When a family of six decide that five of them want to enter a Tri event, insert a whole lot of coordination, fun and laughter.

Holly Sherman and her family moved to Byron Bay from Melbourne unexpectedly during the pandemic. What started out as a temporary ‘escape’ for 6 weeks during the Melbourne lockdown in June/ July 2020 turned into an adventure of a lifetime and one that has formed great memories and experiences.

Holly says “each of us got into the Byron lifestyle; regularly surfing, morning dips in the ocean and walks to the lighthouse” and admits that sport runs deep within their DNA.

Both Holly and her husband Richard competed in a few triathlons in their later twenties, with Holly loving to swim, ride and run growing up in a very sporty household (her dad Rob Fildes was a decathlete, ranked No.1 in Australia and No. 14 in the world in 1971).

Richard is also a keen sportsman playing cricket and competing in marathons in both Melbourne and New York.

Their first triathlon as a family was Byron Bay Tri in 2022 where all of them competed, besides their 5-year-old, although we hear he would have loved to! Hollys says “it was fabulous to participate again years later with our children, but I prefer to watch my children compete these days, and the biggest challenge is to see them all in each leg! There is a lot of running as a spectator and to catch sight of each of them and shout words of encouragement is not easy!”

The fact their child with additional needs is welcomed wholeheartedly is a particular motivation for the family choosing to participate in triathlons. “The three triathlon’s my daughter has competed in have all been a super positive experience for her and our family. The event staff have gone out of their way to make sure we are looked after and given her just that little bit more attention required” Holly says.

During the events, their daughter won the hearts of many with her determination and how happy she was to be involved and included. Holly explained, “the same feeling of happiness was felt by us, her parents and I’m sure she made her siblings really proud too”.

When asked what changes she would like to see that would make competing easier for families like hers, Holly explained that continuing to promote triathlons as an all-inclusive event is very important.

“Being included is one of the best feelings in the world. To be a part of something and be able to comfortably participate and be accepted just as you are, is so important for mental health and wellbeing and it’s also important for society to celebrate individuals for their differences”.

Holly also has an online swimwear/ active wear business, Back Beach Rd (www.backbeachrd.com.au), which has a new product range of swimactive wear, targeted towards kids in triathlons, with a women’s range coming soon!

At times we can find ourselves watching from the sidelines and never quite get the courage to join in, but this is definitely not the case for Byron Bay resident and Tri club member, Deb Fuller.

Deb has always lived an active lifestyle and as a keen runner was drawn to the sport of Triathlon after moving to Byron in 2007. A casual walk into town that same year found her watching in awe as athletes whizzed past during the 2007 Byron Bay Tri. From that moment she knew this is what she wanted to try next.

Fast forward to 2008 and with some encouragement from Geoff Bensley – well-known local, and key organiser of the BBT – Deb entered her very first Tri at the age of 46! Deb claims she was never a keen swimmer nor a cyclist, but she could run and that’s where she was most comfortable.

Open water swimming for her was terrifying and she openly admits she started off holding the hand of one of her swim buddies, but as she says, “everyone has to start somewhere”! It took her almost 10 years to find the courage to join the local swim squad and today she actively encourages new triathletes from the Byron Tri Club to sign up.

Cycling also had a similar start for her, after borrowing a friend’s bike and having the chance to ride up and down the closed freeway she found out how much fun riding can be as she sped back and forth thinking “WOW I can cycle”. Needless to say, Deb was hooked and joined the local cycling club.

With some 40 or so Tri events under her belt, Deb has become well known up and down the Mid North Coast as a key member of the Byron Tri Club. If there is a Tri event on, Deb can be found helping to organize the 50+ strong members that form the club and still find time and energy to compete herself. Deb says “Being part of a Triathlon Club provides not only structure and access to coaches and training sessions but a sense of community and family.  Everyone cheers each other on and a win for a team member is shared as a win for the whole club”.

