Courier Mail Article

Kirsten Runs Craig Down

IF bloody-minded determination translated to success, Kirsten Sweetland would already be a triathlon world champion.

Having defied science and the repeated knockbacks of one of the world’s leading triathlon coaches, the Canadian finally got her way and will have Craig Walton in her corner at the Mooloolaba ITU World Cup race on Sunday. Sweetland, 22, had been chasing Walton, the Gold Coast-based former coach of Emma Snowsill and Emma Moffatt, for more than two years only to be politely turned away at each request.

The word ‘‘no’’ does not sit well with the diminutive triathlete and she persisted until Walton caved in.

‘‘I contacted him in 2008, before Beijing (Olympics), and I’ve asked him about five times since then,’’ she said.

‘‘Then I got this message from him last year saying he was happy to take me on. Sweetland said she loves her summer

base at the Gold Coast’s Nobby Beach and plans to come back every year.

‘‘It’s tough. He’s hard on you but it’s good to train with a bit of fear,’’ she said. ‘‘I’ll go wherever he goes. If he was

coaching in Iceland I’d go there. ‘‘His general approach is exactly what I was looking for. You train hard, there’s

no fluff or gadgets.’’ That Sweetland is lining up again at

Mooloolaba, the race she won in 2009, is an impressive feat on its own.

As a teenager she was told by doctors that poor biomechanics meant she could never train at elite level.

This is why she wears a bumblebee necklace to remind her of a creature that, through sheer will and strength, can defy its aerodynamic shortfalls and fly.

Damien Stannard