KEEP IT SIMPLE – – – GET IT RIGHT – – – SEE THE DIFFERENCE
It’s sometimes a surprise when the greatest moments in sport arise from great simplicity. Whatever sport you watch, you can probably recall a simple move, perfectly executed, that just took your breath away – the tennis player who unerringly finds the space just beyond their opponent, the footballer who delightfully nutmegs their marker to set up the winning goal.
I remember one such moment in Geneva, 2015, that stood apart from the normal super-excitement of a race. I was watching the Mixed Relay event in the European Championships – this is a series of 4 consecutive mini triathlons (so, 11 Transitions!) with each athlete (in a team of 4) doing the Swim-Bike-Run sequence before handing over to their team mate. It had been an incredibly tight race on a meltingly hot afternoon. Less than 20 seconds separated the various leaders throughout the race as the intensity ramped up and the excitement mounted. Coming into the final Transition there were 3 teams in contention – France, Britain and Switzerland – and the home crowd were going wild. Standing on the roadside, it looked like it would all come down to the final 200m of the run. The three athletes hit the blue carpet of Transition almost simultaneously, sprinting to rack their bikes. When Britain and Switzerland looked up from getting their shoes on for the run, France had left the Transition area and was 50m down the road. David Hauss had elected to run barefoot, so he saved 5 or 6 seconds. There was 1600m to run for a gold medal, and the chasers just never got close. The Swiss picked up the silver, Britain got the bronze, but that moment in Transition was electrifying. And it demonstrated for me the essence of the tagline you see at the top of this page: Keep it Simple – Get it Right – See the difference. That’s not the same as saying it’s going to be Easy! It took an ocean of work from his team-mates for him to be in the right place at the right time; but when his moment came as they entered T-11, David Hauss knew. He’d practised this, and he got it absolutely right. He refreshed and inspired me, and I hope I can do the same for you!
This website won’t be ‘busy’, full of flashing gizmos and special offers, but there will be articles and comments fairly regularly; it’s more of an entry point for athletes who like the idea of cutting through the flannel, focusing on simple things that you can work on to make perfect, and then reaping the rewards. That might be completing a race that you’d thought beyond you, it might be a new PB, it might be qualification for an international championship – or even a podium spot there! Wherever you are athletically, if you want to move up a level – get in touch.