DTR Sports Management’s Matty White talks about his new TT Merida pictured below:
Hey Folks,
This is the new Time Trial frame from Merida which I received the other day. It is called “the DARK NIGHT” and its a new version of the Time Warp which I have been riding all season. I can;t wait to get this machine on the road, the guys at TRAK CYCLES in Norwood are decking it out complete with Shimano Di2 componentry which will be awesome to use.
I will keep you updated as the bike gets built, it should be ready and rolling at the Victor Harbor Triathlon so keep an eye out.
Matty
DTR Sports Management’s Paul Attard won his first Elite race of the season.
Yesterday was race 5 of the Gatorade series at Portarlington. I originally wasn’t going to do this race as i wanted to do Hobart but couldn’t do Hobart because it got cancelled. This would turn out to be fine with me but at first was disappointed to not be racing in Hobart as it is a great race down there.
The water temperature was measured at 21 which mean that we would not be able to wear a wetsuit. It was always going to be a good swim for the guys with the surf skills as we waded out the first 100m and waded in the last 150m.
Normally I would be happy with this but I found that some of the guys, especially the taller fellas could run out much further than me which meant I just had to work a bit harder and maybe do a bit more practice in those conditions.
I exited the water about 40 seconds down on the main guys and over a minute to Jamie Rhodes, but he’s in a league of his own. My transition was not all that flash either.
At this point I was not worried about losing contact as we have a climb out of transition and I could see most of the guys up ahead. The bike course is one 26k loop with a few undulations but nothing too serious.
The first 10k was a group of three of us working together with the younger of us three fading after a few k. But he did help us quiet a bit. We finally caught the second group which had about 5 guys in it and still about 45 seconds down on the leaders. We started to work hard again once we got together and slowly we were getting into the lead pack of about 4 guys.
We caught them with 200m to transition so there was no time to catch the breath at all.
T2 was quick and we were out straight away sitting in 5th place running up the stairs all i wanted was to hang on for the first couple of k’s as I was confident in out running them in the later part of the run. My legs started to come through at about the 3k mark and that was when i went to the front. I slowly picked up the pace to make them hurt a bit but not too much to hurt myself. A few little surges and they were falling behind. I lost a little concentration and they got some back on me with 2k to go but they didn’t get close enough to worry me. I knew Leigh was going to have a stab in the final k so I put the hammer down again and he kept coming. With the downhill finish all I had to do was let the legs roll over and take me to the finish line.
And there it was, my first win in a Gatorade race. I was so happy with that result and am now really keen for last race of the series. I am now sitting either 2nd or third in the series so to hold onto a podium finish in the series will be great.
DTR Sports Management’s Matty White wins in fine form today at South Australian Champs.
Please enjoy his personal report of the race:
Another year down and I found myself on the start line defending my State Championships which I have won the past few years.
This year the race was held in Kingston South East which is one of the best races on the SA calendar and a great place to visit, it is one of the best fishing towns in SA as well, hence the reason I always swim well here as I want to get in and out of that water ASAP.
The community really gets behind this race which is what makes it so special; right from the Carbo party on Saturday night until presentations the feel of the race was positive and fun. A big congratulation must go out to the organizers who stepped it up this year attracting a record field.
My personal feelings on this race were a little bit apprehensive in that I had been really run down and unwell after Geelong 70.3 the week before so I had no idea how my body was going to react in a 2 hr race. I found that out in the first 100m in the swim when an interstate competitor took the swim out pretty hard, I managed to hang on his feet with Dan Lock, and about 1000m in the swim I moved up toward the front having a good swim exiting in equal 1st spot. On to the bike and I decided to lay it down on the first 13km lap to see where my fitness was, I was lucky enough to find that I had a comfortable lead during the bike to exit on the run about 3 minutes clear, which is always comforting. I managed to hit a nice rhythm on the run clearing away to win by over 4 min and breaking my race record from last year by 3 min on a day where the wind was a lot stronger. That was my 4th State OD Championships and I was really happy with how the race went, it was good to see Shane Johnson recover from an average swim to take 2nd and newcomer Chris Wigell taking a close 3rd.
Next on the agenda now is a hard Ironman prep phase which I am looking forward to as the weather has been great in RADelaide and is continuing right through next week.
Here are some shots from the weekend, and a shout out to my mate and fellow firefighter Andrew French who raced his first OD tri and finished in 2.20hrs, he will kill me for putting the photo up on my website as no doubt he will cop a lot from the boys at the Fire Station…..and he is much bigger than me so I am running scared!
Matty
DTR Sports Management’s Matt Docking talks about Ryders Eyewear for Golf
I have found the Ryders sunglasses to be great for golf. I have actually been using the smoke lens for the most part recently due to the fine weather that I have been playing in. I have used all three lenses at different points and have had no trouble in adjusting to any of them. The are very comfortable to wear and provide me with the protection I require when playing in any conditions. The pink/orange lenses are perfect for those semiu overcast days that aren’t quite bright enough for the smoke lens while the yellow/clear lense is great for overcast or dull days as it tends to brighten things up somewhat.
