Latest / Happy Pace - a triathlon podcast / BONUS: A Quick Coffee with Regan Hollioake
Transcript
- Mardi: for jumping on, Rigs. ⁓ how are you going today? Thanks for having me. It's really nice to be here. No, I'm going really well. We had a beautiful swing this morning out of Palmed Home and then a nice breakfast with the crew. So yeah, excited to be here. Awesome. And you're racing cans for the second time in a row. You raced here last year. ⁓ how are you feeling? How are how's your training your lead up been for this race? Yeah, I'm really excited for this fun. It was ⁓ nice to to come to Cannes for the first time last year and ⁓ learn a few things that hopefully I can implement on the day ⁓ come Sunday. But no, I'm excited. Cannes is an excellent race on the Aussie calendar. ⁓ we've got some really strong ⁓ Aussie and Kiwi girls on the start list. So yeah, I'm really f looking forward to going out there and showing what we can do on race day. ⁓ that's awesome. I know Marty and I are both doing the seventy point three, so we will be watching ⁓ for when you come past. ⁓ what I guess ⁓ are your key goals? How does this fit into the context of your year? I know you're heading over to the States next month. How does this kind of fit in? Yeah, so this is like it's always a really good race on the calendar. It's not a pro series race this year, so we had to really think quite carefully about ⁓ how many races we did outside of the pro series because that is quite quite demanding already doing three fulls and things, ⁓ two of those being world championships. So ⁓ but the cans. Jaclyn: Hello and welcome to a special edition episode of the Happy Pace Podcast. This is a really short episode where we get to interview Regan Holyoke. She is an Australian pro triathlete currently racing in the IMM Pro Series. She is racing Cairns this weekend and she was kind enough to give us a small amount of her time to jump on and have a quick chat with us today. Mardi: course was just it was just a race that I I really couldn't miss, I think. ⁓ it's it's a fun one. It's a really hard one, but it's it's a a feel good one. So yeah, I ⁓ was really adamant that I wanted to put it on on the calendar, despite it not contributing to the pro series, just because it is such a good week away. ⁓ it's a really good opportunity to practice some things in a race, ⁓ without having the pressure of a pro series or points on the line. You can race a little bit more freely, a little ⁓ Like like less portion to the wind. and having already got my cone sod as well, I've got that sort of cone monkey off my back. So really the shackles are off on Sunday. I can yeah, just just go for it. Go out and have some fun. Like the rest of it. you also raced Western Sydney recently. ⁓ tell us a little bit about that race. obviously it's different being a seventy point three race versus an Iron Man, the tactics are different. ⁓ again, it was a relatively local race as well. Yeah, so that was my first time at Western Sydney. I I didn't give it enough credit. It's an excellent race. If anyone ever gets an opportunity to go out to Penrith, it's really such a wonderful, a wonderful race. It was one of my s favorite 70.3s I think I've ever done, which yeah, which I I wasn't expecting. So I was really pleasantly surprised when I went out there. ⁓ I think, I mean, the dynamics in a 70.3 and an Iron Man are completely different. I I really like in a 70.3 more to an Olympic distance. I think it's closer to an Olympic distance than it is an Iron Man. ⁓ so The I mean the racing in seven point three is just so fast and so hard that you just don't have any much for error. ⁓ and it's also a very, very different skill set. So I think my my strengths really lend myself to the longer distance racing, but I do really enjoy sort of stepping back into that shorter racing and and having a go and it's a really good opportunity for me to to fine tune my skills and try and get some of that speed happening. So ⁓ yeah, look I I had a a ⁓ decent race at Western Sydney. ⁓ I swam and biked, you know, quite well. My run is still a work in progress. We've had a few, a bit of a slow start to the year with a few ⁓ issues there. But ⁓ yeah, it was again just a really good opportunity to to practice that sort of you know shorter, faster racing. And yeah, yeah, I I've really enjoyed it actually. I'm hoping to put a few more 7.3s on the calendar after that. Yeah, awesome. And we were also on the Gold Coast, which you also raced as well. We were just chatting earlier about how Again, that's closer to an Olympic distance race than faster girls. And I guess that's the same thing with seventy point three, with T one hundred being like that. I guess in between for some of the short course girls coming up, I think we're probably going to see more of those girls racing seventy point three distance over the next couple of years. Yeah, definitely. I think we've really noticed the jump in in sort of competitiveness, I suppose, particularly in the women's field over the past year. I think after an Olympic cycle, it's really common for those short course girls to step up. ⁓ there's also, you know, more money in in the short in the longer course racing now than than they get through the Federation. So ⁓ it's really appealing for them. So yeah, I think it's been really exciting to see that that jump up in in how competitive every race is. And you just see it in the results now, the the depth of field is so ⁓ so insane and there's just there's no margin for error, particularly in that T one hundred racing. So ⁓ yeah, it's it's super exciting for the sport. I think the women's sport has really got a a real boost in the last couple of years, which is exciting to see. And I think it's only gonna get more and more competitive and ⁓ you know, faster and faster. And ⁓ I think we're really reducing the gap to to the men, ⁓ which is yeah, really exciting and really fun to see. And and women's racing is really exciting at the moment. