Here are some thoughts from Hamish Carter after visiting the New Zealand triathletes at their altitude camp in Font Romeu in France...


  
A couple of months ago the Team approached me about the opportunity to help the Olympic athletes and their campaigns to go to Rio, to help with final preparation - from an individual performance perspective and also from a collective team perspective. With all of the athletes and coaches based at Font Romeu in July, it was a chance to go over and apply a bit of experience and look at some of the challenges that they are facing. That opportunity was supported by HPSNZ and I was able to go over.

I was in a unique position in having a good relationship with each of the three coaches and having been to a couple of Olympics myself I was able to take a look at what they are doing and identify any potential gaps in that programme in the final period and look to put it into their training in Europe before they depart to Rio.

The way we approached it was a little bit of everything, it was time with athletes and coaches together and each apart and then all the coaches together going through their plans. You need to tailor the approach for each situation and look at where a certain campaign might be at and the challenges they are facing, and therefore what they need to focus on in the last few weeks and how does Rio as an environment need to be set up so when they arrive there are no surprises and they have everything they need to get ready to race.

The first thing for me was to understand that you are on the ground with these guys and the coaches and athletes are doing everything they possibly can every day to be ready, no one is shirking anything. They all desperately want to produce their best possible performance in Rio. But they were all at altitude when I met with them and that carries its own stress with a lack of oxygen. Athletes train hard and you get the gains once you come down so there is an element of faith and trust that though you don’t often hit your numbers at altitude your numbers will be maximized when you come down. I think in that regard they are doing all they can every day to be ready for that. 

You put so much work in, this is a culmination of an entire career – not that they will all retire, but it is all you have been aiming for over so many years and in those final few weeks you are thinking shoot, we only have 4 or 5 key sessions left, so they are trying to make every one of them count.

The key thing was to try and look at what they might pay attention to over the next few weeks, in particular bringing the four campaigns working closely together considering they will all be operating as a team once they get to Rio. They will move around together, course familiarization, training space, lanes in the pool – all of those things are important and the coaches spent quite a bit of time going over that and making sure it is right logistically – all those little things matter towards the end.

I certainly know where the athletes are at but you forget how hard they work every day, that part I don’t miss. But it certainly enjoyed the chance to give a little of my experience back to the athletes going to Rio and help them produce their best performance. That is what everyone wants and I enjoyed the opportunity to do that.

We have a VERY EXCITING competition where you can win a framed New Zealand Olympic Triathlon Uniform with the whole team having signed it!

So how do you win the tri suit?  Easy!  You just need to take a photo of yourself in your own Tri get-up watching our Women's or Men's Olympic Triathlon, put it up on any social media (FB/Insta/Twitter) with the hashtag #TRIBEPROUD2AM and you go in the draw.  We'll pick the top 3 and put it to a Community vote through TRIBE after the race.  Remember to put the race dates in your calendar:

Men's Triathlon - NZT Friday 19th August 2am
Women's Triathlon - NZT Sunday 21st August 2am

You were recently announced Wellington Official of the Year, that is a big award, what does that mean to you?

I think most officials and especially those who stick with it for any length of time do so because they are passionate about their sport and that is certainly true in my case.  We do it because we love it. But having said that it was very satisfying to be recognised not just by Triathlon but by the wider Wellington sporting community for having made a contribution that has been valued.  Triathlon may be an individual sport but triathlon officiating is definitely a team game so while I was the one collecting the award, I was also really proud to have done so on behalf of a relatively minor sport (compared to Rugby and Cricket who also had nominees) and my fellow technical officials.  I’m by no means the only Tri NZ Official to have been recognised in regional sports awards around the country and I think that’s indicative that we have a really strong Technical programme and some great officials that I’m lucky to be able to work alongside. 

What is your role at the RIO games?

I am the Chief Vehicular Official.  That means I’m responsible for all of the vehicles that will be on the course during the races.  As with a lot of the things that technical officials do, preparation and planning are a big part of the role including making sure the motor bike riders are briefed on what they can and can’t do and where they can position themselves and move relative to the athletes in the different sections of the course.  Then during the race, it’s about making sure that everyone sticks to what has been agreed so that so no one gets an unfair advantage or is interfered with.  We also have to plan how we can get any medical support vehicles on and off the course and manage this if they are needed.

What are you most looking forward to?

Just as athletes have worked for years to get to the Olympics, since I got seriously into officiating at ITU events about 8 years ago getting to the Olympics has been a personal objective.   Even though I’ve been to multiple World Championships and also to the Commonwealth Games I’m expecting that the Olympics will be at another level.  Just as it is for the athletes the pressure is also on the officials to deliver our best performance.  Over the years I’ve gotten to know most of the international officials that make up our team and they are a great bunch of people so I’m looking forward to sitting down with them afterwards (possibly with a beer) and reflecting on a job well done.  Oh, and seeing another kiwi triathlete on an Olympic podium would be pretty cool.

So far in your experience which event has been your favourite to be involved in and why?

As an athlete I’m a decent swimmer and a dreadful runner so I think duathlons are the invention of the devil.  So, strange to say, my favourite event to date has been the World Duathlon Championships in Adelaide last year where I was the Technical Delegate.  This was the most senior appointment I have had so far and I was working on the event with the Local Organising Committee for about 18 months.   Seeing all that planning come together in a really successful event over the two days with lots of happy athletes was hugely satisfying.  I’d have to say that the WTS race in Leeds just recently was pretty good as well – the Brits certainly get out and support events and particularly with the Brownlee boys to the fore the locals were out in force and in pretty good voice.