Celle-ci estime qu'avec l'expérience de Chris McCormack et ses victoires sur big island ne peuvent que lui être profitable
À suivre....
With the end of the TeamTBB era and Brett Sutton stepping away from coaching, we all wanted to know who Caroline ‘Xena’ Steffen would team up with next. In this AT exclusive, Steffen reveals that Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack will be her new coach, guiding her along the road back to Kona. AT editor, Stef Hanson, goes deep with mentor and mentee as they prepare to go into battle together this season.
At a race recently I laughed (it’s funny because it’s true) when I heard a commentator say, “Her list of accomplishments are as long as a wet week in Melbourne,” (clearly a New South Welshman on the microphone) in relation to Caroline ‘Xena’ Steffen.
Steffen has had a ridiculous amount of wins and podiums in what has been a relatively short career to date – she turned professional in 2010. She is currently the second fastest woman ever over the iron-distance (Chrissie Wellington is still number one), which she achieved when she blew everyone away at Ironman Melbourne in 2012 with a time of 8:34:51.
Other career highlights include two-time ITU Long Course World Champion (2010, 2012), six-time iron-distance champion, with the most recent iron-distance win at Challenge Roth last year, and two-time Ironman World Champion runner up. There is also a plethora of half iron-distance wins and podiums, plus the occasional win at the not so typical distances like the Koh Samui triathlon.
Steffen has also taken out the title at the famous Noosa Triathlon back in 2010 in her first year as a professional. And I dare you to take her on in a Tim Tam Slam-a-thon. If you don’t know what a Tim Tam Slam is, then your Australian citizenship should be revoked !
In every race that Steffen lines up for she is one of the favourites, if not THE red hot favourite, and more often than not she is racing with a target on her back because of her strength in the swim/bike. Her sporting history also includes representing the Swiss National Swim team, and a pro cycling team – a tidy way of preparing one’s self for a successful career as a professional triathlete.
For four years, Steffen had been one of the members of the high profiled ensemble at TeamTBB and in September last year she decided to part ways with the team at the end of the year after some unrest, and wanted to look for other opportunities outside in terms of sponsorship and management - in her words, “to take ownership”.
“I also just thought it was time to go my own way,” she explains. “I wanted to give the spot to someone else who might need it. Four years ago I needed help, I didn’t have money or experience and so that helped. But I don’t need that support anymore. I wanted to spend more time in Australia and you couldn’t do that with the team. There were a lot of little different reasons for leaving, but at the end, I just wasn’t happy there anymore, so it was time to go.
”The plan though was to remain under Brett Sutton’s tutelage (the head coach of TeamTBB), however, it was a revelation to the athletes when Sutton stepped away from his coaching role altogether. “It was a big surprise for everyone. He left the team and all the team members and now he’s doing his own thing,” Steffen says. So after a disheartening crack at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii last year, and finding herself without a team and without a coach, Steffen needed time to reflect. “I was disappointed with Kona,” she says. “I was just so physically, emotionally and mentally drained from everything and felt like I needed a massive break afterwards to reorganise my life - I’d had enough.
”Eventually, once the dust had settled, her partner, David Dellow (fellow professional triathlete and TeamTBB member) asked her what she wanted from a coach. So she made a list, and at the end of the list, there was one blaringly obvious choice for her: Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack
