I am relieved to say that I probably didn’t make as many mistakes whilst guiding this season, but perhaps that was due to less opportunity. Hopefully not!! Earlier in the season I had guided Melissa Reid in South Africa (see April post) and Alison Patrick in France (June post). Unfortunately the other British visually impaired athlete decided to retire from competitive sport. Simple maths would tell you that leaves 3 guides and only 2 athletes. British Triathlon always takes a spare guide as reserve in case anything was to go wrong, and this was justified in second big race in Rio.
At the beginning of July was the European Championships which were held in Geneva. I was taken as a reserve for this race and Alison was guided by Hazel and Melissa by Nicole. The first day we arrived it was a sweltering 38°C!! Just a slight change from the low 20’s we were used to in the UK. This is part of the reason for arriving several days beforehand, to allow us to acclimatise. The race venue was right by Lake Geneva and it was stunning!! The landscape was mesmerising and the lake water was crystal clear (apparently fed from Evian). I’m pretty sure it was cleaner than the swimming pool we were training in.
As I wasn’t racing I continued my training as usual, but in a luxurious environment! There were other travelling reserves so I wasn’t lonely on my longer bike rides and longer swim sessions. The event coincides with the age-group European Champs too, and although I was obviously disappointed I wasn’t racing, I saw many of my friends racing in their age-group. Shout out to my closest Bristol training buddy, Chris Green, who achieved his goal by finishing in the top 10 in his category. The atmosphere is brilliant and I think the Brits could have outnumbered the Swiss in Geneva over that weekend.
At the beginning of July was the European Championships which were held in Geneva. I was taken as a reserve for this race and Alison was guided by Hazel and Melissa by Nicole. The first day we arrived it was a sweltering 38°C!! Just a slight change from the low 20’s we were used to in the UK. This is part of the reason for arriving several days beforehand, to allow us to acclimatise. The race venue was right by Lake Geneva and it was stunning!! The landscape was mesmerising and the lake water was crystal clear (apparently fed from Evian). I’m pretty sure it was cleaner than the swimming pool we were training in.
As I wasn’t racing I continued my training as usual, but in a luxurious environment! There were other travelling reserves so I wasn’t lonely on my longer bike rides and longer swim sessions. The event coincides with the age-group European Champs too, and although I was obviously disappointed I wasn’t racing, I saw many of my friends racing in their age-group. Shout out to my closest Bristol training buddy, Chris Green, who achieved his goal by finishing in the top 10 in his category. The atmosphere is brilliant and I think the Brits could have outnumbered the Swiss in Geneva over that weekend.
Race day was a lot cooler than earlier in the week only reaching ~30°C, but the humidity was still high. I made myself useful by carrying a crap load of ice (yes, a lot of this had melted by the end of all the races) and helping other para-athletes to carry kit and prosthetic limbs. As if taking a bike and a huge transition bag FULL of kit isn’t bad enough, these guys have to carry extra legs/chairs/wheels when they can barely walk! I’m still perplexed by the speed they race too. The women’s PT5 (visually impaired) race was very close but Alison and Hazel had a solid all-round performance to become the European Champions, with Melissa and Nicole taking bronze. There were great races from other athletes too; a clean sweep for the Brits in the women’s PT4 category and silver in the men’s PT1 for Phil!
I arrived home from Geneva on 11th July and thought I may as well wash my clothes and re-pack them ready to go to Rio on 28th. Yep, Rio, as in Rio de Janeiro!! I don’t think this actually dawned on me until we were there. This was a slightly different experience to Geneva due to hygiene and safety, and that’s not just in the taxis where there was pure ignorance to the Highway Code! I think someone needs to explain the use of indicators to the Brazilians! Generally there was a rush from all the athletes to take the back seats. Although there were mixed comments, we still had to be vigilant, so this meant turbo sessions in the hotel and no running or walking alone.
Again I went with the squad as a travelling reserve, and the trip was awesome! We saw the sunset from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, which was quite something, and we took the train up to see the amazing views from Christ the Redeemer. I discovered this would be the best place to watch my cousin row in the Olympics next year, as long as I take my binoculars and also get told which lane the British team are in :/ It was certainly surreal seeing one of Seven Wonders of the World in the background whilst swimming in the outdoor pool.
