Matt Baker

 



The driving force behind the Australian junior triathlon scene is spearheaded by only few athletes at this present time, I was lucky enough to catch the half man half beast from the central coast in the make up of Matty Baker while he was attending a pre Youth Olympics camp in Wollongong.

 

The world of Triathlon and Matt were introduced to each other through two thirds of the sports triangle; swimming and running at the age of 12, like most juniors Matt was encouraged by his coach to participate in the All Schools Triathlon through the state Schooling system finding a love and passion for the sport right away and has continued to chip away at it since then. Finding himself in the sport today at the very top tier of the sport in Australia, the commander of junior racing, a double Australian champion and an imensely respected athlete from not just younger but older peers infact.

 

Something that blew me away was Matt's responses to questions, indicating his dedication to wanting to reach the top level, answering the questions with lengthy detail and pure professionalism. Maturity in saying that he is honoured to have the younger talent looking to him for inspiration and advice making him appreciative of everything this sport has given him in return for the hours of hard work.

 

Again, maturity shining through when asked if there was anyone he would like to attack with a vengence through this question he kind heartedly proceeded with the answer that people have in the past doubted his form but he is using such words as fuel for the fire in which he will use to take on the Australian National Series and Youth olympics as preparation to really shut down the negitive comments and onlookers by qualifying for Worlds later on this year.

 

Matts approach to racing will carry him on to make a huge impact in the world of Triathlon and be successful in many years to come.

 

Matt would like to give a huge shout out his parents for showing him financial support and believing in him and his goals. Coach Keiran Barry, for the dedication and support in steering him in the right direction to hitting top form, Nicole Hackett for mental conditioning and insight into being a professional athlete, Kim Taylor swim coach for working around other commitments and anyone else in the development of Matt's career.

 

thanks,

Cain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elliot Collins

The boy from the bay of Warners, another Newcastle lakeside town. Elliot the state champion and National championships runner up for 2011 popped over to my house for a quick chat tonight and told us how and why he is another reason peoples jaws are going to drop in the coming years when he launches himself into the ever competitive world of Short course racing.

The ever smiling legend himself replies to my 'how ya gahn?' with a 'good thanks Caino' letting me know he is ready to get it done, we start the interview. We kicked it off with the introduction into the sport, Elliot was playing Rugby League at a super competitive level and progressing as time went on he was setting himself a part from the rest through pure cardiovascular strength and determination that was gained from the swimming, biking and running he was participating in but the sport of Triathlon was dragging him away from his original ways of leisure. The mongrel that was once used to drop the shoulder into players from the opposite side was now used to out kick the opponents in which Elliot races at the elite level.

The man himself is targeting all four Australian series races in order to gain selection for both youth olympics and junior worlds, much like previous featured athlete Scott Llewellyn, in fact both are under the watchful eye of Peter Mauro who runs the powerhouse Training Smart Triathlon squad. Elliot is a super confident kid knowing his strengths and is ready to do battle with people wanting those same spots, he has called it a race between him and Matt Baker the two time Australian champion. He quietly tells me 'I wouldnt even bother training if I didnt want to make a career out of my love for the sport' concreting his passion behind what he does.

Its not all head down for the lad as he is known to get loose on the beers with a sculling technique I have searched far and wide to find one alike. Letting his hair down after a week full of training and fulltime work, Elliot chills with the boys and does the normal teenager thing.

The big fella would like to thank Active Cycles and Genesis Gyms and everyone that has built him up as the athlete he is today.

Thanks,
Cain

Scott Llewellyn

The Junior Australian Champion of the 2010/2011 season had the run of his life to date, landing a spot on the Australian squad to compete in Beijing at the world junior sprint championships and solidifying his name as one of Australia's biggest talents, I hung out with Scott recently to gain an insight into how his life has been going post worlds and to find out what makes the Newcastle lad tick.

2012 has seen great change in Scott's life as he has made the move back from the ITU breeding ground of Gold Coast, Queensland where his training partner was none other then Brad Kahlefeldt. The move was prompted by the symptoms of burn out beginning to show up so a move to take a step back and enjoy the ways of life in which a teenager should.

During the time away from the sport the Belmont Beast has been catching up with the boys, hitting the coffee shops on the regular, Golf, planning Bali trips and having one too many beers like any smart athlete would to get it out of the system before a long hard route to top form.

The qualities that Scott has been gifted with have made him a nice guy in the sport but is training as hard as possible to fire a barrage of mental and physical attacks at his critics that have in the past been disappointed by the teams and development groups that he has been selected for. Everyone is peaking for him to throw a spanner in the works after a year away from the scene and show everyone how his form created the luck needed to be unbeaten in all Australian Junior series races throughout last years season.

Scott said "success has a thousand sons, but failure has only none" meaning that whoever has stayed true to his development as an athlete he is truely grateful for and whats to thank anyone that has helped him throughout the years, for anyone in the past that has tried to ride on his wagon to success when he is on a high and kick him in the guts when he is down to stay posted because Scott Llewellyn 2.0 is coming out all canons firing for March 2013.

Thanks,
Cain