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. We're in a really good spot, I think, with women's racing at the moment. especially and I think that'll just continue to grow over the next couple of years, which is Really exciting. ⁓ you've qualified for Kona, you've got your Kona spot. what the next couple of months look like? What are you most looking forward to about being back on the big island? Yeah, it was really nice to get my Kronos spot in New Zealand. It ta does take the pressure off a lot because I know that there are very limited spots still available and there's still some huge names that haven't got them. So ⁓ that's a real relief to have that. I I'm really looking forward to going back to Kona. I think the first year's a bit of a fact finding mission. it's It's such a huge race. It's such a different race. ⁓ obviously the course is super demanding, but just the dynamics of a world championship field and being on the start line with 40 of the worst for the fields in the world, ⁓ just just changes the way that you race so significantly. So I learned so much last year that I'm really excited to implement into into my racing this year. ⁓ and just excited to go back for a second time round and and have another crack at it and yeah, try and be competitive. I'm really confident that I can be competitive. And there's there's so much worse for me there still to have. So ⁓ yeah, I think the whole year is based around Kona and it it is coming around quite quickly. Exactly. So yeah, I think you know, all all lives you know, looking at Kona, all roads lead to Kona. So yeah, ⁓ yeah, excited to to try and I suppose build on my form from the start of the year, do a few races to kind of, you know, sharpen that up and and yeah, yeah, get there again this year. ⁓ that's so cool. We're really excited. ⁓ I know we will be watching Kona when it rolls around. ⁓ we'll do a couple of fun questions. your favorite person to race against and probably surprised you the most? ⁓ that's a really tough one. ⁓ I think ⁓ I ⁓ ⁓ God, I don't know question. I've really enjoyed so I had a couple of races with ⁓ Hannah Berry ⁓ this year and last year. And Hannah's just such a fierce, fair, strong racer. ⁓ it's been really nice to see her progression actually through you know, over the last couple of years. I think she certainly hasn't come out of nowhere, but she's been super smart with her her training and her racing and ⁓ yeah, she's always really good to have out on the race course just because she is so fair and strong and yeah. yeah, I I I certainly yeah, I certainly love racing with Hannah and just have love watch her think her progression out through the the last couple of years. Yeah, absolutely. And I I think I've followed her for quite some time now and like just she's just really built up over over a long period of time, which is is so nice to see. And it just shows that you put in the work, it like the rewards come. Yeah, consistency is key and she she certainly just seems really smart with her choices and her training and ⁓ I think she's a really good role model for for all of us out there. and I think yeah, now she's getting the attention that she certainly deserves on a start line 'cause when Hannah's there, she's gonna be at the front of the race and I I really think at Cona this year she can give it another red hot nudge. I she got four flash incredible result, but I wouldn't be surprised if we saw her on the podium. Yeah, amazing. So exciting. I think actually I think she's leading the pro series at the moment as well. what is your favorite post race treat? ⁓ I'm gonna go like super cliche because it's normally something like salty and and fatty, like a burger and ⁓ I certainly can't go past a beer or something just to celebrate, but yeah, just something salty. Yeah. And what are the plans for the rest of the, I guess after the race, the rest of the week? You've got a couple of days up here. What are your plans? Yeah, so I'm really lucky to be ⁓ here until Thursday. So they have four days after the race. So my family's coming up, my sister and the kids, my ⁓ auntie and dad. So we're all gonna go over to Fitzroy Island and have a bit of a a look at the beauty that Cannes has to offer. So it'll be really nice to play tourist for a couple of days. It's my sister's birthday as well. So we'll celebrate that. ⁓ and just have some time to relax with the fam, which is so nice after a race to to be able to celebrate with them and 'cause they ride the waves with us and the highs and the lows. So ⁓ regardless of the outcome on Sunday, I'm just looking forward to having some time with them to to just chill out and yeah. Yeah, that's so fun. And you've got a big second half of the year which we're all super excited to watch and I think we'll have a few new happy pace followers ⁓ after the weekend. So Good luck on Sunday at Cans. We're super excited. And thank you so much for jumping on today. You're our first pro on our podcast. ⁓ thanks so much for having me. Good luck to as well. It'd be so nice to to see you out there. And ⁓ I'm sure we'll see you cheering on the on the sidelines once you're finished your race. Thanks, Reeks.