World Championships Race Report

This was it, world championships, the big one! All I'd been thinking about for the weeks leading up was the opportunity to wear the green and gold on a world stage for the first time and experience racing on an international scale whilst also watching the best of the best battle it out for glory and the title of World Champion.

A week before racing my family and I embarked on the 14 hour flight to San Fran before 3 hours to Edmonton, Canada. Edmonton put on a great show, friendly people, warm days and a beautiful race site, everything was tip top, aside from the potholes on the road doing their best Grand Canyon impressions.

 

First up was the Aquathon on Wednesday. A 750m swim in Hawrelak park lake (which becomes an ice-rink in winter) and a 4.6km stroll around the outskirts of the park. Not racing for a long time I could tell the cobwebs needed to be blown out and this race was going to be a shock to the system, albeit a good shock. Paraded to the start line by a lone bagpipes-man, the heart started to beat faster and I was reminded of how exciting it is to just race.

"On your marks, set, *buzzer*”. One step and splash the Aquathon World Champs had started.  The first turning buoy was hell, guys coming from the left, the right, I couldn't get a stroke into the water without hitting someone and I felt pretty ordinary. On the return back to shore I picked an outside line and just avoided the carnage and got into my own rhythm.

I exited the water and made the long run to transition. Wettie off and runners on I hit the pavement in the warm Edmonton sunshine. It didn't feel like I was really running as good as I could've and it bugged me the whole run. Only the last km I felt like I was starting to hit it well and as I rounded for the finish line with no one in site I started to ease up and soak in the atmosphere, giving out high 5's all round and thinking to myself 'how cool is this, this is the world championships!'

Next up was the sprint triathlon on Friday. Leading up to it I had a massage post Aquathon and didn't let go of my roller when back at the hotel room whilst also sleeping in my BSC compression tights. The opening ceremony for the world championships was next level, marching in the green and gold finished off with dinner sitting at a table with a bunch of new friends was definitely a highlight of the trip and an experience I thoroughly enjoyed.

Friday morning struck and Edmonton had put on the sunshine again.  Today I felt much better than when I had the Aquathon and knew today was going to be red-hot with 70+ other athletes from around the world on the start line. Taking in experience from the Aquathon I chose an outside line for the swim start that would let me avoid the first buoy fist fight.

Buzzer sounded and it was triathlon time. My swim was awesome, I felt good, stuck good lines and ended up hanging onto the feet of some front pack swimmers. Transition was smooth and I was out onto the 20km bike in no time. Victoria hill was the first challenge of the ride, this hill was dirty and I hit it hard out of the saddle. Coming back down there was a few tight turns and must've been a mistranslation with some athletes forgetting in Canada you ride on the right hand side of the road, making for an interesting and funny style of non-draft racing. The second hill of the day Grout road was great, a slow long uphill, hitting it on the big chain ring whilst keeping it smooth and steady and thinking of all the times I'd gone up Waterfall hill at training.  Another lap and coming into transition I was brimming with confidence, nothing had gone wrong yet.

Run time and I went out fast with the cheers of "Go Australia" echoing in my head. 5kms starting off with a few km's of trail running. A pack of two started to catch and I ran with them for a few minutes before starting to hit the wall, slowly fading through the last km I could hear the finish line in the distance and spurred myself on. The crowd was amazing and running up to the finish line with the biggest grin I went all in and held off an attack from an American to finish 50th in my age.

Over the next few days I got to meet new people, make new friends and watch the best of the best battle it out whilst having a few well earned beers. This is an experience I will never forget and something that will spur me on to train harder and race faster to reach my dream of racing as an elite athlete in the future.

I'd like to thank my coach Mick Delamotte for helping me reach my goal at the start of the year to qualify for world championships and also provide me with all his wisdom and knowledge to become a better athlete each and every session. Also thanks to El, Pete, John, my training mates and everyone at HPT, my sponsors Bad Max and RidgeView and finally my parents, thank you so much for everything you've done to get me to this point and allow me to chase my dreams.

Best wishes,

Ryan