Australia Day Aquathlon

Versatile: the ability to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities.

One of the things I am striving towards as a triathlete is the ability to be more versatile and this is perhaps why I feel so compelled to challenge myself to compete in my first Ironman 70.3 event later this season.  Not only do I feel this distance gives me a great opportunity to work my strengths but the challenge of racing over all distances from supersprint right up to Ironman 70.3 and having big expectations of myself in all of them in the one season is something I cannot wait to tackle head-on.

The first challenge along the line is fast approaching with the Geelong ITU Sprint Triathlon Premium Oceania Cup doubling as the Australian Elite Sprint Distance Championships being held in 2 weeks time.  While training has been going along in great fashion since returning from our DAT training camp early in the new year, the plan had always been to spice things up and get the body firing for the big race with a hit out on Australia Day.  The event of choice had been the Burleigh Swim Run which was made up of slightly unconventional distances of a 400m surf swim followed by a 3.84km run.  Needless to say this event attracts several big name surf swimmers who try to out-fox the triathletes in challenging surf conditions but with the likes of Brad Kahlefeldt and Emma Moffatt on the 2012 start list this would always be a tough task. 

Unfortunately this event was not to be in 2012 and with what can only be described as torrential rainfall for the majority of the week all over Queensland the event organisers were forced to cancel the day prior.  While this was far abnormal with several Australia Day events also being cancelled due to the wet weather, at DAT we tend to do things a little bit differently and with the cancellation of that race we decided to put on our own that would be sure to test our versatility!

And so I present to you...the DAT Australia Day Aquathlon:

Come Australia Day morning the stage was set at the well known DAT training headquarters of the Stafford State School Pool and while the 20+ athletes commenced their warm-up and the 10+ junior stars of the future showed off their bomb diving skills, coach/race director/technical official Dan Atkins set about organising what was bound to be a testing event.  Forget the standard aquathlon formula of a run/swim/run, this enduro style format would comprise a 300m swim, 2km run, 300m swim, 1km run, 300m swim and a final 2km run to make sure the legs and arms were well and truly hurting by the end.  With our 25m facility becoming somewhat crowded during a regular swim session the decision was made to start the race in waves and with age-group superstars Dave Kelly, Dave Sangster, Dave Macdonald, Simon Leeper, Craig Madders and Robbie Mullins making up one heat the racing was going to be fast!  With each wave going off the competitiveness increased and with no real idea of who was where in terms of positioning it was all about pushing yourself to your limits except for the cheeky tactics of timing your re-entry to the water so you could get a nice bit of draft off whoever was already ahead of you. 

I could claim there was no single winner on the day but that is just a dead giveaway that I wasn't the first one to cross the line and as I came to the finish there looked to be far too many who by the looks of things had had enough time to compose themselves and look like they were ready to go again.  So, sticking to my original story; everyone walked away a winner from the inaugural DAT Australia Day Aquathlon having pushed themselves to the limit and more importantly had a crack at some short and fast racing in preparation of the more important races coming up very shortly.

But wait, there's more...while the junior stars of the future may have been spectating throughout the main race the stage was set for them to strut their stuff over the modified but still challenging distances of a 150m swim, 800m run, 100m swim and a final 800m run.  Each and every one of these kids performed outstandingly and are without doubt stars of the future and by the looks of how much fun they were having will be back for more in no time!

And finally, while the majority of us were challenging ourselves and each other in the aquathlon there was a small contingent of DAT athletes not present.  As I write this blog I am somewhat torn between coming up with an entertaining story while keeping one eye firmly glued to the twitter updates of @DATRacing (thanks Craig, you continue to do an amazing job and I almost feel like I'm there!) as Emily, Holly and Bonnie take on the best of the best in the ITU Junior race in Canberra and with Tom, Luke, Angus and Corey set to tackle the guys race shortly I won't be moving from my post any time soon.

http://www.danatkinstraining.com.au/canberra2012.html

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