MC Firstly, Iain, are you fully recovered from your crash at theBritish National Championships?
IDPretty Much. I have the odd slight niggle still, but nothing major. Wewere lucky to come out of it with just minor injuries and I was back intotraining within a couple of days. Luke had some nasty road rash, butmanaged to race the next day and take 2nd place in the studentchampionships!
MCIt’s not your first big incident in the last couple of years is it? Did you feelthat it was happening to you all over again?
ID I crashed heavily on the bike leg at the World Triathlon Championshipslast year in Beijing when racing with Liam Gentry. We came out of thewater about one minute down on a new Brazilian pairing who lookedgood. We were comfortably in second place and arguably could haveplayed it safe, but as I was defending champion there was no way wewere going to settle for silver without a fight. Once on the bike wepushed really hard, especially up a long climb early on. We descendedrapidly and almost certainly would have caught the leaders…A tight lefthand corner was our undoing as we careered off the road at about45MPH into a deep concrete drainage ditch. With the tandem badlydamaged and Liam and I injured, our race was over. Liam wasdevastated as he felt responsible, but these things happen sometimeswhen racing at that level.
The crash at the Nationals was quite different in the sense that itoccurred not because we were pushing the limits, but due to somethingtotally out of our control. Luke Watson was guiding for this race and allseemed to be going well as we led out the swim. Onto the bike and wewere pushing on to build a lead before the run when out of the blue Iheard Luke shouting at someone or something. Sitting on the back ofthe tandem I didn’t know what was happening, but then I heard awoman’s panicked voice and I sort of knew instantly it was a child on thecircuit. Fractions of a second later we collided with the child, who hadapparently cycled out in front of us and froze as we approached atspeed. There was nothing Luke could do. Thankfully we all only had afew cuts and bruises, although I will never know how …… it could havebeen much, much worse.
I couldn’t believe I had crashed again. I had an awful 2011 season withinjuries, mechanical problems and that crash in China, but after winningthe European championships in April I felt my luck was changing. I wasalso pretty gutted to wreck the new tandem and wheels Matrix hadgenerously supplied for this season.
MCThe threat of serious injury as a visually impaired cyclist must playheavily on the mind. Whatever made you take up triathlon, where thereis so much emphasis on the bike leg, rather than sticking with swimmingfor instance or running?
IDI try not to worry about crashes and injuries as they are usually quite rare(honestly!). Prior to the last two incidents, I hadn’t crashed for over 10years! I have been cycling since I was 15 and competed to a high levelin that sport, but eventually needed a new challenge. Triathlon fitted thebill as it would give me a whole set of new goals to work towards. I hadactually done a couple of events when I was younger, but I wasspectacularly unsuccessful, mainly because I was an awful swimmer. Insome ways, I wanted to go back and even the score after my earlyexperiences in the sport!
MCTraining obviously takes up a huge part of your week. How do you fit thedemands of being a world class athlete around a full time job and otheraspects of a normal life?
IDIts a tricky balancing act. I enjoy my work as a Physiotherapist and wantto do as good a job as possible, but I also want to be as good at mysport as possible. The two things don't really go well together as workingfull-time just doesn't leave enough training and recovery time. Ultimately my wife, Jill, and I don't live a normal life as she puts in asmuch time and effort into this as I do. We don't get time formuch else outside of work and triathlon, but try to have the odd breakwhen we can.
MC And you also found time to get involved with a University developmentproject.
IDRio Tinto (who are providing the metal for all of the medals at the2012 games) funded a project at Imperial College in London where thestudents were challenged to innovate equipment for use in Paralympicsport. The Ultimate aim was to develop something that would be used ator in preparation for the 2016 games or that would help people withdisabilities lead a more active lifestyle. My role was just to provide somereal world experience and the odd idea, which hopefully I did. One of theprojects I had a hand in, the ‘Ghost’, won a £5,000 grant to develop theidea further. There were several other great ideas too, all put together injust three weeks from idea to prototype.
MCYou’ve just returned from a training camp in Loughborough. How wasthat?
IDIt was a very busy, but hugely productive four days. On the one hand Iwas trying to make the most of the facilities and expertise on offerthrough the British Triathlon coaches and support staff whilst also tryingto spend some time with a potential new guide, Carl Shaw. This meantsome days I did 5 sessions and had other 1:1 activities with the supportteam on top. Whilst I did quite a high volume of training, I also endedup doing a lot of high intensity work with 5 fitness tests in the first 2days! It should help me move forwards for the rest of the season andhopefully beyond.
MC So you’ve already won the European Championships with your guide LukeWatson this year, the nationals we know about but I guess it’s all eyeson the Worlds now?
