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Where triathlon meets real talk. Hosted by two seasoned triathletes Lockie Jones and Lleyton Wall, this podcast takes a deep dive into the controversies, challenges, and triumphs of the triathlete world.
[00:00:19] Lockie: And we are back. Welcome to episode lightning. You got to put
[00:00:24] Lleyton: 62 I think
[00:00:25] Lockie: episode 62 of the unfunded podcast. As always, I'm your host, Lachlan Jones here with my good friend
[00:00:30] Lleyton: Lleyton Wall. It's good to be back.
[00:00:32] Lockie: Yeah we did miss a week. We missed one week. We were starting to get pretty consistent, but we missed a week. Big boys got his uni exams on.
[00:00:40] Lleyton: Yep. And dusted. Now
[00:00:41] Lockie: you're done.
[00:00:41] Lleyton: Yeah. You graduated? No, I'm not graduated. I still have six months of placement. Next year, but finally, exams done.
[00:00:48] Lockie: I don't understand uni.
[00:00:49] Lleyton: Yeah, don't worry about it. It's just
[00:00:52] Lockie: never made sense to me. How do you finish your exams and you're not done?
[00:00:54] Lleyton: Yeah, I don't know. I've got to go work for free next year.
[00:00:58] Lockie: Where are you working? Have you. Do you have? I
[00:01:00] Lleyton: don't know, in a nursing home, in a hospital.
[00:01:02] Lockie: You can come work for us. The
[00:01:04] Lleyton: Surfers Paradise Tri Club.
[00:01:05] Lockie: This is turning into a job
[00:01:06] Lleyton: interview.
[00:01:08] Lockie: Yeah, maybe we're hiring.
[00:01:09] Lleyton: Oh,
[00:01:09] Lockie: we'll take free. Well, when I say we'll take three free lunch, I won't be
[00:01:12] Lleyton: working for free.
[00:01:13] Lockie: We can sign off some paperwork for you.
[00:01:16] Lleyton: Unfortunately, the uni won't take me working for Surfers Paradise Tri Club
[00:01:21] Lockie: your mates.
[00:01:22] Lleyton: Yeah, as work experience. That's okay.
[00:01:25] Lockie: That's good. What has been happening? Any anything else exciting? Just some uni.
[00:01:30] Lleyton: Uni. I did Pottsville Aqua Bike on the weekend. There was no aqua part of the bike. It was just a bike in the rain.
[00:01:37] Lockie: I heard that, yeah. Oh that's right. Oh, you went there for a quick race.
[00:01:40] Lleyton: Yeah yeah. The TT 90 K TT yeah.
[00:01:43] Lockie: We had a couple athletes who were meant to race and it was just horrible. It
[00:01:46] Lleyton: was shit.
[00:01:47] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:01:48] Lleyton: So it was wet and I just slugged out 90 K on the TT.
[00:01:52] Lockie: Unfortunately, we're in that spot on the Gold Coast. And I think Australia, where it's coming into the summer, which is nice and hot and it's like, you know, somehow everyone thinks beautiful, but we just get hit with some
[00:02:07] Lleyton: massive
[00:02:08] Lockie: storm. Crazy storms like last night was insane. Like
[00:02:11] Lleyton: the lightning,
[00:02:11] Lockie: lightning and thunder. It's like, how can you go from that to right now it's hot and sunny.
[00:02:15] Lleyton: Well, it's it's disgusting when it when the clouds open up and it's sunny again.
[00:02:19] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:02:20] Lleyton: Like you're not used to the weather. He just beating down. Oh suffering.
[00:02:24] Lockie: It's been muggy. It's been. Which is scary to sort of see how hot it's going to be in Australia
[00:02:29] Lleyton: over summer. And I feel as if like I was talking about this with the boys other day when we're running, it's like if you don't get on top of the Australian summer early, yeah, like in September or right now in October. If you don't get on to it now while you're training, you're done for something like
[00:02:46] Lockie: it's
[00:02:46] Lleyton: it's you, you're crawling.
[00:02:48] Lockie: I remember and again, my own fault. And this is like I did this to myself. But when I was training, I think around this time last year I started training for the HYROX.
[00:02:57] Lleyton: Yeah,
[00:02:58] Lockie: yeah. It's stupid, you dickhead. Started training for HYROX, so I think it was around here. It was like November time. And, when I came back, obviously that was like a delayed off season for me. So I did the HYROX, had like a couple of weeks to recover from that. And by that time it was kind of like mid-December.
[00:03:16] Lleyton: Oh, it's too hot.
[00:03:18] Lockie: Oh my God, I
[00:03:19] Lleyton: haven't acclimatised.
[00:03:20] Lockie: Nah. And when I'm trying to run like a genuine threshold pace, like getting into it, my threshold pace is like 415 because like, my heart rate was so high because I hadn't properly acclimatised to it back in, like you said, September, October time. And it's just it's unrealistic. Hot. Like, I don't know how I'm able to get a good pace session out without
[00:03:43] Lleyton: ruining yourself.
[00:03:44] Lockie: Yeah, ruining yourself like, oh, it is so hard. Like the Australian heat is brutal.
[00:03:48] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:03:49] Lockie: It's brutal.
[00:03:49] Lleyton: How have you been? Lockie, mate.
[00:03:51] Lockie: Do really? Well, basically.
[00:03:54] Lleyton: Update on the arm.
[00:03:55] Lockie: Yeah, I'm out of the sling, Matt. Of the thing. So I can do these ones now?
[00:03:58] Lleyton: Yep. You can put your headphones on. I
[00:04:00] Lockie: can put. Yes. This is the first episode where Lleyton has a hasn't had to put the headphones on for me last couple of weeks. I haven't actually been able to grip the right side of the headphones, so we've had to do a little a little needed his hand. Yeah, but, no. I'm good. I'm back at my doctor's appointment. The first one post-op that he was happy with it. Basically, it's recovered really well. All my manifesting and meditation and my mind mind strengthening is is worked. And. Yeah, I'm just under six weeks post-op now and jumped in the pool today. I wasn't doing too much. I haven't got like the full shoulder rotation to be able to take a stroke properly. But you know, doing some like long dog underwater strokes, just trying to get get mobility. But yeah I'll be I'll do my first run this afternoon. Just a little walk run five by five minutes. But honestly everything's come back really quick and I'm happy with it.
[00:04:50] Lleyton: Yeah it has been quick hasn't it. I
[00:04:51] Lockie: feel like I've it's it's like the first time I think I'm like I'm proud that I've done literally everything I possibly
[00:04:59] Lleyton: can.
[00:05:00] Lockie: Would have done like I've, I've been I it's the hard. The only thing I've probably slacked off a little bit with is like being patient in the last, the last two weeks with like keeping the sling on, like, I think I just wanted to get moving.
