The remarkable rise of Australian para-triathlete and Wheelchair Sports WA member Brant Garvey doesn’t appear to be slowing at all.
Having only started the sport two years ago, the WAIS scholarship holder’s rise to the top of the sport has been remarkable.
Garvey’s recent second place finish at the ITU World Triathlon Series Round in Chicago has given him a total of981 points and will see him ranked as the No.1 competitor leading into the World Championships in Edmonton, Canada beginning end of August.
Garvey was able to achieve the podium result despite a difficult preparation for the US event.
“The jet lag wasn’t great on the way over, took a few days before I could keep my eyes open. Plus my room mate had the flu and passed that around so that was great.”
The 29 year-old took away a lot of positives from his performance particularly with an improved performance in the swim section.
“Chicago is a great place to race and for the swim, Michigan Lake was clear and a fresh 14 degrees. I was really happy with the swim and it was 45 seconds faster than previous races.”
“I came out of the water in second by a few mins to the US guy. I was going really well on the bike and caught and passed him on the last lap. It was a tricky route and had some really technical turns and so was a pretty slow course. There were also heaps of flats through the field so I was lucky to not get a blow out.”
Despite a good cycle, the run proved more of a challenge for Trigg resident.
“I came off the bike in first place and was feeling good. But not long into it, Mike Barr caught me and just smashed me” he said.
“I’ve just come back from a knee injury that came from post-Ironman so I’m still working back into the runs.”
Garvey now turns his attention to preparing for the World Championships, with specific work on the factors he will compete on in Canada highlighting his training.
“Training for Canada is obviously the main goal now. The swim is feeling good, so I will just keep that ticking over and it’s not the major focus. The bike is going to be another technical ride and has a steep hill featuring so I will be doing lots of hill work in training. For the run, the focus is speed work now and making sure the knee is good to go.”
-WheelchairSportsWA
