Former Olympic and World Championship medal winning rower Nathan Twaddle is jumping ship.
His days as an elite rower are over but the competitive fires still burn within the 35-year-old and he has turned to triathlon for his sporting fix, having just completed his first triathlon at the Rotorua round of the Contact Tri Series at the Blue Lake.
Twaddle made an impressive debut in the Sprint event, completing the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5.5km run in 1hr, 24mins and 11secs. He ended up third in his 35-40 age group and 36th overall.
Prior to the race, Twaddle said he had no pretensions of repeating his rowing success in his new sport but was looking forward to it.
"Blue Lake is a bit of an old haunt for me from my rowing days and now the rowing is done for I am looking for a way to stay in shape and having a goal to work towards so I think it will be a fun day.”
Twaddle admitted there was something in the make-up of rowers that led them to take on other sports and events, in particular cycling with a number of successful transitions to the two wheels.
"We have a bit of a training pedigree I guess, we train pretty hard, our coach's demand a high intensity from us and I think this translates pretty well on to the bike. I don't think cyclists like training with rowers, not because they can't beat us but we seem to keep up and to be honest, we don't know the road rules that well so probably get in the way a bit.
"The multi-discipline nature of triathlon is the biggest contrast from the rowing though; you have to think about transition and food and energy strategies a bit more. In a rowing race we are going for about 6 minutes and can go as hard as you can for that time but even in a sprint triathlon you are racing for around 40 minutes so you need to watch your pace a little bit.
"The bike should be my strongest discipline, I know Hamish Carter is a former rower and once said most of us rowers tend to run like elephants so I'll certainly be plodding on the run course but will see what I can do on the bike so not too many pass me on the run - that is the plan anyway.”
Twaddle has also entered the age group race at the Barfoot & Thompson ITU World Cup event on November 20 around the Auckland waterfront and is looking forward to mixing it on the same day as the world's best turn up to race.
"I had dreams of glory when I first entered Auckland of making the World Championships but you quickly realise that without the support structures in place around elite sport and have to juggle work and family it becomes pretty tough. I'm looking forward to being part of that event on the Auckland waterfront though; I tried to watch triathlon at two Olympic Games but managed to get lost on the way both times so I am just looking forward to being part of the day, racing and then soaking up the atmosphere as the best in the world race past.”
"I am coming off a torn shoulder and ankle problem which has had an effect on my training, which is why Rotorua is a good test event for me to see where I was at before taking on Auckland at the World Cup event later in the month. I have been playing tennis and doing some swimming but after years of rowing where you don't lift your arm over your shoulder I think I was suddenly asking my body to do things it hadn't done for ten years.”
Contact Tri Series Rotorua
Sprint Men
(750m swim, 20km bike, 5.5km run)
1. Sam Osborne (Rotorua) 1:06:29
2. Sam Ward (Auckland) 1:07:27
3. Josh Kenyon (Taupo) 1:07:29
Plus
36. Nathan Twaddle (Tauranga) 1:24:11 (third in 35 to 40 men)
Sprint Women
1. Sophie Pulford (Mount Maunganui) 1:16:18
2. Rowan Marie Baird (Auckland) 1:17:15
3. Elise Salt (Auckland) 1:17:19
Contact Trophy Men
(1500m swim, 40km bike, 11km run)
1. Callum Millward (Auckland) 2:08:10
2. Mark Bowstead (Glenbrook) 2:09:00
3. Brodie Madgwick (Auckland) 2:15:41
Contract Trophy Women
1. Nicky Samuels (Wanaka) 2:20:32
2. Maddy Brunton (Waikato) 2:29:00
3. Naomi Fergusson (Havelock Nth) 2:33:49
