The Duathlon went very well for us - with two second places - very well done to Amelia and Bex! The trip down was not too bad - for being in a van for 7 hours. Straight to check in on getting to Feilding and try to decipher the courses - which was quite a challenge, and also a moving target, as they were constantly being changed! We managed to get a couple of houses very close to the race start as our accommodation - which worked out very well. A jog around the race course after we were sort of checked in, and then a few transition practices. Quite amazing how much time you can save making the transitions a little better - far more time effective than running or cycling training I am sure -at least initially!
Most of the team - Sam and mum (Morreau), Bex and Dad (team management!), Amelia and the coach!
Sam on his way to an excellent victory at Duathlon Nationals. Racing with a maturity that many don't have when 10 years his senior...
The racing went very well overall, and great to see some good athletes front up and race hard in nice weather. There were a few classic battles, and races within races. There were also a few very dominating performances. The Morreau Family came away with a win, two seconds and a third - not too bad a haul for the medal cabinet. It is quite interesting watching races -I would usually rather be racing of course - but you see some athletes just step up and race, giving it their best shot. While others, who maybe fitter and/or faster, just go into self destruct mode when races come around. A bit of show boating and chest beating before hand, then execute a pretty dumb race plan which opens the door to the opposition, and when they come through that door the self doubt kicks in and the steep downward spiral begins, and usually ends with the proverbial tail between the legs.
As with all the other school level events I have been to over the last year, I am amazed at the level of ability. That is tinged a little with the knowledge that in all probability over half of these promising athletes will not be involved in the sport in a few years time after they leave school.
I thought I would comment a little on national sporting bodies, and the politics a little this week. This could be a rant, but I will try to avoid too much ranting. It is easy to be negative and derogatory and take cheap shots, and in many cases that is not helpful. But when it comes to sporting bodies - why do they more often than not shoot themselves in the foot (repeated in many cases) when there is no need to, or worse, when they are (quite) well paid to "do a job"? A few examples...
At the recent World athletic champ's, Caster Semenya quite convincingly won the woman's 800m running race. The poor unfortunate "girls" result is currently in the air, awaiting sex determination testing. This really should have been sorted out a year ago, when she burst onto the scene running around 1:56 for the 800m. Why put her through far more than just the pressure of racing at the top level, when it all could be sorted with far less drama. Of course the other side of this is sex determination, which you can quickly discover is not very clear cut at all. Athletics South Africa are quite happy with the "pants check", which as it turns out is not very reliable. Chromosome tests are not that reliable either - a few have already been tripped up on that one ("what do you mean I am not female??"). So there is a barrage of testing, and I am not sure that it is a very clear line after the test are in either. Through no fault of their own, those with a sex/gender "hiccup" are stuck between a rock and a hard place - they may have an little bit of an unfair advantage over "pure" female athletes, with a little more testosterone and other male traits, but they cannot compete equally with the male field either - as they don't have the full male strength traits either. But whatever way it should go - it should be sorted before the main event on the big stage!
Glad I was not running in the womens 800m...
Swimming has also made a total hash of things in recent years - with the introduction of the new "speed suits". In a sport that is really quite pure - they have tried to make the playing field as uneven as they can - well perhaps they could have done worse - but I wont challenge them to that. It really should be quite easy to say - you swim in a standard style swim suit, made of standard type materials, with pretty standard goggles and an optional standard swim cap. That way the best swimmer, who races the best, wins on the day. With the current generation of swim suits - the results are affected by which suit you wear. There is significant cost associated with that ($700+ per suit, that may only last a few swims), which will surely also impact on some swimmers - even at the top level. On top of that is the impact on the record books - those that have set impressive marks previously have had their records broken by far lesser athletes with better technology. If in doubt - KISS - keep it simple stupid!
You could probably write several volumes on the stupidity of cycling administrators over the years. But, while they still do make big mistakes, I really think they are close to leading the way now. Cycling at the top level is probably one of the cleaner sports from a doping point of view - perhaps more at risk now of failing athletes with false positives. They may get a lot of negative press, but they do far more testing and far more intensive testing than most other sports. They have tried to control the technology explosion, perhaps over-reacting sometimes (eg one hour records now on a standard road bike with drop bars). But most of the rules are more about making the playing field level. I guess one of the things that has really raised my eyebrows in the past is that you can push someone off there bike deliberately or hook them in a sprint (usually causing the victim to crash at speed - never nice) and possibly incur a place penalty (still get the bunch time)- but often get away with it. Then if you wear the wrong kit in a race and you get fined! The incorrect logo on your shorts is far worse than breaking someone's collarbone and writing off their bike? I don't get that...
I have certainly struggled with triathlons governing bodies over the years - probably more so because I have been more "into" triathlon and have really only "dabbled" in cycling and athletics and have only been to one swim meet (and that was only a club night - getting whipped by 11 year old girls!). I have been on the other side - club committee member, even a club president for a while, I have also been involved with TriNZ - as a regional delegate (when they were the "in" drivers for the sport), and as a selector. The club stuff is usually pretty good, and it is social and things just get done! At the national level there is always politics involved - and it is typically more about those in the organisation looking after their own interests rather than doing what they are either paid to do or "volunteering" to do. Those that are there trying to do their job to the best of their ability are usually "used and abused" until they break - which is usually pretty quickly.
The overall direction that Triathlon NZ is taking maybe commendable, and on the surface sounds good - but if you skim over the recent performance and think for a moment about what they are trying to achieve, you soon realize they have conflicting goals and are at the very least, highly over ambitious. A bit like the guy who has a 10km PB of 42 minutes and starts his half marathon with the guns, running the first km in 2:54 and then struggles through the last 5km averaging 6:52/km. A bit more realistic approach at the start would result in a far better finishing result. I would much rather see realistic goals and far less spin doctoring - just get on with the job!
What would I like to see from triathlons national body? I will say that I have communicated my ideas to TriNZ - to the CEO and relevant authorities within (usually over a semi-civil cup of coffee!). I suspect mostly what was heard was blah blah blah, as the promised follow-up has never eventuated from any sources. The main thing I would like to see is get the core business sorted and running the best it possibly can. Forget everything else until that is sorted. I see the main tasks of the national body as being; technical - the administration of the rules for the sport, selection - national teams both elite and age-group (primarily world championship - but there are other aspects), and administration of the sport (membership and some high performance stuff requires a fair bit of paper pushing). Forget about organizing races - TriNZ has proven resoundingly over the last 3 years that it cannot organize races. TriNZ has made a total hash of a number of events including a few national championships. Sort out the junior development program so that you keep the talent in the sport and enjoying the sport. The current scheme of identifying one narrow skill set and putting all the effort into that small basket of eggs is simply not working. The high performance program (including junior development) has had one athlete come through in over 8 years (Debbie Tanner), all the other Elite athletes that have performed on the world stage would have done so without the HP program, and perhaps done even better! Isnt there a definition of insanity that goes along the lines of "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result"...
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