IDDefinitely. It will be tough to win back the World title in New Zealandduring October, but Luke and I are going to give it a good go! I havequite a few races before then too such as the Norwich Triathlon organisedby my club Tri-Anglia, a Paratri in Scotland and the World Duathlonchampionships in France.
MC Many people are under the misconception, aren’t they Iain, that yourguide plays no other part than to steer you round the course. Can youexplain the roll of a guide and the importance of finding the right one foryou.
ID It can work both ways as some people think that, whilst others think theguide does all the work and just drags me around! Neither is true. Theguide needs to direct you as quickly and safely around the whole eventas possible. They swim tethered to their visually impaired partner, thenpilot the tandem around the bike leg before running alongside theathlete who has to wear blacked-out glasses, giving directionalinstructions and other information as needed. They have a hard job!
It’s a team effort and you have to work out how to get the most out ofthe pairing. You need to adapt your strategy to each other’s strengthsand weaknesses as well as the type of race and the opposition you arefacing. You need a guide who firstly isn’t going to slow you down,secondly is going to be strong on the bike and thirdly is quicker than youon the run so they still have the breath to talk. Ideally, you needsomeone who shares a goal with you and you need to get on well withother!
MC We’re obviously delighted to see you winning at the highest level on theMatrix carbon tandem and wheels but do you think that the equipmentyou choose does make that much difference to your performance?
ID At the end of the day, whatever you use you still have to push thepedals around and generate the power needed to be successful.However, having top quality equipment really does help at this level ofsport. For example, the Matrix tandem is incredibly stiff so no power islost through the frame flexing and this also helps with handling meaningyou can corner a bit quicker too. It is very light for a tandem whencombined with the T806 deep section carbon wheels making any uphillsections or accelerations easier. This combination helped us win theEuropean title. I also have a J3 (tri-spoke) front and rear disk wheel thatare great for flatter courses where aerodynamics are the most importantfactor, adding 1-2MPH for no extra effort depending on the conditions.
MC And is carbon really a viable material for the forces and geometry of atandem – I know a lot of people are sceptical?
ID I have always been a bit sceptical myself when it comes to using carbonin tandem frames or forks. When I first saw the Matrix tandem on theinternet I thought it looked amazing, but I was still unsure of how strongor durable it would be. Clearly carbon technology has moved onmassively in recent years and there are several tandem manufacturersusing this material now. Where the Matrix tandem differs to the others isthat it uses aluminium tubes at the front, middle and rear of the bikemixed with carbon tubes for lightness. The aluminium sections increasestiffness but also seem to absorb any twisting/torsional forces and soshould increase durability. So far, it’s been a revelation compared toother tandems I have ridden.
MC Now I know that people find this hard to believe but you also compete inindividual time trials and other events don’t you?
IDYes, I ride a few TT’s on local courses that I know well, one’s where I canrecce the course thoroughly beforehand with Jill and then train on thesame roads regularly beforehand. I have less than 10% sight so I haveto be careful, but I am well adapted to this. I have to concentrate hardon what I am doing, although I have very quick reactions so rarely evenhit a pot-hole. This is helped massively by riding a bike that handlessuperbly like my new Matrix Pyro TT, it rides more like a road bike whichI like a lot. Although I’m competitive, I don’t take risks or ride in poorlight when cycling by myself as it’s not worth it. I often have to back offsignificantly as my physical ability outstrips my visual ability. Its goodtraining though and nice to do something independently, but I do myserious racing on the tandem!
MCWhere do you see paratriathlon as a sport in ten years from now in lightof its inclusion in the 2016 Paralympic games?
ID It’s developing quickly as a sport and that will continue exponentiallyover the next few years in the lead up to Rio 2016. After that, the growthand standards will continue to rise for the 2020 games and beyond. Maybe not me, but by the next Olympic cycle I would expect thoseinvolved will be full time triathletes.
MC And will you be there competing?
ID Rio, yes hopefully, after that I doubt it – I will be 45 in 10 years time ……I am sure I will still be doing something to keep active though as thereare lots of challenges out there to be tackled!
MC You’ve already had an illustrious career in your sport and no doubt youhave many more accolades to come. Is there any sports person inparticular, from the past or present, that you admire and feel has had aninfluence on you personally?
ID Although total opposites, I always like both Chris Boardman and GraemeObree: Boardman for his scientific, high-tech approach and Obree for hisinventive approach and pure genius at times.
MC And finally, Iain, what advice would you give to the club triathlete whowants to take the next step towards stardom?
ID Aim high but set realistic intermediate goals to help you get where youwant to be. Be patient: consistency over a long period is the key whentraining for improvement even if you are naturally gifted. There are noshort cuts to success, except buying a Matrix bike of course!
MC Many thanks Iain and all the best for the future.