I have no trouble at all reccomending them to other golfers both amatuer and professional as I feel they are a great product.
Cheers
Matt
DTR Sports Management’s Matty White talks about his day in Geelong:
Another year down and I found myself back at Geelong 70.3 standing in transition with just about every Australian pro athlete who races long course give or take a few, I honestly thought last yr was such a great field that a lot of athletes wouldn’t be there this yr, but I was mistaken with the race packed with big names such as Alexander, Berkel, Shortis, Griffen, Rahula etc. It was going to be a hard fast race and a top 5 result was my goal.
My wife Danielle was also racing her first half ironman so the nerves were double for me on race morning with 2 sets of transitions to set up and 2 sets of bike tyres to pump up! Luckily everything went well without a hitch and I made my way to the swim start in the pristine waters of Corio Bay, the swim for me went well after skimming over about 5 jellyfish I managed to come out on the feet of Leon Griffen and Tim Berkel about 20 seconds off the main pack with Alexander and co. I started to feel really good on the bike and we caught the main pack at about 5km into the bike ride, with only Clayton Fettell off the front about 1 minute up the road. I probably felt a little too good on the bike and had a few digs at trying to get away, I managed to get a small break at the start of lap 2 with Berkel but it got shut down pretty quickly.
Into transition the main group which contained all the big names hit transition with a 3 minute deficit to Fettell, and the pace was on straight out of transition with Alexander and Schokmann setting a 3 minute km pace from the gun. This pace really created carnage amongst the field with athletes slowing down and blowing up on the first lap. I managed to settle into the run after not feeling great on the first run lap and eventually finish strong in 6th place in a quality field with Alexander showing he is a true class act taking out the event for the 2nd straight year ahead of Griffen and Berkel. So first race down in 2010 and I have a big schedule of races in February and March culminating in the Murrayman event and Port Macquarie Ironman before I head over to the US in April for the full season!
I would like to congratulate my wife Danielle who had a great race and finished in 5.30hrs which was a great effort exceeding all expectations, and also my manager Dan Roberts from DTR who cranked out a massive 13min PB and is going to Clearwater.
The only downside to the Geelong race was the emergence of the SUPER PELETON age group packs, as I was heading back into town I noticed 2 distinct packs of about 50 plus athletes on the other side of the road. Firstly I actually thought it was a Geelong group cyclist bunch heading out until I saw tri bars and disc wheels and realized it was part of the race. I am not sure what the solution is to this problem and I hope the new WTC will implement something to counteract it, but the one thing I do know for sure is that not only is it dangerous but it also doesn’t look good and something needs to be done about it before our sport becomes a laughing stock….
Thanks to everyone for the great support on race day as it was much needed to get me through a tough day…
Matty
Alexander and Steffen win Ironman 70.3 Geelong 2010
Alexander defends title, while Steffen has inaugural Ironman 70.3 victory
Craig Alexander launched his campaign for a third consecutive Ironman World Championship in perfect style, successfully defending his title at today’s Ironman 70.Geelong. Alexander beat a stellar field which included 2008 race champion Leon Griffin (VIC), and Australia’s youngest ever Ironman champion Tim Berkel (NSW), who finished second and third respectively.
In the women’s race, Switzerland’s Caroline Steffen took her inaugural Ironman 70.3 victory. Last year’s winner Sam Warriner narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth behind Carrie Lester (QLD) and Lisa Marangon (NSW).
1,500 athletes took part in today’s event, held at picturesque Eastern Beach in Geelong, Victoria. They were treated to ideal race conditions, with a light breeze and the sun breaking through just as the starter’s gun fired.
The professional field had the benefit of a five minute head start over the rest of the age group and team competitors. As expected, Clayton Fettell established an early lead, emerging from the 1.9km swim in an astonishing 21:54, over two minutes clear of the chase group which included Alexander, Paul Ambrose, Michael Murphy and Jan Rehula. Griffin, Berkel, Peter Schokman and Matty White were a further 10-15 seconds behind.
An accomplished swimmer and water polo player, 23 year old Fettell (NSW) has been working hard to develop his bike/run combination since winning last year’s Gold Coast Half Ironman. Last month he finished 14th overall in the national time trial cycling championships, and it was clear that his tactic going in to the 90.1km bike leg would be to throw out the challenge to “catch me if you can”.
By the end of the first lap, he had already extended his lead by a further minute. Meanwhile, the original chase group had been joined by a secondary group which included notoriously strong cyclists Jason Shortis and Ollie Whistler.
Fettell later said that he was “riding scared”, however he is clearly well motivated by fear, as he had developed a buffer of almost five minutes by the time he entered the bike/run transition. He ran out strongly, however it was clear that the race was by no means over, with a group including Alexander, Griffin, Berkel, White and Schokman in hot pursuit.
By the end of the first lap, Fettell’s lead had been whittled down to just two minutes, and at the 11km mark, he was finally passed by Alexander, and then Griffin. Berkel kept a steady but solid pace to gradually run through the field to claim third position.
