There was a buzz of excitement in the air at the Dextro Energy Series ITU World Championship Series press conference in Sydney’s beautiful Hyde Park on Friday. Season-starting excitement, fitness, Olympic qualifying and racing in dog-suits were the topics of choice as current ITU World Champion Emma Moffatt and Javier Gomez, current Olympic champs Emma Snowsill and Jan Frodeno, sprint distance world champion Lisa Norden and last year’s Dextro Energy Triathlon Series bronze-medallist Brad Kahlefeldt gathered to swap pre-race notes.
Lisa Norden
On her history of racing in Sydney: “This morning I was running down Mrs Macquaries chair and I was thinking it must have been 2004/05 I was racing in a corporate race, dressed in a dog suit down there. It was a 300 metre swim, seven kilometre bike and a couple of kilometres run and my team did win. I was racing age-group at the time I was doing my swims at Bondi and running around Centennial Park and on Sunday to be able to dive into Sydney Harbour as a professional athlete is completing the circle for me.”
On how winning the first-ever ITU Sprint Distance World Championship has changed her life in Sweden: “The world championship helped people to realise that ‘oh, there is a sport called triathlon and it’s really cool we have a girl is a world champion,’. I went down to Switzerland to do a race just to sharpen up for the world series races and I didn’t expect to win, I had quite a tough race and I got that title and it wasn’t until then I realised just how great it was for our country…the phone never stopped ringing and the papers caught on that it’s quite a cool thing and it’s been growing ever since back home.”
Emma Moffatt
On Australian athletes sucess in triathlon: “I guess it’s great to come from a country that has such a rich history in triathlon, both males and females have been very strong since the sport started, we come from a great country where it is so accessible to be able to do it. So I guess going into each season we are just trying our best and hopefully we can carry it off into the season.”
On her off-season: “My off-season has been going really well, I had a good race in Geelong and then I had a pretty good race in Mooloolaba it’s just a shame that they were two minutes up the road but hopefully that doesn’t happen again. But I ran pretty well in Mooloolaba so hopefully I can have another good race here on Sunday.”
Emma Snowsill
On her 2010 season: “I think with every high there comes a low and sometimes they are the best times to look at yourself and find ways to re-evaluate how you want to move forward and how you want to get better. For me I love big races and I guess that’s the thing that really excites me the most and obviously I did have a very inconsistent season last year but I definitely learned a lot when things weren’t necessarily going right.”
On defending her Olympic gold medal in London:“I guess the first step is just making the Australian team, for many of the nations and federations the selection policies are really tough and I know ours is really tough as well as the first step is making the team. For me to go to a second Olympics would be a dream come true and obviously it would be different this time around, with a few more years racing under my belt and a few more life experiences I would certainly hope that if I have my toes on the start-line in London that I am a stronger athlete, mentally, physically and emotionally.”
Jan Frodeno
On last year’s Dextro Energy Triathlon Series season-opener in Sydney: “It was a really grateful crowd and I figure if I am going to fly halfway around the world for a few days of racing then I might as well finish the race for one, and get the most out of it. So I certainly did on the day and the crowd made it really great and I just tried to put on a bit of a show and have a bit of fun and it was just great that it turned out that way, I much prefer a better turn-out, running from in the forties right the way up to 32nd place was not as a much front as running for the front but hopefully that turns out differently this year.”
On his off-season: “I was fortunate enough to spend a four month training block down in South Africa, Stellenbosch is my second home, I love training there and I really enjoy the facilities and the weather and I am really looking forward to the first race. It’s been a long long time since Budapest, a long time since we got to rev it up and I’m looking forward to Sunday, I’ll see how fresh I am. I’m obviously also looking to qualify for the Olympic Games which will be the 7th of August in London, but nevertheless I’m really looking forward to racing on Sunday at two o’clock.”
Javier Gomez
On training with Greg Bennett in Queensland: “I had a great time with Greg, him and Laura Bennett, they both have a lot of experience and you always learn a lot from someone who has been racing for 20 years or something like that. He talked to me about this course, about this race and we shared some training, we had some pretty good power sessions, I’m happy with my level right now so it’s always nice to be in Australia this time of the year when it’s quite cold in Europe, so I’m looking forward to the race and hope to do better than Mooloolaba this time.”
On his fitness: “It’s quite good for me because I’m not injured and that is a really good point for me compared to the last two seasons. With experience you learn that it is a long year there are so many races and so many important ones so I think the world title will be decided in Europe, you need to be fit in July and August when there will be three or four races. This is the first one, it is Sydney and it is a special place for triathlon, I would love to do it well and I will give my best for Sunday. I am focused first of all on qualifying for the London Olympic Games, I have to do that in the London race and then I need to try and fight for the title, so I need to be really fit in July, August and September.”
Brad Kahlefeldt
On racing in Sydney: “This is an iconic destination and with the Sydney Olympics, unfortunately I wasn’t involved in that I was a bit too young but I remember watching Simon Whitfield run down Macquarie Street to win the first gold medal for Canada, it was a pretty special moment for the sport. I guess racing last year unfortunately I wasn’t fantastic with the 11th but it was just nice to get out there and race on home soil. Us Aussies obviously tend to be based out of the country for half the year and it’s just nice to do a couple of races, Mooloolaba World Cup and Sydney World Series race on home soil in front of the family, friends and sponsors as most of those guys can’t travel all the way over to Europe every year so it’s nice to get that support.”