

Simply psychology, https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html, accessed 27/11/19, 2pm.

ETPA is excited to announce that they have partnered with Orca and the Williamstown Swimming & Life Saving Club to provide a wetsuit testing day for all triathletes.

Putting your wetsuit on correctly can mean the difference between a fast or slow swim. The wetsuit should feel like a second skin and allow for optimal stroke efficiency. Unrestricted reach at the top of your stroke and pressure under your arms at the bottom of your stroke are KPI's of every wetsuit fitting. Your suit should feel balanced on your body and seams should be measured against key landmarks on your anatomy. Each time you put your suit on it should fit the same as the time before.

Mat's three tips to putting your suit on correctly for optimal performance

Make sure the suit is pulled up as high as possible and you have full range of motion in your stroke.Use gloves, and socks or a bag.Grab the suit with your paws, not your fingertips, and pull up in bunches of material.

Mat's three tips to getting your suit off quickly

Put lubricant on the outside of your suit on your legs at arms. Try a non-petroleum based lubricant such as body glide.Undo the zip as you are running out of the water (if in a triathlon) so when entering the T1 area your suit is already partially off.When the suit is caught up on your feet, put your thumbs under the suit and lever over your foot.

For the full video click the link below:

This is a fantastic opportunity to check out and try on the latest range from Orca. ETPA & Orca staff will be on site to help provide guidance and assistance for athletes of any age or ability.

Details:

Orca Test Day

Date: Saturday the 30th of November

Time: 9-11am

Location: Williamstown Swimming & Life Saving Club

Be Sure to Click ‘Attending’ to keep up to date with any new information:

For any further information contact Mat Tippett on 0414 303 464

So many PB’s, podiums and race wins we can’t keep count!

Firstly, our three Hawaii hard chargers all made it home in the big dance. Kelly Miller was the standout with a 6th place in her AG, cementing herself as a genuine contender for a world title. Mal Joseland also ticked another big box by hitting his target time and going under 10 hours. Carolyn Tonelli had some foot issues that slowed her progress, but in true form just kept on motoring along.

In the Triathlon Victoria State Duathlon Championships, Matt Power dominated his AG with a blistering 16min first 5km. Matt took line honours in the 40-44 years age group and we couldn’t be happier with his progress leading into the WA Ironman.

At Yarrawonga Multisport Festival, ETPA dominated the day with 22 athletes racing. We also collected 14 podiums, 1 overall race win, 5 AG wins and a handful of PB’s for good measure.

Standouts for the day must be Ben Briggs with a massive PB, Mark Deagan with a 3rd and an 8 minute PB, David Britt with a 2nd and a PB. In the female race Steph Demestichas also smashed her PB picking up 3rd overall and Amanda Wilson won the female race overall after a broken preparation.

In the SSV races Ella Walsgott also had a ripping day out with a win and so did Oliver Anthony.

We also welcomed Maria Hodges back to racing after a forced rest period. Maria collected 3rd in her AG at Shanghai 70.3

Congratulations all on a massive period of racing. We really don’t have words to explain how proud we are of you all and your ongoing achievements.

YMMF

Standard Distance

Ben Briggs, 2:06:43, 4th, PB

Matthew Sullivan, 2:07:16, 5th

Cam Atchinson, 2:09:06, 5th, PB

Mark Deagan, 2:10:15, 3rd in AG, PB

Amanda Wilson, 2:13:45, 1st in G, 1st overall

Stephanie Demestichas, 2:15:16, 1st in AG, 3rd overall, PB

Dale Phelan, 2:26:51

Rowena Harris, 2:38:51, 3rd in AG

Mark Costello, 2:27:11, 1st in AG

Jordan Chapman, 2:33:14

David Britt, 2:43:23, 3rd in AG, PB

SSV Junior

Male

Oliver Anthony, 28:32, 1st in AG

Oliver Moxon 30:12, 3rd in AG

SSV Intermediate

Male

Ty Davis, 1:08:13, 3rd in AG

Taylor Moxon, 1:19:02, 5th in AG

Female

Amelie Gilchrist, 1:12: 59, 2nd in AG

SSV Senior

Male

Declan Dooley, 1:05:04, 3rd in AG

Jack Mitchell, 1:09:40

Bevan Holder, 1:10:44

Female

Ella Walsgott, 1:11:42, 1st in AG

Kate Sarris, 1:12:51, 2nd in AG

Aimee Jungfer, 1:15:24, 3rd in AG

Shanghai 70.3

Maria Hodges, 3rd F30-34 years, 5:05

Tri Vic Duathlon R4 – State Championships

Dash

Oliver Anthony, 2nd in AG, 34:51

Sprint

Matt Power, 1:00:34, 1st in AG

Matt Sullivan, 1:02:54

Jack Mitchell, 1:05:06

Jordan Chapman, 1:09:43

Mark Costello, 1:11:28, 2nd in AG

Melbourne Marathon

21.1km event

Mark Deagan, 1:21 PB

Marathon

Gary Nicholls, 3:45

Hawaii Ironman World Champs

Kelly Miller, 10:28, 6th in female 40-44 years, 5th female Australian overall

Mal Joseland, 9:58:42

Carolyn Tonelli, 13:40

Simon Knowles, Director of Jara Sport, offers unique insight and wisdom gleaned from 10 years of professional racing including x3 World championship Professional teams, National Sprint and Olympic distance champion and winner of events such as Noosa Triathlon.

With over 15 years of coaching, Simon's extensive history includes coaching T.D.V.P camps and developing some of Victoria best Junior athletes to full scholarship V.I.S and I.T.U world cup competition. Simons rich history of coaching junior athletes in Victoria is unique and should be regarded as industry leading.

Neil Brewster from Shaka racing has been the cornerstone of ITU Junior Development for over 15 years in Victoria.

From the early days when he was the board member of Triathlon Victoria responsible for architecting the Triathlon Victoria Development Program. Neil is still actively involved in the TVDP.

In recent times Neil has successfully developed his own Squad for performance juniors, Shaka racing.

Neil has been a Triathlon Australia coach for over 13 years and a Performance coach for 10 of those years, his experience is invaluable from Ironman to ITU racing.

Mat Tippett is the head coach of ETPA, and current coach of the Australian Junior Triathlon Champion. Mat has worked closely with TVDP and continues to assist the program where possible.

Mat currently oversees the ETPA high performance junior program. This program has produced Multiple Australian champions and National series athletes. The ETPA junior program is regarded as the current market leader in Victorian junior development with over 10 athletes racing at a national level.

Location: MSAC

Meeting Point: On the Pool Deck (Outdoor Pool)

Duration: 9am arrival for a 9:30 start – 2pm finish

Cost: $60 per athlete

Registration: https://www.registernow.com.au/secure/Register.aspx?E=35510

Syllabus: 3 x 90mins sessions delivered by industry leading expert coaches

Swimming mechanics and technical development including video feedback - Simon KnowlesEffective Transitions – set up and procedure – Neil BrewsterFlawless race lead in, the taper period and warm up sequence – Mat Tippett

Coaches: Simon Knowles, Neil Brewster, Mat Tippett

What’s Provided: expert coaching, refreshments and light snacks

Who can attend: any junior Triathletes from the age of 13-19 years of age

What do you need to bring: bike and cycling gear, running and swimming gear

If you have any questions about this event, please call Mat directly on 0414 303 464

We had another ripping weekend of racing to cap off the domestic season. This weekend the girls stood tall with Kelly Miller and Carolyn Tonelli both qualifying for Hawaii. Kelly was the standout with a breakthrough win in her age group and becoming the first female age grouper overall. This is an unbelievable result for Kelly and her coach Darren. Kelly is a mum, full timer worker and is isolated in training due to geographic reasons.

Carolyn Tonelli also laid out an epic first Ironman, coming 5th in her age group and collecting her ticket to Hawaii. Carolyn and Mat spent a lot of time planning and her lead-in to this race was on point.

The other first timers also stood tall with Joe Michael and Marc Primrose both having great races.

Steve Stroud, Mark Deagan and Gary Nicholls also did themselves proud. Gary just ticked off his 16th Ironman Australia, which is a massive achievement. Congratulations Gary!

In the 70.3 we had Miah Franzmann win her age group. Amanda Thompson achieved a life goal of collecting a world championship qualification and we couldn’t be happier for them both.

We also had a few 70.3 first timers, congrats Mark Quin and Paul Vallay, awesome first up efforts.

David Deakin and Sarah Holmes both had problems with the lingering effects of viruses. Dave stayed on task for the whole race and ended up staying strong until the end and so did Sarah, both will live to fight another day.

We also had SSA National Championships on over the weekend:

Nick Frisby was the best placed ETPA athlete with a 10th in his category. Not far behind Nick was the little pocket rocket Ty Davis, coming in 11th.

Taylor Moxon made a technical error in his race and was unfortunately disqualified. Amelie Gilchrist really stepped up a gear in her race coming in 13th, which is a reflection on her rising talent.

Ella Walsgott paid the price of a virus the week leading in and was slowed significantly in her run. Ella will reload now and we will see a better version of her next time she races.

ETPA placed five juniors in the Victorian Squad for this season and we couldn’t be prouder of how they are conducting themselves.

Congratulations all on capping off another fantastic season of racing

Ironman Australia

Kelly Miller, 10:11, 1st female age grouper overall, 1st in AG, PB and Hawaii qualification

Carolyn Tonelli, 11:16, 5th in AG, 1st timer, Hawaii qualification

Mark Deagan, 10:16 PB

Gary Nicholls, 12:32, 6th in AG

Marc Primrose, 11:20, 1st timer

Joe Michael, 11:28, 1st timer

Steve Stroud, 11:58

Ironman 70.3

David Deakin, 5:18

Miah Franzmann, 5:21, 1st in AG

Amanda Thompson, 5:29, World Championship qualification

Sarah Holmes, 5:49

Paul Vallay, 5:47, 1st timer

Mark Quin, 5:38, 1st timer

School Sports Australia National Championships

Intermediate Male

Nick Frisby, 10th

Intermediate Female

Kate Sarris, 22nd

Ella Walsgott, 23rd

Junior Male

Ty Davis, 11th

Taylor Moxon - Disqualified

Junior Female

Amelie Gilchrist, 13th

Elite Triathlon Performance Australia would like to introduce Cam Atchinson and Dave Edwards to our coaching team.

Cam Atchinson is our new 12-15 year old Junior Development Coach. He comes from a running background, participating in track and field and cross country events.

For triathlon Cam’s favourite discipline is the bike leg however the run is his strongest. Cam’s triathlon performances include several AG wins and podiums as well as a 3rd place at the Victorian Half Distance Championships at Challenge Melbourne in 2018!