[00:05:13] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:05:13] Lockie: It's so hard. Like, I feel good. It feels fine. Let me go.
[00:05:17] Lleyton: Yeah, but let me at 'em.
[00:05:18] Lockie: Yeah. Literally. Literally let me at 'em. But now I'm sweet.
[00:05:22] Lleyton: Yeah. That's good.
[00:05:23] Lockie: We'll be back next year.
[00:05:24] Lleyton: Yeah. Well, exactly. Well, when February start racing, maybe. Maybe.
[00:05:29] Lockie: Yeah, I, I think my biggest, my biggest thing is going to be fitness. Now, I did a 20m sprint on the, on the swim this morning. I had my fins on. Everyone was doing their 20m explode and I was like, yeah, I'll just do single arm 20m sprint. Or honestly, I nearly throw
[00:05:44] Lleyton: up.
[00:05:45] Lockie: It was so hard. I had Aspen and Rory next to me, and I honestly, I felt sick.
[00:05:50] Lleyton: I was like,
[00:05:50] Lockie: I can't do that again. I had one sprinting me and that was it. But yeah, we'll see, we'll see. I don't know,
[00:05:55] Lleyton: the summer will get you fit.
[00:05:57] Lockie: Exactly. Basically just sitting in a what, 24/7? So
[00:06:02] Lleyton: yeah,
[00:06:04] Lockie: had some racing.
[00:06:05] Lleyton: There was a bit of racing on over the last two weeks. You were actually down at my ends. I mean,
[00:06:10] Lockie: I was
[00:06:10] Lleyton: how was that
[00:06:11] Lockie: down in Port Mac? It's a bit of a miserable town, man.
[00:06:13] Lleyton: It was. It always fucking rains. It
[00:06:16] Lockie: was raining. It was raining.
[00:06:17] Lleyton: It always rains for race day.
[00:06:18] Lockie: I always just think of it. Actually saw your parents at the pub?
[00:06:21] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:06:22] Lockie: So. That's right. We were walking past. We were going to see. And I don't know how long you parents had been there.
[00:06:27] Lleyton: I think they were pretty. Well, I
[00:06:28] Lockie: think
[00:06:28] Lleyton: they look they parked up. I
[00:06:30] Lockie: don't want to I. They were lovely, very lovely. But they'd been there seemed like for a
[00:06:35] Lleyton: bit. And
[00:06:36] Lockie: I was like, hey, don't worry, we'll be right back. We went right back. We had unfortunately, it's just a long day. Nine man. Like we spoke about it before. It was such a long day. We ended up getting there at 5 a.m.. I think our last athlete finished at about 10:30 p.m.. I think we went to have one beer and we were like, fuck, let's go home.
[00:06:53] Lleyton: Yeah. Tired. I was
[00:06:54] Lockie: so tired. I think your parents were long gone by the time we finished.
[00:06:58] Lleyton: Yeah, I think they were.
[00:06:59] Lockie: Well, yeah, yeah. We'll come for a beer after our last athlete finished, but they weren't hanging around that long, so, It was. It was good. Ironman racing just does not interest me.
[00:07:09] Lleyton: It's a long. It looks like a long day.
[00:07:11] Lockie: Yeah. I went from, like, really excited off to Kona to actually being at the venue
[00:07:16] Lleyton: and watching the suffering.
[00:07:18] Lockie: Yeah, not on my couch watching it from a TV actually being there, even running from the different spots was like, man, it's not it
[00:07:24] Lleyton: not it not for you,
[00:07:26] Lockie: not interested. You
[00:07:28] Lleyton: was good though.
[00:07:28] Lockie: Vibe was unreal. Oh, I completely understand how people get the bug to, especially if you've never done a triathlon before. I think we had three athletes that just came up to spectate and watch, and all three of them have gone, yeah, I'm doing I'm doing this next year. I'm doing it, I mean, this year.
[00:07:42] Lleyton: But
[00:07:44] Lockie: yeah, well, I
[00:07:44] Lleyton: don't know about Ironman.
[00:07:46] Lockie: It's so
[00:07:46] Lleyton: it's pretty grim.
[00:07:47] Lockie: Brutal 70.3. Stick to that.
[00:07:49] Lleyton: Yeah yeah. Stick to that distance.
[00:07:51] Lockie: It's a
[00:07:51] Lleyton: bit more manageable
[00:07:52] Lockie: but no, that was that was a fun weekend. I had a bit of short course racing as well. Yeah, the last couple of weeks,
[00:07:56] Lleyton: short course racing in Asia. So first up we had Beijing, miserable back. Yeah.
[00:08:03] Lockie: So
[00:08:04] Lleyton: both of these races look pretty miserable. Yeah. It's just been rainy everywhere in the world, so
[00:08:08] Lockie: it's like I've looked at the UK. Cardiff looks crap.
[00:08:11] Lleyton: I think like Taiwan or somewhere got a massive typhoon and they had to cancel like challenge them. And I don't know where it was, somewhere in Asia. But yeah. So there's been a lot of racing and a lot of rainy racing. Start off in Beijing apparently was really cold. Cold and wet,
[00:08:29] Lockie: almost like 12 degrees, 13 degrees, which is that's criminal
[00:08:32] Lleyton: and an Olympic distance as well, which you can get kind of cold. And I heard a few people got pretty cold in the race. Yeah. I mean, us triathletes don't have much insulation, so
[00:08:45] Lockie: we're already pretty like thin layer like.
[00:08:48] Lleyton: So being cold and rainy isn't, isn't ideal. So the women's race we had, our first ever Chinese podium. was the first ever Chinese podium, actually came from a man earlier that day. It was Max Studer on the podium. Sorry for my pronunciation because it's a Chinese name. It's Xirui Zhang and that was Alberto González García in second. In third. Sorry. And then we had Márta Kropkó and Kate Waugh on the podium in Beijing as well. Yeah. Talking points from that race in goggles.
[00:09:29] Lockie: Yeah. Crazy, crazy. Was it raining that hard that you needed goggles? I
[00:09:33] Lleyton: don't know. Márta Kropkó was wearing goggles and I was like, Good point. I don't know, I thought maybe she has contacts in.
[00:09:43] Lockie: See
[00:09:44] Lleyton: my theory. I'm
[00:09:45] Lockie: not sure if somebody said that. That was what I thought.
[00:09:49] Lleyton: Fair enough.
[00:09:49] Lockie: Know what I originally thought was that they were actually, like, glasses. Like, not like reading glasses, but I thought they were like,
[00:09:57] Lleyton: you know, the AFL play that wears them.
[00:09:59] Lockie: Yeah, yeah. Bloody hell. I've forgotten his name. Cox.
[00:10:02] Lleyton: Yeah. Matt Cox no, not that
[00:10:05] Lockie: it is. It's Cox, but it's not Matt Cox. Oh, that's gonna kill me that I complete mind blowing. He's an asshole, but, Yeah. Yeah.