In his post-race interview, a typically humble Alexander said, “I’m really happy with that. That was a solid hit-out, especially considering all the travel. I’ve done a strong block of training these last five or six weeks.
He noted that there is a huge amount of talent coming up through the ranks, offering particular praise to Leon Griffin. “Griff’s on the same sort of upswing as me. He had a great race. I think he’s very under-rated. He finished ninth in Clearwater last year, which is the world championship for this distance. He received a four minute penalty and lot of guys felt he was hardly done by. He’s a great athlete.”
Griffin returned the compliment, saying “Today was always going to come down to a running race. Craig showed why he’s the world champion, he ran away with ease.”
Next stop for Alexander is likely to be Ironman 70.3 Singapore at the end of March, before he and his family head to the US where he will continue his preparation for Hawaii with a number of the major Ironman 70.3 and Olympic Distance races.
The women’s race unfolded very differently. In the early stages, it appeared that the match-race between defending champion Warriner and her Swiss rival Caroline Steffen would develop as predicted, with Warriner leading her competitors out of the swim.
However, Steffen quickly stamped her authority on the bike course, saying later that the slightly undulating terrain suits her perfectly. By the end of the first lap she had taken the lead from Warriner, with Lisa Marangon in third position.
From there, Steffen took control of the race, eventually winning by exactly five minutes over Marangon and a fast-finishing Carrie Lester. Warriner finished a disappointing fourth.
An ecstatic Steffen said “It feels awesome to win! It’s my first win in a 70.3 race. I had an awesome day, I felt so strong. I did my own race, and never looked back.”
Steffen’s win today qualifies her for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships (Clearwater, Florida) where she finished fourth last year.
TOP FIVE RESULTS – PROFESSIONAL MEN & WOMEN
Position Overall Swim Bike Run
1. Craig Alexander (NSW) 3:53:15 23:01 2:15:39 1:11:57
2. Leon Griffin (VIC) 3:54:35 23:13 2:15:29 1:13:21
3. Tim Berkel (NSW) 3:56:10 23:24 2:15:06 1:14:51
4. Peter Schokman (NSW) 3:56:25 23:23 2:15:15 1:14:59
5. Clayton Fettell (NSW) 3:56:39 21:54 2:12:37 1:19:28
1. Caroline Steffen (SWI) 4:14:32 24:54 2:20:37 1:25:58
2. Carrie Lester (QLD) 4:19:32 25:52 2:24:50 1:25:50
3. Lisa Marangon (NSW) 4:19:49 24:50 2:25:42 1:22:23
4. Samantha Warriner (NZ) 4:23:01 24:43 2:25:56 1:29:31
5. Nicole Ward (NSW) 4:30:29 25:10 2:31:52 1:30:01
DTR Sports Management’s Gareth Halverson shows he has got some good training under his belt. Please enjoy his personal account of the race.
Race Four of the Gatorade Triathlon Series marked my introduction to racing for 2010. After two big camps over the past two months I was keen to get out onto the racetrack and test the body to get an indication of where I was really at. It’s one thing to play the guinea pig and be tested till you fall or have blood drained from you endlessly all in the name of science, but it’s another, to get out there and see how the body fairs in race conditions.
A beautiful warm summer’s day greeted us down at Elwood for the 8:30am start. While the bay was apparently still chilly enough to warrant wetsuits I chose to go without. Based on the short distance (500m) and long wade out from shore I thought it best to try my luck without and hope for a slightly smoother transition without the hassle of wrestling my way out of the rubber. My theory proved to be sound as I exited the water around 10secs off the lead and with a silky smooth T1 I was out onto the bike and pedalling in the lead.
The wind was relentless out on Beach Rd, and a main pack of about 15 Elite boys quickly sought the comfort of a front pack. Due to the strong winds many, including myself, were reluctant to hit the front and bash themselves against the wind while others sat in. This made for a relatively slow and non-eventful 15kilometres. At the 15km mark however, Leon Griffin and the Peters (Kerr & Robertson) decided to hit the gas with 5km to go. At this stage my attention was elsewhere, namely watching Jamie Huggett and a slipping chain that eventuated in him unfortunately crashing out. When I did come to after my lapse in concentration I tried to bridge the gap immediately. I was able to catch the Peters but Griffo was on a mission and rode strong all the way to T2, with me about 10secs behind him and the main bunch about 10secs behind me. The stage was set for an exciting run.
The run, however, was a battle of attrition. The strong winds for the first 2.5km saw me running the same distance behind Griffo unable to push any harder to bridge the gap. The gaps that were made on the bike remained for the duration of the run and Leon eventually crossed the line with the victory. I finished second and Peter Robertson made a successful comeback to the short form of racing running away from the rest of the main bunch to take third.
All in all I was pleased with my race and got some good insight into what needs work over the next couple of months to get me in shape for the Dextro Energy Series beginning in April. As for shorter term goals, I’m off to Caloundra this weekend for some short sharp racing in an Enduro format that Triathlon Australia has put together. Should be great fun!
