Momentum can disappear quickly in elite triathlon. Getting it back is rarely about doing something radically different.
For Kyle Smith, the past 18 months have been a reminder of just how fragile progress can be – and why patience and consistency often matter more than bold change.
According to his coach Dan Lorang, who chatted to TRI247 recently in an in-depth interview, Smith’s current trajectory is not about chasing reinvention, but about rebuilding a platform that was interrupted just as it was taking off.
When progress stalls
Smith’s 2024 season offered clear evidence of his potential. Strong performances on the T100 circuit underlined what Lorang already knew: when everything aligns, Smith has the engine to compete at the front.
“Looking at the season before, everything went so well,” Lorang says. “So fast, so well that we were like, wow – that’s really cool.”
The natural instinct was to build on that momentum. Instead, reality intervened.
“It wasn’t an easy year,” Lorang admits of 2025. “Health-wise especially, it was up and down. And then the big thing came with the collarbone.”
What followed was not just physical disruption, but the more subtle challenge of losing rhythm – something far harder to quantify, but just as damaging at elite level.
A step back to move forward
“We are still a little bit up and down,” Lorang says. “But the ups and downs are much less now. It’s not this kind of rollercoaster anymore.”
That stability, he believes, is the real marker of progress.
Against that backdrop, Smith’s decision to return to long-distance racing for the first time in four years at IRONMAN New Zealand on home turf in Taupo this weekend is not an escape route, nor a reaction to disappointment. It is a deliberate new challenge.
“It was his decision,” Lorang stresses. “There was not the biggest need to go to long distance.”
Smith has already shown he can be a player at middle distance – in that 2024 season he was second in two T100 races and the overall as well as winning Challenge Family’s showpiece Championship race.
“If he’s really in shape, he has a really strong run,” Lorang says. “Strong bike, strong run – and he can also be there in the swim.”
Motivation without pressure
That makes the move back to full distance all the more interesting. “This new challenge motivates him,” Lorang explains. “And that motivation matters.”
At the same time, there are no assumptions about instant success.
“It’s quite a while since he did a long-distance race,” Lorang notes. “So we have to see how his body reacts to it.”
What stands out in Lorang’s assessment is the absence of urgency. There is no talk of redemption, no sense that Smith must prove something quickly.
Instead, the focus is on learning – and on re-establishing the habits that underpin performance over time.
“I’m really looking forward to this season with him,” Lorang says. “To see where he is, what he can bring, and how he can develop on the long-distance course.”
Dan Lorang’s interview with TRI247:
- Fred Funk set to shine at full-distance
- Kyle Smith and getting back on track
- Maya Kingma, Laura Lindemann, Justus Nieschlag, Lucy Charles-Barclay and Taylor Knibb to follow
- And Dan himself!