[00:10:12] Lleyton: Collingwood. Oh,
[00:10:13] Lockie: I really had it again.
[00:10:15] Lleyton: Anyway. Yeah, I thought they had contacts.
[00:10:17] Lockie: That's really annoying.
[00:10:18] Lleyton: But she had contact.
[00:10:19] Lockie: I know, but I also thought it was either that or. Yeah, like you said, like his glasses where they're like the real narrow ones. And I was like, they look so funny. Like, surely they can't be. But then I saw the white strap wrap around, but was it that heavy?
[00:10:32] Lleyton: Surely not when you were running. Riding? I understand that can be pretty brutal.
[00:10:37] Lockie: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:10:39] Lleyton: But
[00:10:39] Lockie: funny statement. Funny, funny
[00:10:41] Lleyton: weird. Anyway, that was good on her
[00:10:45] Lockie: look. Like, if it's gonna get you a, Would I wear it to get a second to World Cup?
[00:10:49] Lleyton: I said if she if they said to you, Lockie, mate, you go to wear goggles first and look like an absolute idiot.
[00:10:55] Lockie: Yeah, I'm doing it.
[00:10:56] Lleyton: But you come in second.
[00:10:57] Lockie: I'm doing it.
[00:10:57] Lleyton: Yeah, I'm doing it as well.
[00:10:59] Lockie: Even the even the pay day for that.
[00:11:00] Lleyton: Yeah. Exactly.
[00:11:02] Lockie: Eight grand.
[00:11:02] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:11:02] Lockie: I'll take the eight grand.
[00:11:03] Lleyton: That's great. Max Studer again winning in China. I think he's undefeated in China. We knew that he was probably going to win this. And that was an amazing run by the Chinese athlete in second as well. Zhang to out kick. Garcia.
[00:11:19] Lockie: Yeah because Garcia can kick too.
[00:11:21] Lleyton: Yeah. And then
[00:11:22] Lockie: day for China obviously like Studer basically trains a lot over in China as well. So an honorary
[00:11:29] Lleyton: it was a big day for Brett Sutton to be honest.
[00:11:32] Lockie: It was a Saturday.
[00:11:33] Lleyton: It was a big Saturday. And then in Tongyeong, also another very rainy race,
[00:11:41] Lockie: which is I feel like Tongyeong is so 5050.
[00:11:44] Lleyton: It's
[00:11:44] Lockie: either like when, when I raced it last year. Sunny. Really perfect day.
[00:11:48] Lleyton: I feel the rain last year.
[00:11:50] Lockie: No. No one I was there.
[00:11:51] Lleyton: Was it the year before that rain?
[00:11:52] Lockie: Maybe the year before? No, because even the year before Dylan McCullough was off the front, that was 2024, 2025 was really nice. He might be thinking Miyazaki,
[00:12:00] Lleyton: Miyazaki maybe.
[00:12:02] Lockie: Yeah,
[00:12:02] Lleyton: they blend into one. Yeah. In the women's race we had two Chinese on the podium. I'm just going to use their last name, Lin and Hong. And then we had Mathilde Cartier. Oh, I don't know. This. The French athlete. How do you pronounce that? Lucky,
[00:12:19] Lockie: I'd say. Yeah.
[00:12:22] Lleyton: Yep. That's great. Just
[00:12:23] Lockie: put a French accent on it. It just sounds a bit better.
[00:12:25] Lleyton: And then in the men's, we had Garcia, Alberto González García. He won it this time. Max Studer in second running from the second pack, and Keller Norland from the US. But the big talking point from this is China.
[00:12:42] Lockie: They
[00:12:43] Lleyton: have absolutely come out in these last two races and cleaned up, especially on that women's side, having two podiums in Tongyeong. They won in Beijing and then a second in the men's in Beijing. It's very impressive after they've never had a World Cup medal ever.
[00:12:59] Lockie: What what I, what I'm like and obviously there was some comments. We're not going to point the finger and we're not going to say anything dodges going on. But I wonder why it is the case that you don't see these particular athletes doing well outside of China. Like is there a reason of like climate comfort? They don't like traveling different food like like
[00:13:28] Lleyton: it could be. It could be like
[00:13:30] Lockie: like maybe it is just such a like they're such
[00:13:32] Lleyton: an insular.
[00:13:33] Lockie: Yeah. They're used to their own environment. And as soon as they're out somewhere and it could be, you know, I don't know the, the type of food that they are used to. They're not getting that in Europe. So they're just fine racing difficult or why they're not actually going out to race outside of China unless it's for a major event like a world Championships or an Olympics.
[00:13:55] Lleyton: Yeah. I mean, those are all interesting points. I mean, we struggle going to China. Like the conditions are absolutely brutal. One day it can be humid as hell, like 40 degrees, nearly 90% humidity. And then the next it's pissing down at 13 degrees.
[00:14:11] Lockie: Yeah. So
[00:14:12] Lleyton: chops and changes so much because
[00:14:14] Lockie: you
[00:14:14] Lleyton: mean if you're not used to that it's hard to race in
[00:14:17] Lockie: its
[00:14:17] Lleyton: I think it benefits them there.
[00:14:18] Lockie: Yeah for sure.
[00:14:19] Lleyton: And also like the food wise like we know like we've both raced in China. It can be a struggle to go race in China due to the pure factors of the food. Like it's so culturally different. And
[00:14:32] Lockie: if they're used to it,
[00:14:34] Lleyton: yeah, they're used to the food and different things like that. Like it's super hard to find protein sources like we have such a high protein diet, Westerners that it's, it's, it's difficult to go from, you know, your steak and chips to rice, fried rice 24/7. It's tough. And he feels that like there's this feeling of zapped when you get to China, a
[00:14:56] Lockie: lot of people take their own food over to
[00:14:58] Lleyton: sort of like things like beef jerky and stuff. I was talking to one of the Swiss boys and he's like, oh, we're staying in a five star hotel. I was like, mate, bring some food.
[00:15:08] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:15:08] Lleyton: Like
[00:15:09] Lockie: especially.
[00:15:09] Lleyton: Oh, really?
[00:15:10] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:15:10] Lleyton: I said, yeah, mate, not a Swiss five star hotel. Like
[00:15:13] Lockie: like you can kind of get away with it in, you know, like Japan or when we were in Tongyeong as well. See, South Korea, they're more western, like the hotel we stayed in South Korea was really nice, and that was fine. But yeah, China just don't do Western food.
[00:15:29] Lleyton: Yeah. And like, you look at these races in China or around and they're also far out of the city.
[00:15:36] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:15:36] Lleyton: Like they're named from the city like Beijing. But I think they were 40 minutes outside of Beijing.
[00:15:41] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:15:42] Lleyton: So like not not close to anything.