Not to be looked over, we would like to welcome back Dave Edwards to the ETPA Coaching team. Dave will now be overseeing the swim development of our juniors. Look for Dave at the morning swim squad sessions at Victoria University. Dave has been an elite swimmer and bike rider in the past and brings a wealth of knowledge back into our program. His particular interest lies in swimming diagnostics and then stroke development. He is a great communicator and an equally good teacher.

We can’t wait to get these two guns up to speed over the winter months and let them start helping our athletes smash their goals.

Results from an epic summer of racing at the 2XU series and race 6 results! Look out for a female domination of the weekends racing. All our girls fired across multiple events and distances.

Special mention goes to Maria Hodges on finishing 3rd female overall at Tagman Triathlon and Jess Baker on taking out the 2XU Triathlon series in her category!

We also had two first timers on course in race 6 with Paul Vallay and Mark Quin kicking things up a notch in their 70.3 preps!

The culture of winning is firmly planted in the psychology of our program and we are seeing the benefits on race day each weekend now.

Results from the weekend – 2XU series and Race 6 and Tagman Triathlon Saipian

Tagman Triathlon Saipian

Maria Hodges, 3rd female overall

2XU Series results

Male Junior Elite – Declan Dooley 2nd in the series

Female Junior Elite – Kodey Hodgson 4th in the series

Male Open – Carl Fannon – 5th in the series

Female Open – Amanda Wilson – 4th in the series

Male 15-19 years – Jordan chapman – 5th in the series

Male 20-24 years – Mathew Sullivan – 4th in the series

Female 55-59 years – Penny Tomkinson – 2nd in he series

Female Athena – Jess Baker – 1st in the series

Male Youth – Jack Mitchell – 5th in the series

Male Youth – Nick Frisby – 6th in the series

Female Youth – Ella Walsgott – 2nd in the series

Female Youth – Kate Sarris – 3rd in the series

Female Youth – Ash Tonelli – 4th in the series

Active Feet Series Results

Ruth Kimpton – 40-49 years – 2nd in series

Jaci Testro – 50+ years - 1st in series

SSV

Female 13 years – Amelie Gilchrist – 3rd in series

Male 13 years – Ty Davis – 4th in series

Male 13 years – Taylor Moxon – 5th in series

2XU Round 6 Result

Male Junior Elite - Decal Dooley – 2nd

Male Junior Elite – Ben McShanag – 7th

Female Youth - Ella Walsgott, 2nd (PB)

Female Youth - Ash Tonelli – 3rd (PB)

Female Youth – Kate Sarris – 4th

Male Youth – Bevan Holder – 6th

Male Youth – Jack Mitchell – 7th

Male 15-19 years – Nick Frisby -1st

Female 20-24 years - Lisa Aunkofer – 9th (PB)

Female 40-49 years – Ruth Kimpton – 1st

Female 50+ years – Jaci Testro – 2nd

Male 30-34 years – Mark Quin - First Timer

Male 40-44 years – Paul Vallay - First Timer

Female 35-39 years - Amber Robins - First Timer

2XU – OD

Female Elite - Karolina Czajkowski – 2:22

Female Elite – Kodey Hodgson – 2:28

Female Open – Amanda Wilson – 2:14 – 1st

Female Open – Stephanie Demestichas – 2:22 – 2nd

Male 15-19 years – Jordan Chapman – 3:13 – 2nd (PB)

Male 25-29 years – Ben Briggs – 2:11

Male 35-39 years – Joe Michael – 2:24 (PB)

Male 40-44 years – Carl Fannon – 2:05 – 2nd

Male 55-60 years - David Britt - 3:01

Female 35-39 years – Mel Wilson – 2:31 – 5th (PB)

Female 55-59 years – Penny Tomkinson – 2:51 – 2nd (PB)

Female Athena – Jess Baker – 3:12 – 2nd

Fun Tri

12-13 years – Amelie Gilchrist– 2nd

12-13 years – Xander Schmitz

Our Junior Triathlon program is segmented into four specific developmental tiers: Tier one – Sessional; Tier two – Development; Tier three – Performance; and Tier four – High performance.

These Tiers cover the whole gamut of adolescent development. Adolescence, broadly speaking, is the years from puberty to adulthood, and may be roughly divided into three stages: early adolescence, generally ages eleven to fourteen; middle adolescence, ages fifteen to seventeen; and late adolescence, ages eighteen to twenty-one. Adolescence may be seen as a transitional stage in physical and psychological development. This is a crucial stage in human life that needs utmost parental care, guidance and empathy. As coaches we see our role in this stage of our athlete’s life as symbiotic with the parents. Not only do we share our sports coaching knowledge with our athletes and parents, but life also.

Our Tiered system in recent years has proved its validity as a successful performance program. We currently produce the highest quantity of Elite Juniors from Victoria into the National Triathlon Series and the State School Series. We have also just won the Junior National Championships 2019, and finished third in the Junior Oceania Championships 2019 with Oscar Dart.

Our program manages approximately 30 high performance Juniors in various phases of development. Of which, over 80% of these are successfully racing at their respective age groups elite level.

But that’s only one side of our growing program. We also introduce children from the ages of 10 into Triathlon in a fun and safe environment. Our Sessional, Tier one, program is a perfect way to introduce children to the sport we love so much.

We utilise sophisticated group management structures that allows our Elite Junior athletes to train with our new younger junior athletes. Our understanding of the “group environment" means children are exposed, through contact, with the best athletes in the state and country. This enables them to learn about training dynamics and behaviour without necessarily being taught by a coach.

If you are wanting your child to develop confidence, fitness, balance and coordination in a fun environment with a Triathlon flavour, ETPA Junior program is for you!

Why not drop down to a training session and have a look at what we do?

Stroke length is a vital component in any efficient freestyle stroke. Not only does a longer stroke add stability and control in the water, it also facilitates more efficient swimming. In the most basic terms, a longer stroke means you swim fewer strokes. When it comes to open water swimming and Ironman swim legs, efficiency is imperative. But please note; I am not talking about gliding, but stroke length, they are very different!

One of the most effective tools for focussing on, maintaining, and improving stroke length is counting your strokes per lap. This allows both swimmer and coach to know whether your stroke is shortening up or becoming less efficient. To illustrate this, we can use a discussion that took place on pool deck earlier this week with an athlete.

One athlete was swimming with around 20 strokes per lap, which was higher than normal. This athlete was finishing their stroke at their hip, and as a result was missing out on the final 25-30% of their stroke each and every stroke.

For this athlete, that was roughly 30cm of water they weren't pushing each arm. If we extrapolate that out, each lap that athlete is missing out on 30cm of water 20 times: or 6m. So per 25m effort, they could be up to 6m more advanced down the pool simply by maintaining their stroke length. I'll let you figure out how much further advanced they would be in an Ironman swim! Stretching out at both ends of the freestyle stroke and aiming to hold long strokes helps reduce your stroke count per lap. To put it another way, if you do fewer strokes, you do less swimming! Everyone enjoys less swimming!

Welcome to the inaugural first Everyday Triathlete blog for ETPA. For many of us on our triathlon journey, ETPA have been a stable platform to become the best we can be, whether it be juniors just starting out or late bloomers coming to the sport to redeem the sins of eating bacon sandwiches for the last 20 years. I was one of those late starters, having been in the sport now for around six years. During my distinctly average career I’ve picked up a little bit of wisdom here and there (correct swim technique not being one of them) and we thought we would share a little bit of the knowledge with team.

This will be a community-based blog, so if you have a topic or something you like to discuss and ask send it my way, otherwise you will have to put up with my rambling nonsense once a month or so.

Our first request comes from the effervescent Doc, who shouted it at me from Mitta Mitta whilst I was sleeping on the couch in Keilor. Thanks for the wake up call.

”Many of our newer athletes are confused by what technology to get, perhaps you can write something about this?”

Well as many of you know, well certainly as my wife knows i'm addicted to technology. If Garmin had an adoption programme I would be first in line, so very much happy to talk about tech Doc.

It's fair to say that when I was new to the sport I over spent on technology and whilst I continue this trend with gusto, i'm learning slowly that there’s a lot you need, but there are certainly there are a lot of things that you can do without. Obviously goggles, runners and a bike is needed but here are a few handy tips that you should consider.

Buy the right sports watch.

A sports watch is a must, it not only allows you to train effectively by measuring your heart rate and your heart rate zones. The first question many people ask is do I buy a Suunto, Polar or Garmin watch. I have to highly recommend Garmin as their support is top notch, their app is slick and it’s the most highly integrated of the three. Suunto’s app sucks and Polar requires proprietary hardware to get working. Garmin have an overwhelming range nowadays so you are probably wondering which one to buy. Well it’s a toughie. If I were to buy a single watch, I would most certainly go for the Fenix 5 or 5S (we don’t need the X) its fully featured and looks good in a non-sports setting. A slightly cheaper option is Garmin 935 however its less durable. Many of us train and race in two and a good option is to pickup a second-hand older Garmin 920XT for example for a couple of hundred bucks.

Use it as a tool for recovery as well as training

Many devices now measure your overall recovery window which is inaccurate and subjective. Many watches now measure Heart Rate Variability (HRV) essentially a measure of your stress. I have found its external stress, workload, travel etc that has a greater impact on training as your coaches should be managing your training load for you. High stress levels indicate lower athletic performance and increase likelihood of burn out. Therefore monitor your HRV with these tools a give feedback to the coaching team.

Get a second Bike computer for the bike

A trick I picked up earlier was to get a second cheaper bike computer which you can mount in transition. It saves you having to uncomfortably look at your watch whilst racing or dealing with one of those suicidal quick release mounts for your watch. Get a cheap one and cover it with your helmet

Consider power

Getting a power meter installed on your bike is another optional but highly recommended purchase, heart rate variance can take as much as 10 seconds to 1 minute to show an effect of any strain on the system (such as climbing in short burst) Power is instant. Having Realtime feedback allows you to not blow candles during short efforts whilst racing and have a steady race. Another benefit to having power on the bike is that you can spend time indoors leveraging all these cool new applications that the kids are playing (Zwift, Sufferfest, maybe even Fortnite) and train with power at home. Something your coaches will love and get you a path to Athlete of the year in no time.

…but don’t over focus on data

Now with all that being said, you have to remember that these are just tools to help you race and train. One thing I have learnt just recently is that you can get caught up in the data. Many of the best racers both in the field and at our club not only don’t train with technology but would struggle to turn the things on. First and foremost, you have to learn to train and race by feel and if your maxed out and feeling good then... just go for it! Use the data along side your coach to focus on the quality of your training and recovery and don’t over focus on it…

Deaks out!

We are thrilled to announce that ETPA Head Coach Mat Tippett has been appointed as a state coach for the Victorian junior triathlon team on behalf of Triathlon Australia and Triathlon Victoria. He will join the team this weekend at the upcoming Triathlon Australia Junior Development Camp at the Australian Institute of Sport.

This selection is a testament to the program established by ETPA and is a big step forward for junior development in Victoria.