Again I went with the squad as a travelling reserve, and the trip was awesome! We saw the sunset from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, which was quite something, and we took the train up to see the amazing views from Christ the Redeemer. I discovered this would be the best place to watch my cousin row in the Olympics next year, as long as I take my binoculars and also get told which lane the British team are in :/ It was certainly surreal seeing one of Seven Wonders of the World in the background whilst swimming in the outdoor pool.
So aside from the ridiculous location, there was a race. It was a big race as it was the test event for the Paralympics, so the course was identical to that which will be used next year. I went to Rio with expectation of watching from the sidelines but 48 hours before the race I was told there may be a chance I would be needed. Oh! That was unexpected. Lucky I was given a warning before smashing out an intense turbo session. With the race on the Saturday, it was confirmed on the Thursday night that Hazel’s injury was too bad to race and I would be racing with Alison. Right, I’d better go analyse those route maps more carefully so that I know what I’m doing. Perhaps I was a little complacent!
Day before race day involved a swim and bike recce. I needed to quickly get used to riding the tandem again having not ridden it for a few months, and practise getting round the corners. Some were nice and sweeping but others were a bit tighter. Due to the hype regarding the quality of the water at Copacabana, we didn’t do a full swim lap and just practiced the start and swim exit. It was another beach exit and although I’d done this before in South Africa, there are so many different variables. The vital one being the depth of the shore and knowing when to stand up to run in. Despite wanting to spend as little time as possible in the water, this took some time to find the best technique to exit quickly. Having had a smooth race with Alison in France I was feeling comfortable with our race plan.
It was safe to say I was little nervous for this race given the large number of competitors, and some of them were strong! We had plenty of time to prepare in the morning with our race not until 2pm. This meant the winter temperatures in Rio were going to be at their highest reaching a mild 28°C. It’s safe to say I liked Rio! With the sand too hot to walk on and ice-cubes down our wetsuits I was actually looking forward to getting in this unusually coloured water. I’ve swum in cloudy swimming pools and muddy lake water, but this was a cross between the two. We jumped into the merky yellow water and got under way. I could see Melissa and Nicole just ahead to our right but once we turned past the first buoy at ~200m I lost sight of them. I could see athletes from the previous wave ahead, but clueless as to who was in our wave I just had to swim hard. Some swimmers were to the left and some to the right so from that I deduced I was swimming fairly straight to the buoys. But let’s be honest, every athlete feels like they’re swimming straight, otherwise we’d all be swimming in a line!
Day before race day involved a swim and bike recce. I needed to quickly get used to riding the tandem again having not ridden it for a few months, and practise getting round the corners. Some were nice and sweeping but others were a bit tighter. Due to the hype regarding the quality of the water at Copacabana, we didn’t do a full swim lap and just practiced the start and swim exit. It was another beach exit and although I’d done this before in South Africa, there are so many different variables. The vital one being the depth of the shore and knowing when to stand up to run in. Despite wanting to spend as little time as possible in the water, this took some time to find the best technique to exit quickly. Having had a smooth race with Alison in France I was feeling comfortable with our race plan.
It was safe to say I was little nervous for this race given the large number of competitors, and some of them were strong! We had plenty of time to prepare in the morning with our race not until 2pm. This meant the winter temperatures in Rio were going to be at their highest reaching a mild 28°C. It’s safe to say I liked Rio! With the sand too hot to walk on and ice-cubes down our wetsuits I was actually looking forward to getting in this unusually coloured water. I’ve swum in cloudy swimming pools and muddy lake water, but this was a cross between the two. We jumped into the merky yellow water and got under way. I could see Melissa and Nicole just ahead to our right but once we turned past the first buoy at ~200m I lost sight of them. I could see athletes from the previous wave ahead, but clueless as to who was in our wave I just had to swim hard. Some swimmers were to the left and some to the right so from that I deduced I was swimming fairly straight to the buoys. But let’s be honest, every athlete feels like they’re swimming straight, otherwise we’d all be swimming in a line!