[00:15:44] Lockie: The city is so big. It's not in the city centre.
[00:15:45] Lleyton: No. Yeah. Exactly. Right. But it makes me think. Is China making a big Olympic move? Have they just kind of stayed insular for now? And next year, like next year? I want to see these Chinese athletes racing on the World Series,
[00:16:00] Lockie: because you can't tell me that if you're if you're a, you know, the athlete who got second in Beijing, the Chinese athlete beat Alberto González, Alberto González, he's a he was, I think in the top five or top six at some point in the World Series this year.
[00:16:18] Lleyton: Yeah,
[00:16:18] Lockie: like very respected athlete. And you're beating him.
[00:16:22] Lleyton: Yeah. Exactly. Like being the likes of Kate Waugh.
[00:16:25] Lockie: You're a top ten athlete. You're a top ten athlete in the World Series.
[00:16:28] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:16:28] Lockie: Why are we not seeing you on the World Series? Like, again? Like, let's say that everything's up to code here. Well, I'm confused as to why you wouldn't. You're chasing Olympic points. Are you getting those Olympic points just at home or.
[00:16:41] Lleyton: But they get massive Olympic points from there. Things like Asian Games.
[00:16:44] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:16:45] Lleyton: So I believe that China have already locked down a mixed relay spot.
[00:16:51] Lockie: Wow.
[00:16:52] Lleyton: From their Asian Games championship.
[00:16:54] Lockie: I don't know if you can do it. No you can't.
[00:16:56] Lleyton: No you can't. Well I think they got really good points
[00:16:59] Lockie: because say you say you can't do that just out of like remember it goes off the world championships. So like France just
[00:17:07] Lleyton: like
[00:17:07] Lockie: in America just locked one in. Next year's champion will lock one in and then it goes to top eight.
[00:17:12] Lleyton: Okay.
[00:17:13] Lockie: So now they wouldn't have done that. But I don't know I mean we even see it with like a Julie Derron and a Max Studer as well. Like I mean obviously Julie Derron came out and did really well in Paris, but like a Max Studer, we don't really see him doing that well outside of China. Again, if everything's up to code then it's like, is that a is that a similar to the Chinese athletes themselves? Like, you spend so much time in these environments that you struggle to leave that environment.
[00:17:42] Lleyton: Environment. Well, yeah.
[00:17:44] Lockie: Being Swiss athletes, it's like, well, I don't know. But
[00:17:48] Lleyton: yeah, yeah. Being Swiss, it's a bit different.
[00:17:50] Lockie: Yeah, sure.
[00:17:51] Lleyton: Sure. To go back home. It's
[00:17:52] Lockie: not what you've grown up on,
[00:17:54] Lleyton: on fried rice.
[00:17:55] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:17:56] Lleyton: But
[00:17:57] Lockie: it's interesting. It's interesting. It's like, I wonder why, like, these athletes, like Max Studer is now arguably the king of China. Every time he races there, he wins. Like, whether it's a World Series or a World Cup, he wins there.
[00:18:07] Lleyton: Yeah. Like,
[00:18:09] Lockie: how do you translate that now?
[00:18:11] Lleyton: I think it's good for the sport to see China coming in and being like a strong, you know, nation to contest with like it's good for the sport. And I think it's good for like those Asian continents because a lot of the Asian continents like they have like that military service that they have to do, it's it's a big struggle to like actually get to an elite level. But if that can, you know, grow and develop in Asia and we know China as well is like they put on some shows just for even Conti's like Chongqing Continental Cup is on this weekend. It would be a massive show. Like
[00:18:46] Lockie: yeah,
[00:18:47] Lleyton: they always put on a great show and they love triathlon.
[00:18:49] Lockie: Chengdu, they bus people out to go?
[00:18:51] Lleyton: Well, yeah,
[00:18:51] Lockie: like
[00:18:52] Lleyton: but I hope that triathlon well the Chinese athletes like especially these three they've first podiums ever and it's like historic for triathlon in China.
[00:19:02] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:19:03] Lleyton: That they can keep going internationally like throughout like next year especially like the year before the Olympics. I think we need to see these athletes. And if they won't be a bona fide pick for the Olympics and be bona fide, you know, contender, there have to be racing the WTCS.
[00:19:21] Lockie: Yeah I again it's like are these these athletes that literally can only race well in their home environment. And then as soon as they I don't know whether it's they're not used to leaving the country. They're not used to traveling. I mean we saw the athlete, the female that one she raced in Switzerland when she was a junior. So like,
[00:19:40] Lleyton: yeah,
[00:19:41] Lockie: it can't really be that. But if they're only leaving once a year,
[00:19:44] Lleyton: it is pretty foreign. It's not like us where we're on a plane, you know?
[00:19:47] Lockie: A lot,
[00:19:48] Lleyton: a lot, yes.
[00:19:49] Lockie: And
[00:19:49] Lleyton: out of suitcases and different things like
[00:19:51] Lockie: that. Yeah. You're kind of used to it.
[00:19:52] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:19:53] Lockie: We've kind of learned how to adjust on the fly, but, Yeah, I don't know. It's interesting. It's really interesting how athletes really struggle to
[00:20:02] Lleyton: convert.
[00:20:03] Lockie: Yeah. Just because the environment is a bit different.
[00:20:05] Lleyton: Yeah. Like, I mean, those two girls raced well in Tongyeong. I know it's a very similar environment, which is it's it's good to see that they're out of China racing well as well. But yeah, it would be good to see them come to a European Cup or a Different Continents Cup and see where they match against,
[00:20:24] Lockie: because you're right, I don't think I, I
[00:20:26] Lleyton: don't know where to rank the Chinese. I guess not the whole federation as a whole, but like the these athletes and I don't know where to rank them on the scale of how good are these athletes? Like, we might have an absolute gem of an athlete in Lin here who's won back to back World Cups. Like you don't often see a person winning back to back World Cups. Like she could be an absolute gem next year and, you know, contend for the World Series. You don't know, but I don't know whether they're not being let go race like is it strategic not to go race in Europe.
[00:21:00] Lockie: Do you think it's almost like a it could especially for them because what would their like nation's key sports. You know we've got our big sports and triathlon probably is one of them. Just from like the pedigree that we have in the history that we have in the sport. China don't have that. So it's like, is it like a there's I mean, I can't say it's not the funding because you know, they've got the funding backing them, but I don't know, like it's something that's there is some sort of restriction where it's not what's a big sport. Table tennis.
[00:21:35] Lleyton: Yeah. Yeah. They're massive into ping pong. Like the
[00:21:38] Lockie: badminton.
[00:21:38] Lleyton: Yeah. Badminton.
[00:21:39] Lockie: Well like those kind of sports where they are in swimming as well. Yeah. Like China's got some great swimmers as well. Even some runners. But it, that just doesn't seem to translate into triathlon. And there seems to be some sort of roadblock or restriction as to why they're not able to then transfer that onto being one of the best in the world.