The camp brings together the best junior athletes and coaches in Australia and places them in a high performance environment designed specially around Triathlon.

Along with Coach Mat Tippett, our very own junior, Oscar Dart, will be accompanying Mat at the camp. Oscar, along with all our juniors regularly deliver high performances and always strive to better themselves on race day and in training.

Congratulations to Mat and Oscar.

When taken in moderate amounts, caffeine results in improvements in alertness, endurance, speed, time-trial performance, increased time to fatigue, strength, reaction times and co-ordination. Not surprising then that it has been shown to improve performance across a wide range of sporting disciplines. A 2017 study [1] even showed that individuals who consume greater amounts of daily caffeine demonstrated reduced sensitivity to a variety of painful stimuli in a lab setting

Good, yes? Because as you know, life can be painful. Especially if you do triathlon.

But as with anything, dose, protocol and responses are individual and should always be trialled well before race day.

So how much can it help?

A 2002 study [2] demonstrated similar improvements with different caffeine protocols in cyclists performing a 30 min TT at the end of 2.5hours of cycling:

3.1% improvement with 1.5mg/kg (Coke) towards the end3.4% with 6mg/kg 1 hour pre-test3.4% with 6x 1mg/kg throughout the test

So like I said, why wouldn’t you?

Caffeine comes in many forms: coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks, gums, gels, wafers, bars, tablets, with choice coming down to convenience, tolerability and palatability.

Not a coffee drinker myself unless it comes in a tall glass with ice cream and whipped cream, or in a martini glass if I’m a lady about town, my caffeine-for-sport choice is a combination of tablets and energy drinks (if you check my recycling bin you’ll see I do have a particular favourite). But I may need to rethink this…

While caffeine is not a nutrient, and not a necessary part of the diet, recent research has shown so many benefits from drinking coffee that one could argue it needs to be included in dietary recommendations for all adults!

Coffee is a complex mixture of over 1000 bioactive compounds, some with potential therapeutic effects, the degree dependent on the particulars of the bean/roasting/grinding process, and bioavailability, which is dependent on a person’s genetics and gut microbiome.

A 2017 British Medical Journal meta-analysis [3] demonstrated that coffee consumption was associated with a wide range of improved health outcomes across different levels of intake (high v. low, any v. none, x cups v. x+1 cup), though overall, the largest relative risk reduction occurred at 3-4 cups daily, with reducing benefits at intakes above this. Improvements were seen in all-cause mortality (17%), cardiovascular mortality (19%), cardiovascular disease (15%) for 3-4 cups vs. none, and 18% lower , risk of cancer with high vs. low consumption, including prostate cancer, melanoma, leukaemia, liver cancer, endometrial cancer. Other conditions favouring coffee consumption include stroke, Type 2 diabetes, gout, liver disease, gallstones, kidney stones, depression.

So, little did you know that finishing off your ride at the coffee shop was adding years, and quality to your life. Should be part of any good training program.

References:

[1] Overstreet et al (2018) Higher Habitual dietary caffeine consumption is related to lower experimental pain sensitivity in a community-based sample. Psychopharmacology 235(11);3167-3176

[2] Cox et al (2002) Effect of different protocols of caffeine intake on metabolism and endurance performance. J Appl Physiol 93(3);990-9

[3] Poole et al (2017) Coffee Consumption and Health: umbrella review of meta-analyses of multiple health outcomes. BMJ 359; 5024

Acknowledgement: Thanks to Angie, serial lover and instagrammer of barista-made coffee for providing the pic. Check her journey out on @angiedowney_

*Disclaimer: advice and information provided is not prescriptive, and is not recommended for your personal situation. Should you choose to include any of these examples in your training, please consult a professional coach prior.

Albeit WADA and IOC legal, caffeine is a stimulant drug, with addictive potential, resulting in side effects at high doses, and withdrawal symptoms if ceased suddenly. So definitely not recommended for use in minors.

Another epic weekend of racing had by ETPA!

Five AG race wins, ten AG podiums, PBs, World Championship qualifying spots, comeback races and first timers.

The breadth of our program is incredible. The youngest athlete on the race track this week representing ETPA was 10 years old and the oldest was 57 years old.

Kelly Miller dominated with a breakout performance at Ironman 70.3 Western Sydney...Kelly popped herself on the podium and collected a 22min PB along the way. Congratulations on being awesome Kelly!

Joe Michael and Jason Sharp also had massive PBs on the day! Congratulations to both men. Benn Briggs had a solid day with a 4:26 and so did Anthony Egan with 5:00, good racing by all.

In the local events, Oscar Dart took the Elite race on at 2XU and went all in on the bike. Oscar attacked the elite field, along with Levi Maxwell, and entered T2 with a small gap on the chase group. Oscar held the run together and finished less than 5 secs off the podium in 4th.

Our juniors fired with PBs, race wins and podiums! So many achievements that we can't mention them all!

Standout performances from our junior podium getters, Ash and Alex Tonelli, Declan Dooley, Nick Frisby, Jack MItchel, Ella Walsgott, Ty Davis, Kodey Hodgson, Amelie Gilshrist, Ben McShanag and Cam Atchinson.

Congratulations all athletes on an epic weekend of racing.

Ironman 70.3 Western Sydney

Kelly Miller, 4:46, 3rd in AG, 22min PB

Joe Michael, 5:00, 20min PB

Anthony Egan, 5:00

Jason Sharp, 4:59, 10min PB

Ben Briggs 4:26

David Deakin, DNF

2XU Sprint

Elite /Junior/youth - draft legal

Stephanie Demestichas, F Elite, 1:06, 6th

Oscar Dart, M Elite, 51:24, 4th

Kodey Hodgson, F Junior Elite, 1:04, 2nd

Declan Dooly, M Junior Elite, 58:13, 1st

Gaius Robertson Christie, M Junior Elite, 1:03:22

Ella Walsgott, F Youth A, 1:08, 2nd

Ash Tonelli, F Youth A, 1:15

Jack Mitchell, M Youth A, 1:00, 2nd

AG - Non Drafting

Jordan Chapman, M15-19 years, 1:02

Came Atchinson, M20-24 years, 57:27, 3rd

Matt Sullivan, M20-24 years, 57:57, 4th

Bevan Holder, 1:02

Damien Main, M20-24 years, 1:09

Mark Stewart, M30-34 years, 1:10

Penny Tomkinson. M55-59 years, 1:18, 2nd

2XU Active Feet Fun Tri

Ty Davis M12-13 years, 22:13, 3rd

Ben McShanag M16-19 years, 22:20, 1st

Amelie Gilchrist F12-13 year, 23:41, 3rd

Taylor MOxon M12-13 years, 23:42

Joshua Donegan, M12-13 years, 26:11

Xander Schmitz, M12-13 years, 27:39

Jaci Testro, F50+, 30:27, 2nd

TreX Cross Triathlon - Standard

David Gunn, 3:15, 3rd in AG

TreX Cross triathlon - sprint

Nick Frisby, 52:55, 1st overall

TreX Cross triathlon - Junior

Alex Tonelli, 33:43, 1st overall male

Ash Tonelli, 29:55, 1st overall female

Success across Asia and in Melbourne. AG wins, overall wins, PB’s and first timers! What an amazing coaching system that keeps turning out fast racers.

We had another great weekend of racing with Coach Darren leading the way at Ironman Malaysia.

Darren carried a virus into the event but did himself proud with an 11:07. Far from his best, Darren will now reload and pick another race very soon.

Maria Hodges dominated her AG at Xiamen 70.3 with a commanding 10min win! Maria was also 12th female overall on a brutal day of racing! Congrats Maria.

At WSTC ETPA dominated yet again with overall race wins in both the male and female events. Carl Fannon and Kodey Hodgson dominated with solid performances in the sprint.

Declan Dooley rounded out the podium with a 17min 5k run. Ryan King, in only his first Triathlon, finished 5th overall.

Ryan dominated the swim and first half of the bike, watch this space with him!!

In the enticer Bevan Holder smashed the field and took the overall win and so did young Alex Tonelli in the dash! Xander Schmidz also held on for 3rd respectively in the dash with a solid three discipline race.

New comer to ETPA, Amelie Gilchrist, also dominated the female dash with a commanding win.

Our juniors are dominating racing at the moment. They seem to be on the podium at every event they do. Congrats guys!

Congratulations again goes to all the athletes, coaches and support staff for a massive ongoing effort.

Ironman Malaysia

Darren Franken 11:07:38, 6TH

Ironman 70.3 Xiamen

Maria Hodges, 1st 30-24 years, 12th overall female, 4:48:25

WSTC

Sprint

Carl Fannon 56:11, 1st overall

Declan Dooley 1:01:10, 3rd overall

Ryan King 1:01:11

Corey Webster 1:02:12

Jordan Chapman 1:05:12

Kodey Hodgson 1:09:09, 1st female overall

Joe Michael 1:10:19

Ash Tonelli 1:20:10

Enticer

Bevan Holder 44:03, 1st overall

Dash

Alex Tonelli 26:09, 1st overall

Amelie Gilchrist, 1st female, 26:10

Xander Schimdz 29:08, 3rd overall

Josh Donegan 31:12

A comprehensive coaching platform is made up of a number of key variables. Our program consistently produces high performing athletes who continue to improve year after year.

The reasons why our athletes get to the race start line, race well, and repeat this, race after race are because we are compressive enough to provide high level information on ALL facets of the race weekend. It is rare for our program athletes to have problems related to poor planning or execution on race day. If you are having problems with your racing, give us a buzz and find out why we are so successful from a performance viewpoint.

Standouts from the weekend are many but for us the best outcomes are when athletes have an understanding of the amazing things they have done.

Check out Narissah Shaw's effort. Less than six months training and Narissah is already on the podium over the half distance with a 5:18. Narissiah is a prime example of what is possible when the athlete is challenged in training enough and provided the correct theory coming into a major event.

Marc Primrose also had a great day with a PB over the distance and a super quick run for him. Congratulations on a great day Marc!

John Shiels really stepped up a gear on a limited prep and took his first AG victory, big big effort John! John keeps on progressing and in only two years has come from a beginner into a podium getter, now an AG race winner! What a great story of success.

Amanda Wilson also had a solid day with a slick 81min run. Amanda ran down three other pro athletes and put herself into 4th overall. It's a great step back into 70.3 racing for Amanda and we hear she is just about to get herself on a new bike, so look out.

Achievements like this don't happen by chance, they happen because of thorough planning and execution of skills on race day.