When asked what her most memorable event was, she proudly says “the Hervey Bay 100” – an event she had always dreamed of competing in, but as many of us experienced during the unexpected events of 2020 and 2021 any plans we may have had were thrown into chaos. Set back after set back, including a broken foot and a bout of the dreaded Covid, had Deb feeling quite underdone regarding training, but in true style she made it to the start line, and finished the event making the podium. A definite bucket list tick for her.

Deb also works hard encouraging women to try a tri and is the driving force behind the “Women’s Only” FREE program offered by the Byron Tri Club designed to introduce women to triathlons and duathlons in a safe and fun environment. “There has also been a major drive by Triathlon Australia to increase female participation in the Sport and our club has seen a significant increase in female members. There are more women participating in our training sessions and races than ever before”, Deb says.

The sport of Triathlon is demanding as well as rewarding, but with women and men like Deb encouraging new members to join and supporting those looking to excel it can only go from strength to strength.

I am a fair-weather athlete and try to avoid the cold but here a few things that might help…

My practical advice to avoid the cold; move to my old stomping ground Cairns, problem solved in a perfect world! The 15 to 25-degree crisp winter days of the Far North aren’t for everyone. Truly gods’ country and the very hot summers save up brownie points for when the season changes, bestowing winter with some of the best training weather experienced anywhere. The most constant seasonal temperatures in Australia can be found in a place on the Atherton Tablelands near Cairns called Walkerman, so although the heat can be extreme at times the winters don’t contrast too much, which suited me just fine when I did my training up north.

In my “hey-day”, I had the opportunity to chase the seasons with my racing programme involving summer in the Southern Hemisphere and at the end of that pack my bags for the Northern Hemisphere. I think at one point I had 22 summers in a row. The first time I had seen snow was a one-off race in Bordeaux, France for the world indoor championships. My dad and I were on the top of the Eiffel Tower and it started to snow. I experienced snow for the first time with a view and Fondue in the same day, pretty cool. Not a lot of training was happening though.

With racing on the other hand, sometimes you have to endure some colder climates even if it is mid-summer. The coldest water I have struck was in Ireland. The locals didn’t seem too bothered, calling it balmy, but the 7 degrees water had us tourists in full wetsuits and hoods. As soon as you hit the water it felt like you had devoured a bucket of Mr. Whippy in one hit. Instant brain freeze. The only other time I’ve heard of a similar temperature was an infamous incident where Marc “Jurassic” Dragon (a pro triathlete at the time) raced in Devonport Tasmania. After a late snow melt the cool waters of the Mersey dropped down to 7 degrees. “Drags” was inducted into folk law when after exiting the swim he decided to mount his trusty steed in full wetsuit regaler. Forty kilometres of racing in rubber.

We are spoilt up here in cane toad country because of the weather. I can’t imagine the “brass” needed to get out there in mid-winter in places such as Victoria to keep the training going so you hit the ground running for the next season. Even more important this year for those triathletes that made the worlds team is the fact worlds is in New Zealand. For one they have to train through winter as it’s on October 18th and on top of that it won’t be bikini weather race day either.

We are lucky even though we complain with the conditions we have here. I think a big secret to the Aussie dominance, besides hard work is the fact that the professionals have the opportunity to race and train all year round. Although mentally you need a break every now and then, getting a jump on the Northerners really sets the season up. A lot more athletes from the north who are serious, are now venturing down to Australia in their off season or to other places like South Africa and Lanzarote.