[00:21:56] Lleyton: That's in the world. I don't see why there shouldn't be a Chinese athlete until now, until like 2026.
[00:22:04] Lockie: Yeah,
[00:22:04] Lleyton: well, we haven't seen a Chinese athlete on a World Cup podium.
[00:22:08] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:22:08] Lleyton: Which is it's kind of crazy to me.
[00:22:11] Lockie: When I saw that, I was surprised.
[00:22:12] Lleyton: Yeah, that
[00:22:12] Lockie: we have never seen one.
[00:22:13] Lleyton: Never seen one. That's. And you think about all the different sports like swimming especially.
[00:22:18] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:22:18] Lleyton: Chinese have historically been a very, very strong nation.
[00:22:21] Lockie: Sun Yang was great.
[00:22:23] Lleyton: Yeah. Side sun Yang, that was still very, very. It
[00:22:27] Lockie: was. God. Yeah. Yeah. Captain America's serum running through his.
[00:22:34] Lleyton: Anyway. No athletes other than Sun Yang. But, yeah, it's. I want to see China on the world stage next.
[00:22:42] Lockie: It'll be interesting now that they've now that they've made their mark on the World Cup stage, it's like, okay, you have to you have to transfer that.
[00:22:49] Lleyton: Yeah. Yeah. I don't know whether it's a, a plan just to stay aloof until LA. But I think if you want to race well at LA you have to race into internationally next year.
[00:23:02] Lockie: Yeah it's the same. It is the same for me. I want to see the same. Max. He's an honorary Chinese man.
[00:23:09] Lleyton: Yep.
[00:23:09] Lockie: Chinese man.
[00:23:10] Lleyton: Yeah,
[00:23:11] Lockie: whatever. But, like, I just I'm just curious as to why these athletes aren't able to convert outside of.
[00:23:18] Lleyton: Yeah,
[00:23:19] Lockie: their home nation. Again, Max Studer is probably a bit different and he has some sort of success outside as well. He's not the exact same. But yeah, it's interesting as to why we haven't seen it while
[00:23:29] Lleyton: we haven't seen it come out. Anyway, that's kind of our thoughts. Are we good to see that's that's all we want. But it's good to see that China is actually, you know, becoming a solid nation. And we've got a few
[00:23:43] Lockie: we still have a few more like even World Cups in the back end of this year that, you know, we probably will see a good contingent of Chinese athletes there. We've got Hong Kong, Miyazaki, you know, like those two were definitely especially Hong Kong. I know I'm not political enough in there, but I know it's
[00:24:00] Lleyton: yeah I don't know.
[00:24:02] Lockie: China, Hong Kong. Hong Kong, China.
[00:24:04] Lleyton: Yeah. Yeah,
[00:24:04] Lockie: something like that I think like China owns Hong Kong. Anyway, it's above my pay grade, but obviously we'll see a big contingent of Chinese athletes at that. Like, can we see another World Cup dominance?
[00:24:15] Lleyton: Yeah. And if there is I want to see them go off to Saudi.
[00:24:20] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:24:20] Lleyton: Week after
[00:24:21] Lockie: Abu Dhabi. Yeah. We surely should be seeing some athletes.
[00:24:25] Lleyton: Abu Dhabi, especially with that form or even just starting next year as soon as that comes around, have those athletes on the WTCS or T50 you're
[00:24:35] Lockie: in form now. Go get to it.
[00:24:37] Lleyton: Okay. That's that's our opinion on that. That was before the racing. The big headlines were those those three Chinese athletes just absolutely dominating.
[00:24:46] Lockie: Good to see Gonzalez though I do really like Gonzalez. And he's kind of way of racing I think like
[00:24:51] Lleyton: oh he's very just like he does it how it eats.
[00:24:53] Lockie: Yeah
[00:24:53] Lleyton: how he wants.
[00:24:54] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:24:54] Lleyton: Sits in the pack and
[00:24:56] Lockie: he's kind of to be like a bit of a like he he does have a bit of it all. Like he can swim.
[00:25:02] Lleyton: He can swim. Yeah.
[00:25:03] Lockie: Ride in the pack
[00:25:05] Lleyton: right in the back seat. Sit at the back pack, sprint to the front
[00:25:08] Lockie: exactly
[00:25:08] Lleyton: and then run off. Yeah. I mean,
[00:25:10] Lockie: it's a freak runner, but he's one of those scary Spanish athletes that he's going to be in the front pack. Can you just hold him at bay on the run?
[00:25:17] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:25:18] Lockie: Anyway, big one this weekend in Australia, the Australian Championships. What is it? The unofficial Australian championships. This one?
[00:25:26] Lleyton: Yeah. Noosa Triathlon.
[00:25:28] Lockie: There's a trial. Fun.
[00:25:29] Lleyton: Actually. Makes me ask the question. What's better winning an Australian championship or the Noosa Triathlon? Because I feel as if the Australian Championship. Where if it was the Olympic Championship held this year,
[00:25:40] Lockie: I was Devonport.
[00:25:41] Lleyton: Devonport. Who won that?
[00:25:43] Lockie: Luke Willian,
[00:25:44] Lleyton: Luke Willian.
[00:25:45] Lockie: No, I think this is bigger.
[00:25:47] Lleyton: Do you think Noosa is bigger than winning the Australian Championship?
[00:25:50] Lockie: 100% yeah. Yeah. Maybe
[00:25:53] Lleyton: the Oceania Championships. I would say different to the Australian Championship if we had like
[00:25:58] Lockie: a
[00:25:58] Lleyton: standalone. Yeah, I know that. But like if you're a standalone but you can still be the Australian champion.
[00:26:03] Lockie: So save
[00:26:04] Lleyton: up being the Oceania.
[00:26:05] Lockie: If the
[00:26:05] Lleyton: Kiwi can win.
[00:26:06] Lockie: Yeah you're right. No I'd rather see like say. Hypothetically if I was to have won Devonport I'd trade that in for winning Noosa this weekend. I think especially because if you look at the it probably depends on who. Yeah. Sorry. I'll take that.
[00:26:22] Lleyton: You take that
[00:26:23] Lockie: for sure. There was that year where I think Luke Willian won it in 2024, but then Brayden Mercer won it in 2024. He sorry I saw that again Luke won Australian champs in Devonport.
[00:26:34] Lleyton: Yep
[00:26:35] Lockie: Mercer won Noosa I would take Mercer's.
[00:26:38] Lleyton: Yeah I think so as well.
[00:26:40] Lockie: Like I think the and it's not all about clout who's getting the most out of it
[00:26:44] Lleyton: or the money
[00:26:45] Lockie: or. Well no it isn't about the money. Yeah
[00:26:50] Lleyton: 15 K is pretty good.