Challenge Half

Amanda Wilson, FPro, 4:24:28, 4th overall, PB

John Shiels, M35-39 years, 4:25:57, 1st in AG

Mark Deagan, M35-39 years, 4:50:42

Melissa Wilson, F25-239 years, 5:09:04

Carolyn Tonelli, F-45-49 years, 5:10:33

Marc Primrose, M30-24 years, 5:16:45, PB

Narissah Shaw, F25-29 years, 5:18:36, PB, 3rd

David Britt, M60-64 years, 6:13:48

Ben Thompson, M35-39 years, 6:11:21

Brett Jacobson, DNF

Sprint

Sarah Holmes, F30-34 years, 1:16:18, 2nd

Molly Willmott, F20-24 years, 122:35, 4th

OD Teams

Team DTK, Dave, Don and Rob. 2:14:09, 1st place

What an amazing weekend of racing for ETPA at the Yarrawonga Multisport Festival!

ETPA dominated the day with three overall race wins and 11 podiums. We also picked up the course record for female category in the OD with Amanda Wilson smashing the bike into the group and then running a tempo 10k to take an easy victory. Oscar Dart also took the race up the road in a solo effort from the get go. Oscar rode the quickest bike leg of the day and ran home for a solid victory. Kodey Hodgson also smashed out a solo effort on the day, taking the race up the road and controlling from the front. Massive effort Kodey, well done!

Mel Wilson, Denis Neal and Carl Fannon also had podiums, with Carl winning his AG in the standard with a 2:04 and coming 4th overall.

Stephanie Demestichas also made a return to sprint racing and picked up the win with a dominant swim performance.

Some of the developing Juniors also had great days out. Jordan and Ella picked up victories in their respective categories, Ty, Sienna, Nick, Ash and Declan also stepped onto the podium with hard fought races.

The culture of winning we have created at ETPA is a unique environment and again is proving to stand tall across all forms of racing! Congratulations to all coaches and support staff. This really is an amazing program.

Results:

Standard

1 Amanda WILSON 00:23:34 01:06:42 00:38:52

02:12:28, 1st overall female, new course record.

2 Melissa WILSON 00:28:20 01:18:22 00:45:32 02:36:59, 2nd female 25-39 years

1 Carl FANNON 00:20:27 01:03:13 00:38:26 02:04:43, 4th male overall, 1st 40-44 years

16 Marc PRIMROSE 00:28:30 01:14:37 00:46:40 02:34:22

16 David GUNN 00:30:02 01:16:18 00:47:27 02:37:54

4 Carolyn TONELLI 00:28:15 01:15:35 00:48:11 02:36:55

2 Dennis NEAL 00:23:24 01:05:30 00:42:27 02:14:55, 2nd male 50-54 years

Sprint

1 Stephanie DEMESTICHAS 00:12:39 00:38:44 00:21:34

01:16:05, 3rd female overall, 1st in 20-29 years.

1 Jordan CHAPMAN 00:10:25 00:37:39 00:21:23 01:11:43, 1st male 14-19 years

SSV Junior

2 Ty DAVIS 00:03:55 00:13:38 00:07:40 00:26:38, 2nd SSV Junior

5 Alex TONELLI 00:04:33 00:13:26 00:08:15 00:28:31

3 Sienna WALSGOTT 00:04:30 00:16:31 00:09:47 00:32:43, 3rd SSV Junior

SSV Intermediate

3 Nick FRISBY 00:10:24 00:35:07 00:19:16 01:06:38, 3rd SSV intermediate

10 Jack MITCHELL 00:12:56 00:36:47 00:20:01 01:12:05

12 Bevan HOLDER 00:14:11 00:40:00 00:23:29 01:19:52

1 Ella WALSGOTT 00:12:31 00:43:59 00:21:13 01:20:12, 1st SSV intermediate

3 Ashley TONELLI 00:12:30 00:45:09 01:23:40, 3rd SSV intermediate

SSV Senior

1 Oscar DART 00:09:22 00:31:17 00:17:04 00:59:34, 1st overall, 1st SSV senior

3 Declan DOOLEY 00:10:08 00:33:38 00:19:34 01:05:22, 3rd overall, 3rd SSV senior

6 Corey WEBSTER 00:10:04 00:33:45 00:21:25 01:07:16

1 Kodey HODGSON 00:12:35 00:37:59 00:21:30 01:14:09, 1st female overall, 1st SSV senior

We had a great day down at the Aus Duathlon Championships. The diverse nature of our program was again on show with podiums and PB’s across the field. We welcomed Steph Demestichas back to the podium after an 18-month hiatus from training and racing. Steph is in a building phase and we are expecting big things from her in the back end of the season as her legs adapt to the rigors of long course training again.

Kodey Hodgson, Matthew Sullivan and Amanda Wilson also picked up silvers in their respective age groups. Well done guys, you make us all proud!

The standout performance of the day however goes to Jack Mitchell. Jack really hit his straps and put together a solid run/ride/run combination to come in 7th in the male 15-19 years. This is a great outcome for Jack who suffered a significant injury over the winter months.

Duathlon National Champs – Sprint

7th Jack MITCHELL 00:18:14/ 00:35:18/ 00:11:45

17th Jordan CHAPMAN 00:19:16/ 00:35:41/ 00:14:03

2nd Kodey HOGDSON 00:20:58/ 00:37:11/ 00:12:34

5th Ella WALSGOTT 00:20:08/ 00:42:54/ 00:12:59

2nd Matthew SULLIVAN 00:19:34/ 00:31:48/ 00:12:15

2nd Stephanie DEMESTICHAS 00:20:55/ 00:37:40/ 00:12:30

10th David GUNN 00:21:49/ 00:38:12/ 00:13:57

4th Penelope TOMKINSON 00:24:46/ 00:41:45/ 00:15:17

2nd Amanda WILSON 00:17:57/ 00:33:56/ 00:10:56

Duathlon National Champs – Dash

Ty DAVIS 535 00:34:11

Sienna WALSGOTT 520 00:39:37

Melbourne Marathon

Massive run for our main man, John Shiels! Under the 3 hours mark in a build phase for IM, well done John, keep up the good work pal! Gary Nicholls and Anthony Egan again smashed out solid races. Both men just keep pushing and are a credit to ETPA.

John Shiels 2:59

Gary Nicholls 3:57

Anthony Egan 3:47

Half Marathon

Carl Fannon 84min

Hawaii Ironman World Champs

Simon Magnus Anderson 9:31

Maria Hodges 10:58

Congratulations all!

What an amazing year for ETPA racing. The breadth of our program is now industry leading and it excites me to see where we have come from and where we are going.

The US program goes from strength to strength with the amazing Raeleigh Harris continuing her push deeper into the American market. Rae capitalized on a strong start and has subsequently moved into new coaching space with the assistance of Mitchell Reiss and Mike Davies driving the program forward.

Our Junior program has come on in leaps and bounds. Our feeder systems are continuing to deliver a high quality junior athlete into our full program mix. We are now top end heave with a true high performance junior program. Yippee!

We have also had a solid year with our high performance program. This year we have started blooding some new professional talent with some of our juniors coming of age. Amanda Wilson has come off a year of international travelling and racing where she picked up a 2nd at doubling 70.3. Oscar Dart raced his first internal ITU race and secured a top 5 in the national series.

I changed personal focus this year and started contributing back into the sport at a high performance level with Triathlon Victoria Developmental program. I am now a mentor coach, working with the best of the best junior athlete Victoria has to offer. I am also still contributing to the Triathlon Victoria coach education program. All in all its been a busy year.

Our Melbourne based swim squad has stabilised since last season and we are proud to be pushing along with the same amazing structure. We have three coaches working with over 50 athletes. Marcus Blake our head coach, Dom Scholtes our in water high performance mentor, and David Edwards our dedicated stroke development coach.

Standout results from the 17/18 summer season – including 28 podiums from across the world

International Level Results:

2nd female 40-44 years Geelong 70.32nd female 50-54 years Geelong 70.32nd female 35-39 years Geelong 70.34th male 50-54 years Geelong 70.36th female pro Geelong 70.37th female pro Taupo 70.31st female 50-54 years Asia Pacific 70.3 Championships West Sydney1st male 40-44 years Asia Pacific 70.3 Championships West Sydney3rd male 40-44 years Challenge Shepparton3rd male 35-39 years Challenge Shepparton1st male 60-64 years Challenge Shepparton 3rd female pro 70.3 dublin5th female pro 70.3 Italy

National level Results:

1st junior female draft legal – Active Tri Vic Champs2nd male 25/29 years - Active Tri Vic Champs3rd junior male draft legal – Active Tri Vic Champs2nd overall male – Active Tri Vic Champs1st youth male draft legal – Active Tri Vic Champs2nd male 20-24 years – Gatorade Standard Distance Vic Champs2nd female 50-54 years – Gatorade Standard Distance Vic Champs3rd female Athena – Gatorade Standard Distance Vic Champs3rd male 35-39 years – Gatorade Standard Distance Vic Champs5th Junior male national series

Regional Results:

Yarrawonga OD

Female 50-54 years 2nd

Yarrawonga SSV

Male 1st in 15-19 yearsSSV mini2nd female 12-13 year1st female 12-13 year

2XU Race One

1st junior elite, 3rd overall4th junior elite5th female junior elite

Sprint

2nd male 25-29 years

Sufferfest – Safety Beach

1st male SSV Senior2nd female SSV Senior

Challenge Shepparton Classic Event

1st female overall3rd male overallThree AG winsOne 2nd and one 3rd

Regards,

Mathew Tippett

Managing Director

ETPA

Director

Evolution Cycles

BA (Sport. Admin); MBA

Master Practitioner NLP

Level 2 Triathlon Coach

This weekend sees four ETPA Athletes head to the Gold Coast for the World Championship. The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is in its 10th year of the event and has remained one of the mainstay races of the ITU Triathlon Calendar.

Athlete List:

Kodey Hodgson:

Kodey is a motivated and hard driven young woman with a seemingly unquenchable desire to succeed. After almost 12 months working with Kodey we will now get a good picture of how her body and mind has reacted to the coaching framework ETPA has placed around her. We expect solid things from Kodey this weekend and into the coming season.

David Gunn:

David Gun is a surprise package who always seems to be progressing well. David is a solid bike rider and we hope he can bring his training form into the race this weekend. Good luck David!

Wayne Heathcote:

Wayne had raced at a world championship level across all distances and this weekend sees him race both the sprint and OD. What makes Wayne unique is his “just get on with it attitude”. Wayne will leave it all on the track this weekend, have no doubt of that!

Oscar Dart:

Our 2017/18 Athlete of the year Oscar has shown drive and determination to be one of the best young Athletes in the country. Oscar has continued to improve in aspects of his training. We expect him to be a real threat on race day.

We wish all four athletes the best of luck in their respective races. Each has worked hard to get to this point and their inclusion is well deserved. Thanks to our sponsors, Bounce Health Group, Elite Swimming and Evolution Cycles for their ongoing support

Race Hard!

Results from a massive weekend of racing both locally and internationally!