We were coming into the shore and although I felt like my elbows were nearly touching the sand, I stood up a fraction early. We had to lift our feet quite high to run out the water, and although it wasn’t ideal, we didn’t end up sitting in the sea like we did in one of the practices the day before. We ran hard through transition and at one point I thought Alison was going to step off the edge of the ramp as she was pulling the top of her wetsuit down. I heard on the tannoy that Melissa and Nicole were ahead of us so we need to work hard given their strength on the bike. We got onto the tandem and annoyingly lost what felt like several seconds as I missed my foot on top of my shoe. Normally if this happens in an individual race the shoe scrapes the floor as you begin to pedal and it’s easy just to say, ‘agh, crap’ and correct it quickly. This becomes magnified when you’re on the tandem racing for someone else and translates to, ‘S**T, sorry,’ following the clump and wobble on the bike. Once I explained to Alison what had happened, we got our foot in the shoe and powered on.
On the first lap the Dutch were in the lead, with Melissa and Nicole in hot pursuit and then we were in 3rd. The coaches on the side were informing us of our deficit but we were making little ground on the leaders. I was giving Alison some encouragement and every time I did I could feel the engine on the back find another gear. On the final lap we made up some time but the positions hadn’t changed and we were still 70 seconds down. 70 SECONDS!! That’s a lot to make up on only a 5 Km run and I wasn’t sure if we could do it. Little did I know Alison was sat on the back casually thinking she could do it! Coming into T2 I followed the plan for taking our feet out the shoes but I had under-estimated our speed. We had unstrapped our shoes and as we were rapidly running out of space before the line, I was praying that neither of us got our feet stuck in the shoe. Thankfully we were quick and I slammed the breaks on just before the line. Well that made up for the extra time taken when mounting the bike. Quick dismount, through T2 and onto the run.
On the first lap the Dutch were in the lead, with Melissa and Nicole in hot pursuit and then we were in 3rd. The coaches on the side were informing us of our deficit but we were making little ground on the leaders. I was giving Alison some encouragement and every time I did I could feel the engine on the back find another gear. On the final lap we made up some time but the positions hadn’t changed and we were still 70 seconds down. 70 SECONDS!! That’s a lot to make up on only a 5 Km run and I wasn’t sure if we could do it. Little did I know Alison was sat on the back casually thinking she could do it! Coming into T2 I followed the plan for taking our feet out the shoes but I had under-estimated our speed. We had unstrapped our shoes and as we were rapidly running out of space before the line, I was praying that neither of us got our feet stuck in the shoe. Thankfully we were quick and I slammed the breaks on just before the line. Well that made up for the extra time taken when mounting the bike. Quick dismount, through T2 and onto the run.
A simple 2 lap run meant it was easy to see our competitors but the long stretch can often look shorter than it is. After the first corner within the first Km I could see the Dutch pair only 100m ahead. Informing Alison of the distance we kept the same strong pace. They were going to be comfortable to catch over the 5 Km, but where were Melissa and Nicole?! The support from the crowd was great, and similar to on the bike Alison would respond to the big cheers and encouragement. This assured me she had another gear but I wanted her to keep the same pace to save it for the second lap. We were gradually closing on the other British pair and with one lap to go we were about 20m behind. Alison was running well and we took the lead with ~2 Km to go. If Melissa was uncomfortably close going into the last Km we said we’d pick up the pace. She wasn’t but Alison picked it up anyway. About 400m to go and she picked it up again. Really Alison?? We are winning! By now my legs were hurting but we had enough for a sprint finish. Coming down the grand blue-carpeted finishing chute ....,’and the winner of the 2015 ITU Rio Paratriathlon event in the PT5 category, Melissa Reid.’ Errrr no. It clearly says Patrick on her tri-suit. The triumph isn’t quite the same when they have to correct that. I was relieved about Alison’s incredible sub 20 min run, and credit to her for coping with a last minute change of guide, as well as not feeling 100%.