[00:26:52] Lockie: Like the 15757
[00:26:54] Lleyton: K,
[00:26:54] Lockie: 15 K versus one 1500 maybe like if you're lucky. Yeah. It's money's a big factor. But also the, the prestige, the history that is around Noosa triathlon when you've got you look at the guys that have won Noosa.
[00:27:11] Lleyton: Yeah it's stuck. There's Olympic gold.
[00:27:14] Lockie: Oh yeah.
[00:27:14] Lleyton: There's everything in between.
[00:27:16] Lockie: It's I know
[00:27:17] Lleyton: there's Ironman world Championships, Olympic gold.
[00:27:20] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:27:20] Lleyton: Well that's pretty much it.
[00:27:21] Lockie: You got people, you've got people that, you know,
[00:27:25] Lleyton: done it all,
[00:27:26] Lockie: have done it all, have gone and raced in Noosa. Well I think, I think especially in Australia it holds that like you've done it all also like I mean I probably I probably freshened a bit too much. How many Noosa titles do you have.
[00:27:40] Lleyton: Oh but it's kind of big if you're an Australian athlete.
[00:27:43] Lockie: I remember
[00:27:44] Lleyton: the titles said person had.
[00:27:46] Lockie: There are a lot of people like I guess you probably look
[00:27:48] Lleyton: it's like how many Australian titles like we don't really go, oh, Ash Gentle won 15 Australian titles.
[00:27:55] Lockie: That's a good point. You know more,
[00:27:56] Lleyton: but we know that. Ash won 11 Noosas.
[00:27:59] Lockie: You would know how many?
[00:28:01] Lleyton: Walto won 5. We don't know how many Australian titles. Craig Walton won.
[00:28:05] Lockie: Did you win. Five.
[00:28:06] Lleyton: He won 5 or 6 Noosas. Yeah. Oh no, don't get me wrong. He might correct me.
[00:28:11] Lockie: He might. I remember when I was growing up and when I was under Walto, Noosa was the biggest race of the year. When I was it was like, oh, do you want to do. I was like, oh, well, I don't know if I really want to do Noosa. Now you're doing
[00:28:22] Lleyton: you're doing it.
[00:28:22] Lockie: You're doing Noosa and you're spending the weekend with me, and you're going to know how good I was. Hey, man. Honestly, like, he was a god. You're walking around Noosa like Craig Walton is the man up in Noosa, not Aaron Royle. I know Aaron Royle likes to think he was. He's only won four, buddy.
[00:28:37] Lleyton: No, Aaron only won three. No,
[00:28:41] Lockie: he lied to me. I reckon
[00:28:42] Lleyton: three-peat
[00:28:42] Lockie: or maybe oh three-peat's pretty cool.
[00:28:45] Lleyton: Yeah. Back
[00:28:45] Lockie: to back.
[00:28:46] Lleyton: No he did. Aaron did 2018. That's actually I
[00:28:50] Lockie: raced in 2018,
[00:28:51] Lleyton: 2018, 2014, 2013. There you are.
[00:28:55] Lockie: I raced in 2018, but I was absolutely nowhere near him.
[00:28:58] Lleyton: No I yeah. So yeah that's that's pretty good.
[00:29:04] Lockie: I just think like it is probably I mean, you look at the year Mercer won it.
[00:29:11] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:29:11] Lockie: Like everyone saw him as a god.
[00:29:13] Lleyton: Yeah, exactly. He'll go back this year with a broken arm. Used to be a god. Yeah, yeah.
[00:29:18] Lockie: Honestly, people. People know people. Yeah.
[00:29:20] Lleyton: People know the Noosa winner for the year. Or at least like for a couple of years after,
[00:29:25] Lockie: like, I reckon you could say so like, like again we're going back to it. But like that year Luke Willian was the Australian Oceania champion. He went to Paris Olympics 2024. I guarantee after that weekend, if you would say ask some, you know, your regular Joe Blow, who's better, Luke Willian and Mercer. People are saying Mercer and yes, for that race Mercer was Mercer beat him fair and square.
[00:29:48] Lleyton: Yeah. Over
[00:29:49] Lockie: the course of a year, Luke Willian had a much more successful year.
[00:29:53] Lleyton: Yes, but in Australian triathlon terms.
[00:29:55] Lockie: But Mercer beat him in Noosa.
[00:29:57] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:29:57] Lockie: So it is a funny it is a funny one.
[00:30:00] Lleyton: It's a weird like is it an innuendo of triathlon. That's odd in Australia. Okay I've got a little game
[00:30:08] Lockie: I love these
[00:30:09] Lleyton: and it is. You have to blind rank five Noosa Legends or five people that have won Noosa. Okay. Right.
[00:30:18] Lockie: So I'm going I'm going to write this down. So I'm so it's 1 to 5.
[00:30:21] Lleyton: 1 to 5
[00:30:22] Lockie: okay.
[00:30:23] Lleyton: And you don't know who's coming up next
[00:30:26] Lockie: okay. Shit.
[00:30:27] Lleyton: Okay. Number one Craig Walton. Where are you putting him?
[00:30:37] Lockie: Craig Walton that's got to be number two. Yeah. Number two, I think like he's the most he's the most. He's got more than any other male.
[00:30:49] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:30:49] Lockie: And Ash Gentle's first. So I've got to save number one for Ash Gentle. Hopefully you say her later on.
[00:30:55] Lleyton: Loretta Harrop.
[00:30:57] Lockie: Oh, how many she won? Are you allowed to tell me that or do I have to guess?
[00:31:00] Lleyton: I guess
[00:31:00] Lockie: it's blind, isn't it? She's one.
[00:31:03] Lleyton: One, two.
[00:31:06] Lockie: I want to go for.
[00:31:08] Lleyton: Okay, I think she only one, two.
[00:31:10] Lockie: Okay, I'm gonna go Loretta Harrop. Yeah, she'll go number four.
[00:31:14] Lleyton: Okay. Chris McCormack.
[00:31:18] Lockie: Oh, no. See, the hard thing about this is I don't know if you're going to tell, like, say, Ash or Aaron.
[00:31:25] Lleyton: Well, yeah,
[00:31:27] Lockie: cause, like, I've got Chris McCormack. How many did he. Win? Two.
[00:31:32] Lleyton: One. Three. Chris. Macca. Chris McCormack. Because this was the day between, like, Macca and Walto.
[00:31:41] Lockie: Yeah, but I think Walto would usually get the better of him here because of his swim bike pedigree. What was it, three, two?
[00:31:51] Lleyton: Oh, I think maybe only one.
[00:31:55] Lockie: I'm gonna go. Oh, yeah, I think, I think in Noosa I'm going to go, I'm going to go back a five.
[00:32:03] Lleyton: Okay.
[00:32:04] Lockie: Chris McCormack five. And I'm just hoping that you're gonna give me two big ones in the back end.