70.3 World Champs, South Africa

Kelly Miller (5:08 PB) - 21st in age group

Miah Franzmann (5:34) - 21st in age group

WSTC Duathlon

Sprint

Declan Dooley (1:06)

Angus Dart (1:13)

Corey Webster (1:06)

Nick Frisby (1:03)

Kodey Hodgson (1:12) - 3rd in age group

Penny Tomkinson (1:21) - 1st in age group

Carl Fannon (1:02) - 1st in age group

Dash

Ty Davis (38:04)

Alex Tonelli (42:12)

Xander Schmitz 43:38)

Ash Tonelli (42:26)

XCR Round 9

Jordan Chapman (18:36)

Congrats to all of our athletes! We have been extremely impressed with the results we're seeing.

When I recently attended La Trobe University’s ‘Running Symposium’ for health professionals, I’ll admit my motivation for leaving my long weekend getaway early to attend on a cold, wet, windy Friday night was more than professional…

Richard Willy, a physical therapist and researcher from University of Montana, presented some interesting findings in his presentation titled “The Master Runner: Maintaining Durability”.

From a biomechanical, performance, and injury prevention perspective, I have always partaken in the commonly held belief that “it’s all about the glutes”, but Richard begs to differ- suggesting that “it’s all about the plantarflexors”. Put simply, these are the calf muscles, which are attached to the Achilles tendon.

Most of the propulsive force in running comes from the calf muscles, and unfortunately, these are the leg muscles to take the biggest hit in age-related reduction in size. With reduction in calf muscle size, the Achilles tendon stretches – becoming less stiff, resulting in around 30% reduced ankle power and propulsive force compared to younger runners, reduced step length, and increased risk of Achilles tendinopathy and calf strains. Also, old Achilles tendons take up to 36 hours to recover stiffness after a run session.

So: age-related reduction in leg stiffness = slower running + more chance of injury.

But, chronic endurance training i.e. long runs, are not enough to counteract age-related reduction in muscle mass and reduced leg stiffness. So what is an aging runner to do?

Evidence-based recommendations were as follows:

Regular heavy leg weight sessions (multiple studies consistently showed that heavy weights resulting in contractions of >70% maximal force were necessary to increase lower leg/Achilles tendon stiffness, while light weights, or only running resulted in no change)

Together with:

Regular treadmill runningRegular bouts of interval running/track workRegular hill repeats

Of course, all of these, including strength training need to be periodised, but need to continue all year round to maintain the benefit.

Speaking from personal experience, I’ll give some examples of how these look for me. The weight session I’m currently doing twice a week is:

2 sets x15 deadlifts, 40kg2 sets x15 squats, 40kg2 sets x10 lunges, 30kg2 sets single leg heel raises, holding 12kg kettlebell2 sets x15 chest press, 10kg dumbells2 sets x15 arm raises, or reverse flys, 6kg dumbells

As for the running, examples of such sets in my program include:

30 minutes easy or tempo treadmill running, sometimes with builds, with instruction to concentrate on form, usually leaning forward from ankles and hips (with no other distractions, the treadmill is perfect for working on form);Track sets include anywhere from 200m to 1k efforts with floats in between, usually followed by a tempo run. Total distance covered can be anywhere from 8 to 20+km, depending on phase of training;Hill repeats can either be long hill repeats, or shorter efforts. One that stands out in my memory is:

10mins warm up run then: 10 x 30sec hill repeats at 90%/walk down and go float

Note: run these like they are run throughs

2 x (3 x 3min climbs at 80% work on drive back please/jog down + 1min float) + 3mins rest

10mins jog down

This was Christmas Eve 2017, I read it as 2x3x3 = 18 x 3 min hill repeats, and once you add in the jog downs, plus floats, it became a 2 ½ hr + session. And it was hot. But it wasn’t until the following week where a similar set was written as 2x (4 x 3min), with all else the same, that I thought this is going to take me AGES…then I twigged. Was meant to have been 6 last week, 8 this week!!!

…Misread sets. Another topic of discussion.

You’re probably doing most of these as part of your training program, but speak to your coach or health professional if you need help with targeting your plantarflexors!

Disclaimer: advice and information provided is not prescriptive, and is not recommended for your personal situation. Should you choose to include any of these examples in your training, please consult a professional coach prior.

What a great weekend of racing we had and we have another great weekend of racing coming up! Sunshine Coast weather gods threw up a challenging day for athletes racing the 70.3. But that didn’t stop the ETPA hard chargers. Massive shout out to our two first timers over the distance, Gab Saunders and Mel Wilson, you guys smashed it! Also, Simon Anderson from VU Swim Squad absolutely demolished the course with a blistering 4:09! WOW.

Sunshine Coast 70.3 results David Deakin, M40-44 years, 4:51 Anthony Egan, M55-59 years, DFN (mechanical) Melissa Wilson, F35-39 years, 5:06 (first timer) Gab Saunders , F35-39 years, 6:04 (first timer) Dale Phelan, M25-29 years, 4:49 (VU) Ben Briggs, M25-29 years, 5:00 (VU) Tyrone Gannon, M50-54 years, 4:47 (VU) Simon Anderson, M30-34 years, 4:09 (VU)

This weekend we have two athletes making the journey to Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa, for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships. Join us in wishing Kelly Miller (bib 1013) and Miah Franzmann (bib 296) the best of luck. This year we expect Miah to take the world championship home with her! After sickness at last year’s event, Miah is looking the good and ready to race. Stay tuned for our next update on all things Triathlon!

This weekend we have a solid group of athletes racing including a few 70.3 debutants!

Sunshine Coast 70.3

Anthony Egan

Amanda Thompson

David Deakin

Gab Saunders (first timer)

Melissa Wilson (first timer)

Ben Briggs (VU)

Dale Phelan (VU)

Sunshine 70.3 is an important race as this event is one of the first of the new triathlon season. All the best to the competitors!

Great weekend of racing for ETPA! With three athletes posting impressive times in their respective events.

Joshua Lombard ran a PB in the Coburg Half Marathon by over 8mins. Josh stopped the clock in 1:40:41. Congratulations Josh, awesome running!

Oscar Dart and Kodey Hodgson both picked up podiums in their respective categories at Round 1 of the Victorian Duathlon Series! These two hard chargers are both in developmental periods so turning out solid races over winter is a testament to their character. Both will progress into sharp form and we expect big things from them in the coming four weeks.

Oscar Dart: 58:30 – 2nd male 15-19 years

Kodey Hodgson 1:08 – 2nd female 15-19 years

Congratulations to each of the athletes, keep up the great work.

What a night! Our annual presentation night was held last Saturday. Almost 60 keen Triathletes made the trip into Docklands to celebrate another amazing year in Triathlon.

Thanks to the following coaches and support staff for making the year a memorable one:

Darren Franken – Full Program Coach and Director

Chris Stathis – Swim Coach and Director

Amanda Wilson – Full Program Coach

Marcus Blake – Head Swim Coach ETPA

Dominic Scholtes – Swim Coach

David Edwards – Technical Swim Coach

Michael Egan – Head Swim Coach Elite Swimming

Mat Tippett – Head Coach and Director

Nick Leonard – Social Media and Marketing

Polly Dhar – Physiotherapy

Andrew Apolloni – Podiatry

Also, a big thanks to our program sponsors, Bounce Health Group and Evolution Cycles. Your support is greatly appreciated. The winners for the 2017-18 season are: Male Athlete of the Year - Oscar Dart Female Athlete of the Year - Miah Franzmann Most Improved Athlete - Declan Dooley Most Consistent Athlete - Kelly Miller Most Outstanding Performance - Nathan Hill Junior Athlete of the Year - Oscar Dart Club Person of the Year - Jess Baker Sportsmanship Award - Mark Deagan Each recipient is a deserving winner and we are estatic to have such a high calibre of athletes/members in our program. The ETPA tradition of performance base acknowledgement is something we pride ourselves on. Each year we see new and exciting talented athletes entering our program and this year was no different! Congratulations to all, see you next year!

With Triathlon Australia recently announcing their Junior World Championship Squad. It is with great pride that we congratulate Oscar Dart on being named a reserve in 2018 team.

Oscar, who considering is bottom age, has taken a massive leap forward and this selection is well deserved. This is just a sign of things to come as Oscar continues to go from strength to strength in his performance development.

We look forward to see this star athlete grow and will continue to update the ETPA community on his progress. On behalf of ETPA we congratulate all Juniors selected in the Junior World Championship Squad.

Race Results from the Weekend:

Oscar Dart smashes the Sri Chinmoy princess park 5k with a dominant overall win in a time of 15:53!

Sri Chinmoy Princess Park 5k

Oscar Dart, 15:53 – 1st overall

Gaius Robertson Christy, 17:13 – 3rd overall

Corey Webster, 21:21

Sri Chinmoy Princess Park 10k

Joshua Lombard, 45:52, PB

Sri Chinmoy Princess Park Half Marathon

Carl Fannon , 1:25 – 5th overall

XCR18 – round 6 – Albert park

Jordan Chapman - 39:29 – PB!

Also like to say a massive congratulations to Kate Baxter on competing in the world duathlon championships a few weeks ago!

ITU Duathlon World Champs

Kate Baxter 1:41:30

Geelong 70.3 is one the great races on the calendar and always a big day for ETPA. A tough little course and generally some adverse weather conditions for good measure… but not the 2018 edition!

Great conditions and some great performances from the squad. Special mention to our first timer, Anthony Cooley, on a great day out and also all those who PB’d. We had some comebacks and a few podiums as well. Well done to Kelly Miller for 2nd and a world champs spot, Carolyn Tonelli, Miah Franzmann, and our mixed team.

Countdown is now on for rest of 2XU series, Challenge Melb, Ironman Port Mac and Cairns in June.

Happy training!

Results

Michael Lacorcia, 5.15 John Dickson, 4.56 – 4th AG Bassam Hallak, 6.20 Peter Graham, 5.42 Paul Scheffer, 5.36 Jason Sharp, 5.01 – PB! Cam Atchinson, 4.53 – PB! – 7th AG Anthony Cooley, 5.23 – First timer! Kelly Miller, 5.09 – PB! 2nd AG and WC Qualifier! Carl Fannon – DNF Amanda Wilson, 4.39 – 6th FPro Carolyn Tonelli, 5.19 – 2nd AG Gary Nicholls, 5.33 – 8th AG Anthony Egan, 5.14 – 8th AG Joe Michael, 5.29 John Shiels, 4.46 – 8th AG Mark Deagan, 4.43 – 7th AG Marc Primrose, 5.26 – PB! Miah Franzmann, 5.09 – 2nd AG David Deakin, 4.48 – PB Jess Baker, 6.37

Team ETPA – 4.36 – 2nd Mixed team Amanda (30.29) / Robert (2.36) / Jamie (1.22)

Red Tail Ridge Trail Run Sat Feb 17th 2018

10 km

Kleigh Hathaway 1:07:56 2nd AG Mike Davis 53:37 6th AG

Half Marathon

Angela Kay 2:04:22 6th AG Camille Gomez 2:17:24 10th AG Stephen Banbury 1:51:34 5th AG

Elite Triathlon Performance Australian is proud to announce that four of our junior athletes have been selected for the School Sport Victoria Triathlon team. Kodey Hodgson, Ash Tonelli, Ben McShanag and Declan Dooley will all compete at the Australian Open Schools Triathlon and Australian Schools Triathlon Festival as well as the SSA Triathlon Championships in Sydney later this year.

