Double World Aquathlon Champion, Richard Stannard, is back! We hadn't heard from him for a while, but as he finalises his preparation for May's Olympic qualification race down under, he took time out from his hectic training schedule to bring us this report!

With only a few months to go to Olympic trials, and only a few weeks till the World Cup season opener, it was with excitement and a sense of déjà vu that I boarded the British Airways flight to Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

This time round, I have been five or maybe six times before, it felt a little different, I had company in the form of Irish international triathlete and Olympic hopeful, Emma Davis, my training partner. She is one very dedicated athlete and a real inspiration. Despite her nerves about going to a triathlon-crazy country like Australia, where even the local barber can talk shop with any pro, I tried to calm her nerves with endless stories of Saturday morning crit rides that may as well be a World Cup with the number of ranked athletes showing for a burn up around the Luke Harrop memorial track. I continued with tails of lightning-fast transitions and Australia’s East Coast being the proving ground of many of today’s top athletes, at all distances. I think I made things worse!

I had a trick up my sleeve though, I told her to pack a spare set of underwear in her hand luggage and not to ask any questions. Thinking I was being a little kinky she obliged, but with an odd look on her face. My plan was simple, the flight to Brisbane stops over in Singapore for a couple of hours and I have learned on previous trips that for £3 you can have a shower and cold drink in the Rain Forest Lounge. So courtesy of nameonkit.com (the company paid!) we both had a relaxing shower and a cold drink, which made the second flight into Brisbane that much easier to bear.

The jet lag to Oz can be a nightmare, but we both seemed to cope well! Despite falling asleep at 1630 on the first afternoon, we both made the 0530 swim set the next morning, and did a full days training!

On day three we met up with Stu Hayes and Michelle Dillon, who have both been out here since November. They are both in great shape and should prove excellent training partners. Add into the mix Natalie Barnard, Loughborough student, out here for a month of intense training and Neil Brooks (aka Brooksie) Olympic Gold Medallist swimmer, who are both serious age group triathletes, and you have the makings of a focused squad.

By the end of the first week both Emma and I decided to throw ourselves in at the deep end and race the Saturday morning crit, followed directly by kilometre reps on the treadmill. Stu informed me that the day's race would be a tough one as we were only one week away from the ITU Oceania Cup race, which forms part of the Luke Harrop Memorial Triathlon weekend held each March, and a lot of Europeans had just arrived on the Gold Coast. He was right, from the gun the race exploded with guys missing packs, some getting punctures and others just not ready, being straight out of a European winter. Michelle and Emma were fantastic, they both were able to mix it up with the men and Michelle even pulled a turn in the A grade race! With the race just finished, Courtney Atkinson (who has already qualified for the Australian Beijing Olympic team) dropped his bike on the finish line and one super-quick transition later he was straight into a 5km run off the bike! We cycled straight off to the gym at the Sports Super Centre, in Runaway Bay (where both Emma and I are staying) which is right next door to the track and hit the treadmills. Stu cranked the gauge up to 20km/hour and jumped on for the first rep. Emma and Natalie were swapping turns and I had a treadmill of my own. Not only had the crit been the hardest of the year so far according to Stu, but it was also the hottest day of the Australian summer as well. In the end we had cleared all the treadmills of the regular users, who were giving us some very strange looks as our squad of World Cup triathletes hammered out a very hard brick session.

To end the first week we hit the mountains inland from the coast for a long Sunday ride. With the first week over the focus turned to the following weekend and the first race of 2008 for the squad.

Since Richard sent us this update, the squad has raced the ITU Oceania Cup points race and a full report can be read here.