So you want to train through winter to have a full build up leading into next season, the goal is more about base work if there are no races around. If you’re working and the days are short, weekends should be the time where you can do longer rides and runs so to avoid the cold mornings. The swimming is relatively easy in heated pools so nothing really changes there. Take that out of the equation. Running just takes on a more rugged up approach to begin with and you just shed the layers as you go, maybe stash them for on the way back. I don’t mind running in the cold too much as long as my hands and head are covered. One of the best running days I’ve had was a few years ago in a German winter. My brother, a few mates and I started out in this small town rugged up to the hilt with more layers than an onion. We ran up this hill where the first battle scene in “Gladiator” was set, where the Germans turned back the Roman hoards. Anyway the hill went on for what seemed an hour and at the top these very civilised skiers sipping Blu Vine, a hot wine that goes down a treat, greeted us. Perfect for some way ward runners searching for some inner warmth by whatever means available. The onward journey was a bit of a buzz really but Mr. Frosty never surfaced again. There might be a tip there. On cold days always take a bottle of hot wine or maybe a Saint Bernard with one of those small kegs around its collar. Remember the bigger the dog the bigger the barrel.

When we reached our destination after two and a half hours it was straight into the sauna for a furnace 15 minutes then the dash out to the near frozen creek for a dunking. The locals reckon its good for the body but I reckon it can’t be if bits go missing. One more time for good measure, not that any of that was going on, and after some tucker it was back to the hill and sled down in the middle of the night, pitch black 5 kilometres to the bottom. The training was great but we also had one of those magic days to remember. So finding distraction can always help in situations that could be considered somewhat testing.

I suppose one of the things we all do when we can’t face the world outside is hit the wind trainer. I use to use it just once a week but in the cold I think it becomes a lot more versatile. When I trained on it the stereo was always blaring to distract me and at times I had this hose that I would wrap around my body with all holes in it to try and keep cool. My time on the wind trainer was always limited, because of boredom, but if that is the only option go with it.

A set that I used almost all of the time was actually one I got from Mark Allan (A triathlon legend) with a little variation. Warm up 10 minutes, then for the next twenty minutes build through the gears every five minutes until in the end the lungs are screaming and the legs start shaking uncontrollably. No rest just straight into the next half hour. Two minutes spinning then a minute on (hard), using bigger gears, a minute off using the small chain ring spinning. Continue this increasing the hard interval by a minute each time until three minutes then go back down and then up and down the ladder one more time.

This equates to about half an hour and by now your legs and lungs will be feeling just how you want them, like mash potatoes. To finish off after an easy two minutes spinning, do fifteen seconds max in the biggest gear you can push, forty-five seconds spin and do that four times. The last time I usually try for a full minute hard, what ever is left in the tank. Jump off, running shoes on and smash out a one-kilometre time trial. Believe me you won’t feel the cold and nothing beats the feeling in your legs.

Besides the wind trainer for cycling there is always the treadmill for running if there is one at your local gym. A lot of the professionals use these not just for winter but also throughout the season. Reason being there is no better way to monitor pace but more importantly to hold consistency of pace. The time we lose in a race are those times when fatigue sets in but it seems to come and go to some degree putting a dent in your average speed. One reason for that is that we also train like that. Unless it is a track session or more precisely a treadmill, we can’t monitor our pace consistently. The treadmill allows this consistency for any amount of time; if you miss a beat though, you face plant. It also depends of course if you can swindle one from the gym junkies. On a nice sunny day though I can’t seem to train indoors, keep it for winter.

I’ve actually used a humidity chamber before while testing for Gatorade in Chicago. They were testing the amount of sweat loss over certain amounts of time in humid temperatures indoors while it was minus thirty degrees outside. It’s great to see how much salt loss occurred while at race pace to combat cramps. Unfortunately not all of us can have a humidity chamber in our back yard, maybe close the house up and crank the heaters.

I think because the season is a long way off there is still a lot of time to do the most beneficial of you training. You don’t have to be training day in day out if the conditions get beyond anything reasonable. Remember if you don’t enjoy the sport what’s the point. So if it is freezing cold and raining, train another day.

If all else fails remember you can always order something on an infomercial from Danos Direct that will have a butt buster or some other contraption to get you fit in 5mins, in the mail before you put the phone down.

At the end of the day we are spoilt in Queensland for climate so enjoy it and be a fair weather athlete like me,

Stay warm…

Brad Beven OAM
Byron Bay Triathlon Ambassador
ITU World Hall of Fame
Australia Hall of Fame