Kodey Hodgson:

Kodey is a developing high performance athlete. Her work ethic in training is of a very high standard and we are seeing this translate into solid race day performances. As per all other juniors, Kodey mixes Triathlon with school, social and family. She does a remarkable job of combining all facets of her life in a sustainable way. Keep an eye out for Kodey as she develops into a truly high performance athlete. Her legs are still very new to the sport of triathlon and it is only a matter of time until she is winning events.

Ash Tonelli:

Ash Tonelli comes from a great pedigree in sports performance. Her whole family are high performers and Ash is no different. Without a doubt, the raw talent Ash has will enable her to develop into a great athlete. Ash brings a great energy to our junior group training program and a fierce determination to succeed.

Ben McShanag:

Ben is still finding his feet as a triathlete but is always eager to learn and has a lot of fun with his training and racing. With a busy school and social schedule Ben pushed himself early in the qualifying season to accumulate points. This paid off with illness affecting the later part of his season. Enjoy the experience Ben!

Declan Dooley:

Declan, the Hockey playing Triathlete, has developed far beyond our expectation in only our first year of coaching him. He is a surprise packet and is only now really understanding his own potential. This kid is a future star, keep an eye out for him!

This is a great outcome for our program and ETPA couldn’t be prouder of what our athletes are achieving.

The networked approach between coaches, athletes and our supporting partners at Bounce Health Group and Evolution Cycles contributes to the ongoing success of our athletes.

Comprehensive Program Strategies

Our squad fired on Sunday at 2XU race 3. Two overall race wins, AG race wins, AG podiums and first time success. The reason why our athletes succeed so regularly is comprehensive and flexible planning. While a large portion of the racing community were grappling with the changes from Triathlon to Duathlon yesterday, our athletes were ready to execute, regardless of the unique race conditions placed upon them. It’s a credit to the coaches and the athletes alike.

Performance Diagnostics and Implementation

Amanda Wilson took line honours yesterday in the OD race with a dominant performance. We have all watched as this athlete has transitioned from AG racing into fully fledged professional racing. Her performance gains this summer are no surprise to the people behind the scenes. The last 12 months has seen Amanda complete an overall training and racing audit that forced change in her programming and is now delivering the performance gains we all hope for as athletes. Kudos to Amanda for a well planned and thought out winter of preparation work. Also big wraps for Amanda as she enters the world of coaching on a traineeship with ETPA. Amanda just coached her sister to a 7th in AG in the sprint yesterday. Congrats!

Notable mention to Declan Dooley, taking his first overall win in the sprint event yesterday. Declan turned on the leg speed in the second run to put 10 seconds into the field and in doing so stands himself on the top step. Congrats Declan!

Welcome back to racing to Damion Pingel as well – well done mate.

2XU Triathlon Series

Sprint (3.5/26/5)

Matt Sullivan, 1.15 – 2nd AG Brett Jacobson, 1.32 Oscar Dart, 1.09 – 9th MElite Michael Lacorcia, 1.26 Peter Graham, 1.32 Damion Pingel, 1.44 Melissa Wilson, 1.37 Polly Dhar, 1.51 Corey Webster, 1.22 – 3rd Junior Jordan Chapman, 1.20 – 2nd Junior Kodey Hodgson, 1.28 – 3rd FJunior Gaius Robertson Christie, 2.31

SSV Sprint

Declan Dooley, 57.04 – 1st overall Jack Mitchell, 1.01 – 7th AG Ted Murphy, 1.00 – 6th AG Ash Tonelli, 3rd SSV 12-13

OD (7/40/10)

Amanda Wilson, 2.13 – 1st Female Overall Carl Fannon, 2.11 – 1st AG Carolyn Tonelli, 2.40 – 2nd AG Miah Franzmann, 2.30 – 2nd AG David Deakin, 2.24 Des O Sullivan, 2.23 Mark Deagan, 2.25 John Shiels, 2.11 – 1st AG Paul Scheffer, 2.44 Joe Michael, 2.28

Pier to Pub

Bassam Hallak, 19.52 for 1.2k and 1.38 for 5k Michael Brennan, 25.36 for 1.2k and 1.57 for 5k Jaci Testro, 22.11 for 1.2k Nicole Donegan, 30.02 for 1.2k

Mountain to surf

Bassam Hallak, 41.13 Amanda Thompson, 35.55 Nicole Donegan, 52.21 Jaci Testro, 55.12

Two Bays Trail Run, 55k

Mal Joseland, 5.03 – 5th Male

Great weekend supporting a few local events around the state.

Well done to all those who got out and have a fun, hard hit out pre Christmas!

Bring on the festive season, consistent training and more racing in 2018!

WOW Swim Classic – 10km

Sam Friedman – DNF (illness)

WSTC Sprint Triathlon

Andrew Jordan, 1.16 Jason Sharp, 1.09 Carolyn Heaton Harris, 1.19 Peter Graham, 1.17 Jordan Chapman, 1.09 Kane Southwell, 1.05 Corey Webster / Bethany Lloyd, 1.07 (1st Team) James Antonio, 1.18 Amanda Wilson, 1.02 – 1st Female Matt Sullivan, 1.02 Dennis Neal, 1.02 Lee Dorow, 1.24 Austine Parker, 1.05 Simon Anderson, 1.01 Michael Lacorcia, 1.10 Warwick Schmitz, 1.09 Sophie Findlay, 1.16

WSTC Dash

Xander Schmitz, 30.42 – 2nd!

Ballarat Tri

Mel Phillips, 1.43 Lucas Bell, 1.19

Runaway bay National junior series

Kodey Hodgson, 1.10 Oscar Dart, 57.49 (79points) – 6th overall

This weekend had it all… Wild weather in Melbourne meaning it was hard to train and the Saftey Beach Sufferfest became a duathlon. Didn’t phase our juniors though with some great performances.

Over in Bussleton there was a bit of drama.. Shark sightings meaning no swim, bushfires on the ride and oppressive heat for most of the day.

Bittersweet for Des our first timer and a very tough day for the rest of the guys also.

Full results below…

Busso IM (No Swim)

John Dickson, 9.54 – 5th AG Robert Kostadinovic, 12.32 Bassam Hallak – DNF (Illness) Des O’Sullivan, 9.26 – First Timer James Antonio, 12.13 John Shiels, 8.44 Mark Deagan, 9.49 Steve Stroud, 11.54 Simon Anderson, 8.25 – 6th AG

Busso 70.3

Dani Jansse, 4.32 – 4th AG

Sufferfest Safety Beach (Duathlon)

Oscar Dart, 56.21 – 1st Senior SSV Ted Murphy, 44.22 Kodey Hodgeson, 1.03 – 2nd Senior SSV Declan Dooley, 41.44 Ash Tonelli, 36.52 – 5th Junior SSV Ella Walsgott, 50.27 Angus Dart, 48.47 Jack Mitchell, 44.02 Ben Mcshanag, 1.03 – 5th Senior SSV

Some great racing and results over the weekend!

2XU series Race 1

Sprint – Draft Legal

Gaius Robertson-Christie, 1.02 – 4th Elite Junior Declan Dooley, 1.04 Kodey Hodgson, 1.08 – 5th Elite FJunior Oscar Dart, 55.49 – 3rd overall, 1st Elite Junior! Ben McShanag, 1.05 Jordan Chapman, 1.05 Chris Owens, 58.11

Sprint – Age Group

Dani Jansse, 1.13 Matt Sullivan, 1.02 – 2nd AG! Peter Graham, 1.15 Kane Southwell, 1.06 Rob Gashi, 1.10 Moira Pasquali, 1.40 Ahmed Mourad, 1.27 – First Timer! Hunter Dean, 1.09 Brett Jacobson, 1.16 – PB!

Enticer

Sam Satchell, 22.37 Nick Frisby, 21.47 – 1st M14-15!

Western Sydney 70.3

Miah Franzmann, 4.58 – 1st AG and Asia Pacific Champion Dave Deakin, 4.52 Carl Fannon, 4.25 – 1st AG and Asia Pacific Champion Carolyn Tonelli, 5.22 TEAM ETPA, 4.12 – 2nd Mixed Teams

ACT Sprint Champs (draft legal age group event)

David Gunn, 1.19 Wayne Heathcote, 1.34 – 10th M60-64

Challenge Shepparton has been on the race calendar for many years… The 2017 edition did not disappoint. Well done and congratulations to all ETPA athletes and members who raced over the weekend. As you will see below we had a bit of everything this year; juniors rocking it, first timers, PBs, podiums, wins and comebacks!

Special mention to our partners Bounce Health Group for going above and beyond as always! Your assistance helping athletes before, during and after the race was amazing – thank you for your support.

In the half… Well done to Gary Nicholls on his welcome return to the top step of the podium! Also Amanda Thompson for a handy PB after a solid winter on the MT. Well done too, to the guys en route to Busso Ironman in three weeks. Special shout out to the first timers, Kate Baxter, Joe Michael and Marc primrose! You guys rocked it!

And the classic… In what can only be called a dominance of the ETPA program we smashed a number of the age groups grabbing multiple podium spots. Well done to the two old school Coaches, Darren and Mat, on pushing each other to a 1-2 in their age group. Special mention to overall female winner of the classic event, Amanda Wilson. Amanda smashed a 4min k pace run out to take the win by 7mins, great effort.

Half Ironman

James Antonio, 6.06 Bassam Hallak, 5.39 Amanda Thompson, 5.21 – 5th AG! Joe Michael, 5.18 – First Timer! Marc Primrose, 5.38 – First Timer! Gary Nicholls, 5.26 – 1st AG! Shay McLeod, 4.44 – 3rd AG! Ryan Dodson, 5.00 Kate Baxter, 7.56 Austin Parker, 4.49 – 3rd AG!

Relay

Aimee, Steve, Karyn – 5.29 Gaby and Alan – 5.56 Jamie and Rob – 4.37

Classic

Amanda Wilson, 2.37 – 1st overall female! Darren Franken, 2.33 – 1st AG Mat Tippett, 2.44 – 2nd AG! John Shiels, 2.32 – 1st AG, 3rd overall! Mark Deagan, 2.36 – 3rd AG Anthony Cooley, 3.15 Matt Sullivan, 2.42 – 1st AG! David Deakin, 2.58 Miah Franzmann, 2.54 – 1st AG!

Sprint

Carolyn Tonelli, 1.31 – 3rd AG!

Well done to all the juniors who took on the kids race… Awesome work!

