FAST FIVE - JULY 2020 - STEPHEN REVILLE

“Build a strong foundation before you start, make sure your glutes are firing on both sides, get the correct sleep and take stretching seriously.”

Our July Fast Five athlete is Sydney-based Stephen Reville who has been a triathlete for almost 6 years and training with Coach David Dellow and T:Zero for the past six months. 

Originally from Ireland (more on this below) and a former boxer, when it comes to triathlon, Stephen is partial to half and full iron-distance races. Motivated by the desire to test himself against the best in the world under extreme conditions, Kona 2021/22 is his big goal. 

Stephen counts his proudest triathlon moment as breaking the 4:30 mark at  Ironman 70.3 Sunshine Coast. The run and bike are his (equal) favourite legs as they come most naturally to him. Outside of triathlon, he enjoys surfing and boxing occasionally. 

While Stephen's currently focussed on rehabilitation following an injury, he’s hoping to shift that towards racing 70.3 and Ironman again in the very near future. All the best, Stephen!

Why and how did you get into triathlon and multisport? 
When I was 24 years old, I was asked by my gym manager at the time to do a lifeguard course. I told him I couldn’t because I couldn’t even swim a quarter length of a 25 metre pool and I was scared of the deep end. I had to learn to swim so I could do the lifeguard course. I then moved to New Zealand and endurance events seemed to be all the go and my mates back home were doing triathlon so I thought I’d give it a try. I did my first ever triathlon in New Zealand (the South Island Half) after only 10 weeks of training! 

Favourite race and why? 
Sunshine Coast 70.3. I love the scenery up there and I love hot humid conditions.

Any funny or embarrassing race memories you’d like to share? 
I was racing a double Olympic triathlon and moments before I asked this random guy to zip my wetsuit up for me and he ended up ripping the zip completely off my wetsuit so I couldn’t get it back on as it was broken. My mates then grabbed safety pins to hold it together! A few popped right away but some stayed. Off the gun went. We were swimming and during my first few strokes all the pins blew out and I had an open-back wetsuit in a really cold Irish river for 3 kilometres! It was great crack* really.

What’s your favourite thing about triathlon/endurance/multisport? 
You can train at anytime. When I was a boxer you had to be in the gym same time every week and with my job being 60 to 70 hrs per week and physical it’s always been hard to maintain that. 

Do you do other training outside the normal swim/bike/run? 
Strength work every day as part of my rehab. Sometimes I’ll go surfing and a tiny bit of boxing training.

And one more for good measure (and a big head) …
 
Why do you love being part of the T:Zero Multisport team?
Because my coach Dave Dellow is THE MAN.

*crack - Irish word for “fun” :-P