[00:32:12] Lleyton: Emma Snowsill. Where you print Emma Snowsill. So
[00:32:18] Lockie: I'm going Snowy number three. Snowy three. And I'm just hoping you get
[00:32:24] Lleyton: it. Yeah I was hoping that you were going to put Snowy in there.
[00:32:29] Lockie: Number one. See, it's if we're talking just Noosa snow is three.
[00:32:33] Lleyton: Yeah. That's fair. And Ash.
[00:32:36] Lockie: Yeah. You
[00:32:36] Lleyton: can't leave Ash off the list.
[00:32:38] Lockie: Ash Gentle number one.
[00:32:39] Lleyton: Yeah. So I'm
[00:32:40] Lockie: happy with that.
[00:32:40] Lleyton: Who do you have?
[00:32:41] Lockie: Ash. Gentle. Number one, Craig Walton. Number two.
[00:32:45] Lleyton: You've done well there.
[00:32:46] Lockie: Yeah. Emma Snowsill number three, Loretta Harrop four. And then Macca five. I'm happy with that.
[00:32:51] Lleyton: That's pretty good.
[00:32:51] Lockie: Yeah, I'm happy with that.
[00:32:52] Lleyton: I was weighing up whether I give an Ash or Aaron in place,
[00:32:59] Lockie: but, yeah, I guess you kind of gave me the Ash one there.
[00:33:01] Lleyton: Yeah. Yeah I gave you Ash there.
[00:33:04] Lockie: Yeah, I'm happy with that. That's probably like again, if you were to that that table changes if you're going.
[00:33:11] Lleyton: Oh yeah. That that there are some absolute bass that I could have put down there.
[00:33:15] Lockie: Courtney
[00:33:16] Lleyton: Courtney Atkinson was going to be a hard one. Who else
[00:33:21] Lockie: but people that have probably done more over the course of a whole career, like you'd probably argue with Snowy and Macca being at the top there, but then if they haven't got the Noosa.
[00:33:31] Lleyton: Noosa. Yeah, the Noosa, pedigree.
[00:33:35] Lockie: There was some people like Walto was just like just came alive Noosa weekend. Like he's he's such a good swimmer. He was such a good swimmer that he would just swim off the front. Right off the front. So strong. And yeah, his run might not have been as good, but he was just so far off the front they couldn't catch him.
[00:33:50] Lleyton: Do you think, people who have been on the TTs, it helps a fair bit
[00:33:55] Lockie: in
[00:33:56] Lleyton: comparison, like the TT bike aspect of it's meant to be a non draft legal race. Well it is a non draft legal race. Sometimes it's a bit iffy on how non draft legal
[00:34:07] Lockie: when I saw it last year. I wish I drafted more when I saw how I got dropped very early on in the bike, I got dropped within probably five K on the bike last year. And then when I watched the replay back and I saw looking to name names, but there were some questionable like gaps. Yeah. And I think like some of the boys are a little bit annoyed at it. There was some questionable gaps I wish I drafted.
[00:34:28] Lleyton: How much do you think the bike over a non draft versus a draft legal changes the race.
[00:34:36] Lockie: It's obviously it's dramatically
[00:34:39] Lleyton: dramatically
[00:34:39] Lockie: when you've got like a Matty Hauser I remember last year I think you'd probably have like a Matty Hauser, Ben Dijkstra, Luke Willian, those kind of boys just rinsing
[00:34:51] Lleyton: it
[00:34:52] Lockie: on the front. You you're bound to do damage.
[00:34:55] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:34:55] Lockie: I had like 2.5 minutes put into me. Like, I would never have that in a in a draft legal race. I'd just sit on like I wouldn't get dropped.
[00:35:03] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:35:03] Lockie: Like even the dynamics of, like, we got out of the water and I absolutely blitzed it to T1. I was gas when I jumped on the bike. Usually I just sit on a wheel and be fine, but then I've got to push my own power to keep up. I was like, I obviously never run one before, so I had no idea what I was doing. But it's completely different dynamics.
[00:35:22] Lleyton: Yeah,
[00:35:22] Lockie: such different dynamics. So,
[00:35:25] Lleyton: do you think it's it shows more of the full triathlete because back in the day they used to have all of these non draft legal Olympic distance races or just around especially in the US like is massive. Craig Alexander like made a fortune racing these races in America and kind of made his name
[00:35:43] Lockie: for one of those guys like make a
[00:35:44] Lleyton: name. It was very much that 90s early 2000 kind of era of racing
[00:35:48] Lockie: a lot of these style races.
[00:35:50] Lleyton: Yeah. And it's actually sad to see a lot of them go. And that's why I probably Noosa is quite iconic because it's stayed around for so long. But do you think it shows the true like I'm sure Walto would go shows the true triathlon like triathlete like a complete triathlete. You
[00:36:05] Lockie: wouldn't have had ten guys working against him while he's off the front trying to catch him.
[00:36:09] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:36:10] Lockie: If it was a draft legal race, Walto probably wouldn't have the 5 or 6 titles that he's got.
[00:36:14] Lleyton: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's an interesting one, especially the TT. I think people underestimate how much a TT bike changes it.
[00:36:24] Lockie: It's also tough when like, you know, I was on a borrowed bike last year that was too big for me. I wasn't fitted properly. It was an older model against Hauser who has the top of the range, bloody brand new. And he's already a gun cyclist in his own right. I mean, like people say, oh, you know, equipment only is such a small not, not,
[00:36:44] Lleyton: not in time trial.
[00:36:45] Lockie: Yeah. In this, this day and age time trial bikes. I'm sorry, I know, buddy, my parents used to say it's not the bike, it's the motor on top.
[00:36:53] Lleyton: It's
[00:36:53] Lockie: a bit of the bike. This day and age is a bit of the bike, you know, like, I like that. But yeah, not when you're trying to be the top, top x percent.
[00:37:03] Lleyton: Yeah. Of
[00:37:03] Lockie: the world when Matty Hauser's just become a world champion. Now he's world number two. Like you can't really have an
[00:37:11] Lleyton: answer. Yeah, yeah, a a shitbox bike.
[00:37:15] Lockie: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. But no, it's good. I'm excited when you're heading up. Anyway,
[00:37:20] Lleyton: I won't be heading up. No,
[00:37:22] Lockie: unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have the hype as what it does last year. I think because it was coming off the back end of world Champs, maybe, what, two weeks after three weeks after you had your Cassandre Beaugrands? Matty was obviously doing it again. You had your Jess Fullagars. Even Jack Willis, Chase McQueen. Dijkstra there was a lot of people. Yeah, it was a big, big emphasis put on this weekend. Where? Yeah. Are we going to do a little pick for it?
[00:37:48] Lleyton: Well, we don't really have the start list, which I think, to be honest, through Noosa Triathlon itself, they haven't really hyped it up.