Kye Franken Taj Dodson Zac Dodson Livvy Cavka Olivia Kostadinovic Sienna Kostadinovic Hunter Deakin Phoenix Deakin

Further afield we had Ella Walsgott who won the Hamilton 4.2km fun run and Damion Passlow who tackled Damion Passlow. Well done guys!

Ella Walsgott, 17.43

Ironman Malaysia

Damion Passlow, 13.50

Massive thanks to all out support staff and sponsors, without such a dedicated group of individuals and organisations working together we wouldn’t have the outcomes on race day we do!

Polly Dhar – Physiotherapist Andrew Apolloni – Stonington Podiatry Elite Swimming Bounce Heath Group Evolution Cycles

Bring on the rest of the season, ETPA athletes are primed for their best summer of racing ever.

By all accounts a fantastic weekend of racing for the guys down at Yarrawonga. First race of the season, start of a world championships campaign or a stepping stone to events later in the season – we had athletes that fitted all three of these descriptions.

In any case some great racing – full results below.

The tri season has arrived in Australia. Woohoo!

Yarrawonga OD

Matt Sullivan, 2.12 Joe Michael, 2.30 Miah Franzmann, 2.22 – 2nd AG Dennis Neal, 2.11 Rueben Kuah, 2.26

Yarrawonga Sprint

David Gunn, 1.15 Wayne Heathcote, 1.26 Mat Tippett, 1.04 – 4th AG Marc Primrose, 1.19 Jordan Chapman, 1.11 Kodey Hodgson, 1.08 – 5th AG

Yarrawonga SSV Sprint

Oscar Dart, 1.00 – 1st in cat Declan Dooley, 1.05 – 4th in cat Ben McShanag, 1.14 Ella Walsgott, 1.19 Kate Sarris, 1.22 Jack Mitchell, 1.14 Angus Dart, 1.17

Yarrawonga SSV Mini

Ash Tonelli, 28.53 – 2nd in Cat Lucinda Rourke, 27.38 – 1st in Cat

Lots of podiums and PBs following a spring like weekend in Melbourne. Full results listed below… The season is fast approaching!

Tri Vic Duathlon Series Round Three

Sprint

John Shiels, 1.00.24 – 2nd in AG Mark Deagan, 1.00.47 – 3rd in AG Matt Sullivan, 1.02 Mat Tippett, 1.03 Joe Michael 1.04 Declan Dooley 1.06 Kodey Hodgson, 1.08 – 2nd in AG Ted Murphy, 1.11

Dash

Ash Tonelli, 40.20 – 3rd in AG

Tahiti OTU Oceania Cup

Chris Owens, 6th ELite Men

Mornington Half Marathon

Jamie Edwards, 1.20.37 – 2nd Overall

35th Annual Santa Cruz Triathlon

OD

KJ Kroetch, 2:43:53 – 5th AG

Sprint

Darcy McCarty, 1:10:08 – 1st AG Erica Pan, 1:21:23 – 1st AG

MASSIVE weekend of racing for the #etparacing crew around the world = MASSIVE weekend of results!

Read on and be inspired…

World 70.3 Championships

Raeleigh Harris, 5.09 – 8th in the world Kelly Miller, 5.28 David Deakin, 5.36 Chris Scammell, 4.40 Carolyn Tonelli – DNF (illness) April Abregana, 6.28 Christina King, 6.05

Sunshine Coast 70.3

Amanda Thompson, 5.33 Anthony Egan, 5.10 Bassam Hallak, 5.42 Bethany Lloyd, 5.11 – 8min PB! Jamie Edwards, 4.28 Jason Sharp, 5.12 – 48min PB! John Dickson, 4.59 – 7th in AG Robert Kostadinovic, 5.28 Shay McLeod, 4.46 Dale Linaker, 5.37

Santa Cruz 70.3 (shortened swim)

Bella Banbury, 5.35 Steve Banbury, 5.02 Marissa Gilmore, 6.35 Alexis Przeszlowski, 6.30 Jim Rowland, 5.55 Alexis Ballinger, 5.22 Amanda Wilson, 4.29 Angela Kay, 5.50 Lucas Remems, 4.35

Surf Coast Century 100km team event

Anthony Cooley Darren Franken

Well done everyone!

The smiling assassin from Horsham is heading to the world champs! Check out some of Kelly Miller’s training as she gets ready for Chattanooga this week.

1. How many times a week were you riding/running and swimming in your 70.3 lead in?

At least 3 times for each discipline

2. What type of power sets were you doing? Can you give us an example of one?

RIDE

3 hours mostly easy but include: Include 1 x 15min hill repeat @E3 & 70rpm Roll down float and 10min easy spin Include 2 x 10min hill repeat @ E3 & 70rpm Roll down float and 10 min easy spin Include 4 x 5min hill repeat @E3 & 70rpm

3. What type of run sets were you doing? Can you give us an example?

Run 60 mins on a Hilly course easy Work all hills E3+ Then 30mins on the flat as a slow build to E3+ 10min easy

4. Tell us about your hardest training day?

Running to the top of Mt Williams in the Grampians in freezing conditions, 811m elevation gain, 23km run, very challenging getting to the top but also very rewarding

5. What is your biggest tip for new Triathletes leading into a 70.3?

Break the race down, practice your nutrition and don’t forget to smile, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the day

Get an insight into Chris Scammell, aka The White Kenyan’s, training leading into the World Champs… Or any race for that matter. There is a reason he races at such a high level on a consistent basis!

1. How many times a week were you riding/running and swimming in your 70.3 lead in?

I’m currently running three times, riding three time and swimming twice a week. I’m very limited to the amount of training due to work commitments so I focus on quality over quantity.

2. What type of power sets were you doing? Can you give us an example of one?

I’ve been doing a lot of strength work mid-week on the mag trainer and hill repeats on my weekend long ride

For example

5 x (4 x 1min at E4 and 75rpm / 1min spin float with 5mins E1+ and 90rpm)

3. What are your peak power and FTP values?

Not sure of my current FTP value but before I started my lead in it was around 3.5W/kg with the goal of getting it to 4W/kg or above

4. What type of run sets were you doing? Can you give us an example?

I have been doing a lot of speed work mid-week… 400m reps that lead into 1km repeats

For example.

10 x 1km reps / 1min walk float 2 each at 4:00/3:50/3:40/3:30/3:20 pace

5. Tell us about your hardest training day?

Depends what you mean by hard…

On paper, it could be a 4hr ride with hill repeats trying to hold power and grinding it out…

It could be walking out the door at 6:30pm in the dark with a headlamp and high vis vest to get a run set in or falling asleep on the couch with the kids at 6:30pm exhausted and finding the motivation to pull the mag trainer out at 8pm to get it done. All training has challenges and results don’t come easy but if you want something bad enough you do whatever it takes to get it.

6. What is your biggest tip for new Triathletes leading into a 70.3?

Stay consistent in training, keep communication open with your coach, don’t overanalyze and trust the process. Results will come, and, remember to smile when you cross the finish line

Known as the crazy Doc to some here is a glimpse of what Carolyn’s training has been like leading into the 70.3 World Champs!

1. How many times a week were you riding/running and swimming in your 70.3 lead in?

Riding/mag training 3 times a week, swimming 3-4 times a week, running 4-6 times a week, up to 20 hours per week total.

2. What type of bike sets were you doing? Can you give us an example of one?

A couple were 2x50min TT efforts on mag trainer, then run off bike on treadmill building to 3.45 pace, but I would often end up doing the midday 40 min tempo treadmill run also to utilise the caffeine in my system!!

3. What are your peak power and FTP values?

294 watts, FTP 4.2W/kg

4. What type of run sets were you doing? Can you give us an example?

Run sets were either 400m or 1k repeats.

Examples were 15x400m descending from 90 to 80 secs followed by 20 min tempo run, or 10 or 12 x 1k repeats, the aim always being 4min pace or quicker, but it depended how I felt on the day

5. Tell us about your hardest training day?

This would have to be a typical Thursday:

6am track – 5×100’s, followed by 10x1k at 4 mins with 2 min walk float, then 20 minute tempo run followed by a 20 min cool down run Then off to work Run 30 mins on my lunchbreak Then come home, sort out the household, then do a 1 hour evening mag trainer set at either a set heart rate/cadence, or 2 min max efforts.

That, or the 160k ride through the hilly countryside with the Ironman boys at the peak of their training, and me coming off 4 weeks of relative rest!

6. What is your biggest tip for new Triathletes leading into a 70.3?

2 things: 1.Use some big training days to sort out your race nutrition plan 2.Trust the process- your coach will have a plan that ends on race day, so follow your program, and if you don’t understand the what/why/how, then ASK!

Deaks loves to train… Check out what he has been up to leading into the World Champs!

1. How many times a week were you riding/running and swimming in your 70.3 lead in?

The lead in was across the winter training block so it was a combination of strength and power.

Typically 4 swims, 3 rides and 4 runs plus some gym work

2. What type of power sets were you doing? Can you give us an example of one?

The 2 x 50Min TT efforts hurt, just learn to hang onto the suffering!

3. What are your peak power and FTP values?

310watts FTP. Peak power, 1024 Watts

4. What type of run sets were you doing? Can you give us an example?

Im a runner so like to get out and run!

4 runs usually - 1 hr tempo run at E3 off the back of the big Tuesday bike session - Recovery 40 min easy the day after - Brutal track sets on a Thursday, sometimes up to 20km - A long 1.5hr strength run in the hills on the weekend

5. Tell us about your hardest training day?

Oooo Hard to say, had a time in Ironman training where I rang the coach in tears, and his only answer was.. now you’re ready! 

But in this block I think we had just done a 6hr hilly ride on the Tuesday and then did 20 x 400M efforts at track on Thursday.. I remember collapsing over the line at 15… the bike set in the afternoon wasn’t pretty..!

6. What is your biggest tip for new Triathletes leading into a 70.3?

They say you keep improving for 10 years from where you start so, im 5 in, so still just a beginner.

Consistency and patience is key, just keep turning up and the results will come…

Racing this week saw a flurry of great results at Run Melbourne including a 13min PB for Bassam Hallak and a sub 80min time for Chris Scammell. In the US we had another first time Ironman finisher in Michael Rouse… Well done all!

XCR Ballarat 15km Road Race

Mathew Sullivan, 1.01

Run Melbourne

David Deakin, 1.28 (equal PB) Bassam Hallak, 1.36 (13min PB) Chris Scammell, 1.18 (PB) Robert Kostadinovic, 1.42 (PB)

Ironman Canada

Michael Rouse, 14.15 (First timer)

What a night at our annual presentation night! Thanks to all those who attended.

As Coaches it brings us great joy to be able to celebrate the development and achievements of our athletes. This includes our beginners, first timers, juniors, high performance athletes and Ironmen and Women.

Thanks also to our staff that help make it all possible – this includes swim coaches, bike mechanics, podiatrists and physios.

