The World Triathlon Podcast end-of-year round-up continues with a revealing double header in the company of the man that pulled off one of the most flawless seasons and biggest Championship Finals performances in memory, 2025 World Champion Matt Hauser, and the coach who helped him engineer it, Dan Atkins.

From the deep, career-shaping conversations they shared while locked down together during COVID and Dan's concerns for Matt's stress levels heading into Wollongong and why racing, to beating Alex and Hayden in France and why racing WTCS Karlovy Vary went from being a huge question mark to a defining moment in his grand final success. It's a first-hand insight into the duo's development of the plan behind getting an Aussie male back on top of the world for the first time in 20 years, and you can listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

'We didn't chase people, we chased progression in Matt's ability,' says Dan. 'So we played with different things this year and this is year one of a quad, so we wanted to make sure that the things we did this year helped set up 2026 and 2026 into '27, into '28.'

'There were two key objectives there, and I honestly think they really worked well for Matt; his physiology and the way that he moves. We've shown that Matt's not hit his ceiling yet. And I know that we've got a lot more room to grow. Both of us as a duo, but also Matt as an individual.'

Part of that was a first altitude training camp in Andorra ahead of July's WTCS Hamburg. A new experience for both, the results were clear for all to see as he powered to the individual gold and produced one of the greatest Mixed Relay legs of all time the next day to help Australia win the world title. It was a level of performance he was able to sustain through to WTCS French Riviera, the race with the added spice of a returning Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde to the blue carpet.

'The French Riviera was proper running, like, that was so fast,' remembers Dan. 'I was like, 'wow, what's that run gonna cost us?' Because, credit to Drew Box and Vasco. That was unbelievable racing. And to see Matt go that deep, I could tell by watching the race at home, how deep he was going.'

The 5km run Hauser had to clock to hold of Vilaça was a flying 13:36. He went to the well more than once. He found the ledge beyond the edge that he then knew he could take all the way to a home Finals if called upon. But it wasn't a place that, by his own admission, he was always going to find.

One of the defining moments of this fascinating coach/athlete relationship came during lockdown together, returning to Australia from racing during the tail end of the pandemic. Two men plotting their path through the years ahead, what was possible, what they felt they could achieve. What they wanted to achieve.

'Probably my seriousness towards the sport, my attitude towards the sport, wasn't quite there in the early stages and I did rely a lot on given talent and probably didn't commit as much to the sport as I probably should have,' admits Hauser. 'Ultimately, people can tell you all sorts of things and tell you to mature quickly or to rush things, you need to do this, you need to do that. But ultimately, you need to find that balance yourself. And that comes with maturity and experience. And I think for me, I'm only now getting to a stage where I can recognise those things.'

'And I've learned along the journey that now is the time to go all in. Otherwise I'll look back in six, seven years' time when my career's potentially over and I'll think the what if, which is a very scary thought. Too scary to not make the sacrifices today to make that not happen. I think ultimately you have to make your own journey through that and that kind of maturing can't be taught. It needs to be learned. It needs to be found by yourself.

'We've reminded ourselves a few times of those conversations,' adds Dan, 'and they're still drivers to where we're headed now.'

But before finding out where they are heading in 2026, listen to the full interview as Matt and Dan pick through the embers of October's fiery World Championship Finals in Wollongong.