I've had a passion for the sport of Triathlon ever since I did my first race back in the summer of 1987. Some 33 years later I'm still competing and loving it. As I get older I seem to appreciate the sport more and more. It's great to reminisce about the past but the future of Triathlon continues to grow. I was lucky to start the sport back in the late 80's as we had the like's of Rick Wells and Erin Baker as our kiwi hero's, Both won the first ever Triathlon World Championships back in 1987 so it was always great to be standing next to them on the start line.
As a junior I raced pretty well winning the New Zealand Secondary School Triathlon Championships in 1988 and then made the move to being a professional Triathlete as soon as I left school in 1990. I raced up in Japan in my early years trying to make a living in the sport racing back to back seasons for many years. I would compete over the kiwi summer and then head straight to the Northern hemisphere to race in their season, so it was great to follow the sun each year and miss winter.
In 1992 I finished 2nd in the ITU World Championships as a junior and then tried my luck competing on the ITU World Cup season for many years in the hope of one day qualifying for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. My best ever race on the World cup circuit was a 3rd behind Australian great Brad Bevan and 2004 Olympic champion Hamish Carter. I never had the speed on the run like these guys so decided to try my luck in the Ironman.