So back to the UK with a gold medal in my pocket, and another month of training before heading back to America. This time, to the U.S.A. It was the final race of the season and it was the World Championships in Chicago. I went as a travelling reserve, but this time I was the one carrying the injury. I was seeing the physio and I was limited to just swimming and cycling, but would be able to run if required. Once again some amazing views whilst cycling along the lakeside trail, and some less amazing views when using the turbo by the taxi rank in front of the hotel. But it was necessary and we had fun chatting to the public who seemed oblivious to a massive triathlon event happening in their city. I continued training and then on Wednesday I woke up feeling awful. Well this sucks. Instead of going out on my bike and exploring, I spent the whole day in the hotel. It was a very nice hotel but I’d rather be outside. I haven’t run for a while, which always depresses me, and now I’m ill. I’d call this game over. They’d have to be pretty desperate to ask me to race on Friday. Thanks to my roommate, Clare, for putting up with my misery. I was struggling to be enthusiastic but race day still excited me.
A 4am start for all the athletes and the city was dead! Luckily the overnight storms had passed so the race was due to start on time at 7am. This was the first time Alison and the Australian athlete (Katie Kelly) were to face each other, having both been unbeaten all season. Alison and Hazel had a great swim to put them in a good position. They were overtaken on the bike by Kelly who is guided by an ex-Olympic Silver medallist. Needless to say she is strong on the bike. With a minute deficit going out of T2, Alison was catching the Australian pair on the run but just fell short to take the silver medal. There was an appeal against the Australians with regard to illegal drafting/guiding in the swim (i.e. they were more than 1.5m apart) but with the jury unable to identify the video footage as the Australians, the result stood. A great performance from the girls regardless!
It seemed to be a tale of two halves for others in the squad – some great results and some disappointed athletes. Lauren Steadman retained her World title, and Ryan Taylor took bronze in the men’s PT2 category. Unfortunately Melissa and Nicole punctured on the bike but did well to finish in 6th.
It was a quick turnaround for the athletes to get a flight home, but my off season begun right there. My sister (Liv) flew out to Chicago and it was time for a holiday. I was still feeling a bit ill but the holiday excitement overcame any misery. Cheering at the baseball game, chatting to numerous age-groupers and shouting for Jonny Brownlee like a teenage girl at a One Direction concert all on the Saturday did not help my throat. By Sunday I could barely talk and Liv had to translate anything I said to the Americans. 3 jam-packed days in Chicago followed by a week in Vancouver and unusually I wasn’t itching to swim, run or cycle. That said, I did really enjoy the mountain biking in Whistler, which may have been my suggestion. Oh, and how could I forget taking my sister on the tandem round Stanley Park. It appears she has a thrill for speed as much as I have. It wasn’t competitive though, honest! Apart from with the other tandems.....’quick there’s another tandem, overtake, overtake!’ Come-on, it’s only natural. I know people that do this during their commute to work! I had so much fun with Liv, and thanks to Kathi for putting us up in Vancouver. Here’s a few of the 900+ pics:
It seemed to be a tale of two halves for others in the squad – some great results and some disappointed athletes. Lauren Steadman retained her World title, and Ryan Taylor took bronze in the men’s PT2 category. Unfortunately Melissa and Nicole punctured on the bike but did well to finish in 6th.
It was a quick turnaround for the athletes to get a flight home, but my off season begun right there. My sister (Liv) flew out to Chicago and it was time for a holiday. I was still feeling a bit ill but the holiday excitement overcame any misery. Cheering at the baseball game, chatting to numerous age-groupers and shouting for Jonny Brownlee like a teenage girl at a One Direction concert all on the Saturday did not help my throat. By Sunday I could barely talk and Liv had to translate anything I said to the Americans. 3 jam-packed days in Chicago followed by a week in Vancouver and unusually I wasn’t itching to swim, run or cycle. That said, I did really enjoy the mountain biking in Whistler, which may have been my suggestion. Oh, and how could I forget taking my sister on the tandem round Stanley Park. It appears she has a thrill for speed as much as I have. It wasn’t competitive though, honest! Apart from with the other tandems.....’quick there’s another tandem, overtake, overtake!’ Come-on, it’s only natural. I know people that do this during their commute to work! I had so much fun with Liv, and thanks to Kathi for putting us up in Vancouver. Here’s a few of the 900+ pics:
Finally, I just need to say a massive thank you to British Triathlon and UK Sport for all the support and the opportunity to be part of the squad! LOVING IT!!