[00:37:55] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:37:55] Lleyton: Which is kind of sad.
[00:37:56] Lockie: Yeah. I
[00:37:57] Lleyton: haven't put up the pro start list, so
[00:37:59] Lockie: I've seen a little bit of it. And personally I think we're going to see in the men's the exact same top three as last year. I think we're going to see Matty Hauser win, John Reid second. Luke Willian third.
[00:38:08] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:38:09] Lockie: I just think again, John Reid will probably sit in on the bike run,
[00:38:13] Lleyton: run, run. He's
[00:38:13] Lockie: a freak runner like we saw his 10-K at the T100 at the start of the year.
[00:38:17] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:38:17] Lockie: Freak runner. He ran rapid last year. So I think we're going to see the same for the man. For the women. It's a women's. It's
[00:38:23] Lleyton: kind of up. Yeah it's kind of up for grabs I think Rochelle's actually like very soon to this.
[00:38:29] Lockie: Yeah it's a
[00:38:29] Lleyton: very strong rider
[00:38:30] Lockie: that feeling confident as well.
[00:38:31] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:38:31] Lockie: She's had those like she's had this what two years now three years on the time trial bike. So I think Nat Van Coevorden could give a good run for the money. I think we're going to see Sophie Malowiecki as well. Gun runner.
[00:38:43] Lleyton: So very good on like the T has been dialed in for a couple of years.
[00:38:46] Lockie: Who else? Kira Hedgeland. I know she's racing it.
[00:38:51] Lleyton: Sean Monks, I think you'll probably see a few more of the 70.3 girls.
[00:38:56] Lockie: Yeah,
[00:38:56] Lleyton: come up and race it. I think they'll probably do better than the pure ITU girls.
[00:39:01] Lockie: I do miss that. Like I remember, I feel like it used to be like that more. You had. And I get
[00:39:07] Lleyton: the crossover a bit
[00:39:08] Lockie: more. Yeah. And I'm not sure if we're not seeing that anymore. Like I remember when like Steve McKenna, you had Caleb Noble. I know Jackson still comes up and does it. Don't know if he isn't this week, but, you had a lot of those 70.3 athlete Nick Free as well. He put he put down a good like contention one year. But we're just not really seeing that anymore.
[00:39:28] Lleyton: No the crossover
[00:39:30] Lockie: and I and I genuinely believe that is because of the strength of short course is just so good that I,
[00:39:36] Lleyton: I think the run is probably the big thing. And like the, the swim, the swim difference. Like although we've never raced 70.3, we know that the swim isn't quite as hard as the short course race. Noosa swim.
[00:39:49] Lockie: Yeah,
[00:39:50] Lleyton: short course swim.
[00:39:51] Lockie: Yeah. Even looking at and again it
[00:39:54] Lleyton: the only big advantage for 70.3 specialists is the TT bike.
[00:39:58] Lockie: Yeah. And over 40 K.
[00:40:01] Lleyton: Is it making much like no one's really fading too much like everyone still races over 40 K
[00:40:06] Lockie: yeah.
[00:40:07] Lleyton: So I don't think we're seeing that much of a crossover.
[00:40:10] Lockie: No, I think you're still seeing the short course guys just dominate
[00:40:13] Lleyton: dominate it.
[00:40:13] Lockie: Yeah. I mean, again, we're even looking at like we said, we saw it in Kona. We saw it in Nice like Ironman podiums are now just short course, old course athletes that have just
[00:40:24] Lleyton: got
[00:40:24] Lockie: super short course and yeah, yeah. And it's happening just more frequent now you're not seeing long course specialists. It's either short course guys that are just done with short course gone along and they're dominating still.
[00:40:35] Lleyton: Yeah. It would be interesting to see because you have two of probably the best in the world right here on the Gold Coast Matt Hauser and Jelle Geens.
[00:40:42] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:40:43] Lleyton: It would be interesting to see those two go head to head.
[00:40:46] Lockie: I would I would love to see that
[00:40:47] Lleyton: that would be a race like I wish I could see
[00:40:52] Lockie: it would be unreal if we had like a Matty Hauser, Hayden Wilde, Jelle Geens.
[00:40:58] Lleyton: Yeah, that would be awesome. It would show the top like draft legal short course versus the top middle distance guys
[00:41:05] Lockie: be a great race
[00:41:06] Lleyton: in a short course dynamic.
[00:41:09] Lockie: Yeah.
[00:41:09] Lleyton: Would you say
[00:41:09] Lockie: be a great race. It
[00:41:10] Lleyton: would be. It would be cracking. Because I think those boys can still run like a 30 minute 10-K.
[00:41:16] Lockie: The hard part, of
[00:41:16] Lleyton: course,
[00:41:17] Lockie: the hard part with Noosa is and I remember it last year, is that because it's not massive fields, 20 to 30 people where like when you're in a World Series it's 60 odd people in a race. It strings out and when it strings out, there's a lot of people to fill the gaps.
[00:41:35] Lleyton: Yeah,
[00:41:35] Lockie: sort of thing where like, there's no one to fill the gap. So like if you got someone, it's so much easier for a slower swimmer to just get on the feet of a faster swimmer and kind of like, get dragged along. There's no argy bargy fighting for, you know, 20 people fighting for.
[00:41:49] Lleyton: Yeah, a spot
[00:41:50] Lockie: at the can. Well, I remember last year, I think we were swimming in, and I, I remember swimming next to Aaron. I had Aaron on my right shoulder and Luke Willian on his other side. And we were three wide and we were behind Hauser, Chase McQueen and Brayden Mercer, and they were also three wide. So we're like everyone's three wide stacked here. We're not swimming fast.
[00:42:10] Lleyton: Yeah.
[00:42:10] Lockie: Like I don't remember swimming on their feet thinking this is easy. And then also swimmers there three of the best swimmers in the world. So it's like it's hard for it to split up.
[00:42:20] Lleyton: Yeah. Who knows.
[00:42:22] Lockie: Anyway
[00:42:22] Lleyton: there
[00:42:24] Lockie: I am up there I'm, I'm going to drive up there Sunday morning. So we're just going to do a day trip again. Not really worth the whole weekend.
[00:42:31] Lleyton: No unfortunately not this year. Not for us as the pod.
[00:42:35] Lockie: Yeah. Maybe next time.
[00:42:37] Lleyton: Maybe next time. Maybe next time. Hopefully we try and get to a few events.
[00:42:41] Lockie: Yeah for sure.
[00:42:42] Lleyton: That's right.
[00:42:43] Lockie: All right guys, thank you very much. That is like Lleyton said episode 62 of the unfunded podcast. Thank you very much for listening. We will see you next week with a bit of a recap.
[00:42:53] Lleyton: Sounds good. Bye.
[00:42:54] Lockie: Good.