We also want to make mention to the partners and families that support the athletes… The journey is much better with their support.

Finally a thank you to our sponsors/partners for their ongoing support – Bounce Health Group, Evolution Cycles, 32gi Australia and Triathlon Victoria.

Well done to our award winners for the 2016/17 season:

Male Athlete of the Year – Oscar Dart Female Athlete of the Year – Miah Franzmann Most Improved Female Junior – Ella Walsgott Most Improved Male Junior – Corey Webster Club Person of the Year – Russell Webster Best First Year Athlete – Carolyn Tonelli Most Outstanding Performance – Oscar Dart Most Consistent Athlete – Chris Scammell

Looking forward to the season ahead!

A great weekend of racing!

Starting at the top with some standout performances.

In the 70.3 Coach Franken schooled most of the field in a well thought out hard man effort. Darren stopped the clock in a 4:24 and some change, coming 2nd in AG and 21st overall. Darren showed a lot of younger athletes a clean set of heels in the run. In fact Darren attacked straight out of T2 and the weaker less experienced athletes just couldn’t respond. If you ask Darren about it, he would just say “I used to run that way all the time.” Not a bad effort for a father, business person and coach!

Likewise, Miah Franzmann again took the race on in full attack mode. Miah and Mat have worked hard together in the last six months making small adjustments to her program and trying to get a bit more out of her engine. It’s no surprise she is now beating people she has never beaten before and still mixing it across all age groups! Miah was 1st in AG and 20th female overall.

A quick reminder of how hard these two work and their respective talents! Their cumulative age is 98 years! Miah would of placed in the top 10 in every age group, and been on the podium in all but three age groups! Darren would have also placed in the top ten in all age groups and would of only missed out on a podium in three age groups….mind you, only by 20secs in one of them!

Crazy Dr Tonelli had a solid day out. Suffering mechanical issues on the bike doc gathered herself and ran back into 4th in AG! Awesome effort Carolyn, well deserved top 5 finish…we forget its only Carolyn’s 3rd 70.3!

Special mention to Bethany Lloyd who smashed out a 5.19 on debut and placed in the top 10 in her age group. Watch this space!

In the Ironman we had four more first timers. They all performed admirably and crossed the line with their heads held high. Well done to Andrew Jordan, Robert Kostadinovic, Sam Friedman and Peter Graham. You are now Ironmen! Not wanting to be left out, Bassam Hallack, posted a 50min IM PB – well done mate!

Cairns IM

Andrew Jordan (First Timer), 13.01

Robert Kostadinovic (First Timer), 11.25

Bassam Hallack, 12.25 – 50min PB!

Sam Friedman (First Timer), 12.21

Chris Angwin, 13.04

Peter Graham (First Timer), 11.36

Michael Brennan, 12.07

Cairns 70.3

Bethany Lloyd (First Timer), 5.19 – 9th F30-34

John Dickson, 4.58 – 4th M55-59

Dani Jansse, 5.16

Jamie Edwards, 4.27 – 7th M25-29

Miah Franzmann, 5.00 – 1st F50-54

David Deakin, 4.52

Darren Franken, 4.24 – 2nd M45-49

Carolyn Tonelli, 5.16 – 4th F45-49

Escape from Alcatraz

Bella Banbury, 2.29

Stephen Banbury, 2.06

Erica Pan 2.39

Tri for real

Camille Gomez 4th in AG – no times posted

Mike Davis 2nd in AG – no times posted

Well done to all those who raced over the weekend!

Amanda Thompson tackled ‘The Championship’ in Samorin, Slovakia and came away wit PB swim and bike splits to finish 14th in her age group.

Chris Scammell dominated the 50th annual Traralgon Half Marathon to PB in a time of 1.20.23!

Chris Owens had a breakthrough swim performance over in the Asian Cup race in China and ended up 35th on a hot day.

Over in the US the crew were strong and consistent as always! They have had another World 70.3 Champs qualifier as well!

The Championship

Amanda Thompson, 5.33 – 14th AG

Traralgon Half Marathon

Chris Scammell, 1.20 – 1st Overall, PB!

Asian Cup, China

Chris Owens, 2.03 – 35th overall

Victoria 70.3

Christina King 5:49:20 Worlds spot!

Orange County Duathlon

Jerry Brown 1:03:37 1st in AG

Monte Rio OD

Cristen Clark 2:48:52 6th in AG KJ Kroetch 2:55:59 6th in AG

Monte Rio Sprint

Sharon Barclay 1:35:10 2nd in AG

Ironman Australia 2017 race report through the eyes of Nathan Hill. Sub 10 and Kona qualification on the famous Port Mac course!

Read on to take the ride with him!

Race day:

I was up at 4:30, after having an okay sleep – I got around five hours and was fast asleep when the alarm sounded.

I was really excited, but very relaxed pre-race. I was trying to take it all in. I got right in amongst the crowd and tried to feel the energy. I did my normal stretching routine and felt loose and ready to go.

Swim:

The rolling start was great! The swim was fairly uneventful. I went out pretty easy and really just cruised through it. I didn’t feel the need to push and sat on a comfortable pace the whole way.

Upon exiting the water, I felt great. I didn’t know my swim time (as I don’t start my watch until the beginning of the run) and wasn’t made aware of it ’til after the race. In hindsight, I probably swum a bit too easy as the time was a bit slower than I thought it would be and slower than it felt. Perhaps having not been in the water since Wednesday morning took a bit of the feel out of me. Anyway, not a lot of energy expended.

Swim time = 57.02 (8th in cat. / 80th overall)

T1:

I had a great T1. I moved through quickly and smoothly.

T1 time: 2.34

Bike:

I took it easy through the hills heading out, but not too easy. I made sure I kept some guys within sight and slowly reeled them in, around 15km. I spent the next 75km getting my nutrition in and admiring the scenery. The first 90km felt like the easiest 90km I’d ever ridden.

I hadn’t ‘fired a shot’ at that point of the race and was confident of getting away from all the guys I was with in the second 90km. My plan was to lift the wattage slightly after the hills, which coincides with passing the golf course.

For reasons not important here, that didn’t happen.

From there, the next 80km was a real slog. This part of the race felt extremely tough and I just thought I was tiring, but didn’t think I should be. I just wanted to get to the end of the bike and get running and hopefully I could reel some of the guys in on the run.

I kept hydrating and trying to stay cool.

I finished the bike feeling okay and still excited to be racing Ironman Australia. I had no idea what the marathon was going to be like, but my legs weren’t as bad as I anticipated heading into T2.

Bike time: 5:18.44 (5th in cat. / 55th overall)

T2:

As per T1, I just got in there and got straight out again, without mucking around. I had no mistakes and everything seemed to flow pretty well.

T2 time: 2.00

Run:

As per the plan, I started out easy and just naturally let things roll. I wasn’t concerned about pace, I simply focussed on my breathing and staying ‘in the box’ (in the moment). It was getting pretty hot, but I was really diligent with staying cool with water and ice.

I was determined to keep running for as long as I could and only walk at an aid station if I absolutely had to. I was also determined to ensure I ran up the hill every time (there is only one hill on the run course, which you run four times), rather than walk. I saw a few people walking up and I knew I could pick them up, going up there.

I knew pretty early-on that this wasn’t going to be a quick run. Only a few freaks were running fast, the rest of the field looked to be struggling, probably from the heat and the hills on the bike.

The first two laps were very uneventful. I stayed at a really consistent pace and just let things roll. I knew I could get to half-way without too many issues, but was prepared for things to get tough from there. I decided to walk the aid station around 30km. This was more a tactic than necessity, as I was going okay, but just wanted to settle everything down, by walking for 30-40 meters. This worked perfectly, as I was able to get running again immediately and didn’t walk again for the whole race.

The final turn-a-round means there is 4km to go. The first part is a false flat (back from Settlement Point) and once we went around the bend, it was into a really strong headwind. I just put the head down and went for home. I was hurting but at no stage did I feel like I was going to fall-apart. I did have to pull-back a couple of times, but mostly kept the intensity up all-the-way to the line.

During the final 1km, I was pretty euphoric. I hit the line pretty hard and was stoked about the race.

Run time: 3:27.22 (4th in cat. / 38th overall)

Overall time: 9:47.43 (4th in cat. / 38th overall)

I was delighted with the race. I would have loved to have been on the podium, but it wasn’t to be. On the upside, I finally fulfilled a dream that I have had for a very long time – qualifying for Kona.

I’m already looking forward to Ironman #10. It’s a shame it won’t be on the big island**.

**Note: Nathan could not claim his spot due to unforseen work circumstances. Next time! Well done mate.

What an epic weekend of racing at Ironman Australia from the ETPA Racing crew.

We had four athletes on course, check out the results!

Chris Chatham – First timer – 11.33 Nathan Hill – 4th in AG, qualified for Kona* – 9.47 Kelly Miller – 3rd in AG, 28min PB – 10.58 Gary Nicholls – 2nd in AG – 11.42

Special mention to Gary… A spectator walked in front of him during the bike leg, which resulted in a collision and Gary came off his bike. In a show of true grit and character Gaz dusted himself off and rode the remaining 90km and ran the marathon… With a broken arm! What a fantastic effort – well done Gary!

*Note: Nathan didn’t take his spot At world run Chris and Sarah smashed it and lots of fun along the way.

Chris Scammell – 36km Sarah Holmes – 17km

And in the US, the crew had another awesome weekend of racing

San Dimas XTERRA

Chris van Luen 2:17:58 Raeleigh Harris 2:11:55 2nd in AG, 7th female

San Diego Sprint Du

Jerry Brown 1:03:07 1st AG

Awesome set of results to keep you warm on a cool winter evening…

Well done to all those who raced. Special mention once again to Oscar Dart for some more impressive racing to close out his season. Two medals at the National Schools Champs.

Half Moon Bay Sprint

Sharon Barclay 1:20:09 5th in AG KJ Kroetch 1:18.21 1st in AG Erica Pan 1:21:26 6th in AG

Half Moon Bay OD

Chavon Rosenthal 2:35.57 3rd Overall Christina King 2:52.26 4th in AG Lily Huang 3:01.58 5th in AG Darcy McCarty 2:55.47 (17 min T1 spent changing a flat ) Lucy Bustos 4:13:58 Michael Rouse 2:54:23 Stephen Banbury 2:46:02

Batemans Bay OD

Warwick Schmitz, 2.40 – 5th M35-39

Batemans Bay Enticer

Xander Schmitz, 34.29 – 3rd M12-13

SSA National Champs

Oscar Dart, 46.42 – 2nd Intermediate Male Stefan Kot, 58.35 – 13th Senior Male Corey Webster, 1.06 Hugh Pentland, 55.16 Ben McShanag – DQ (mechanical/lapped) Ella Walsgott, 49.13 Ashley Tonelli, 44.49 Georgina Clarke, 1.14