There’s lots to look forward to for triathlon legend Jonny Brownlee ahead of his return to Supertri Jersey this weekend.
Top of the list of course is the fact that he’s preparing to become a dad for the first time.
But before then he returns to Supertri’s spiritual home and the venue where he and Alex Yee – along with Hayden Wilde – provided one of the most iconic finishes back in 2021.
Now spearheading his own team alongside uber manager Tim Don this is very much a full circle moment and one he’s enjoyed doing this season as he helps mentor many of the younger athletes on the team.
We caught up with him to chat about that, his own form and much more as he looks to go one better than four years ago when Supertri last visited the Channel Islands.
‘Baptism of fire’
Last weekend Jonny and brother Alistair were involved in the British Gravel Championships in Dalby Forest, as was fellow Olympic triathlon and Supertri star Georgia Taylor-Brown who took a terrific second place in the Elite Women’s race.
Alistair and Jonny had to settle for 15th and 18th respectively in the men’s race after a frantic start, which Jonny thinks will stand him in good stead for Jersey.
He told us: “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life on my bike but it was absolutely brilliant and I loved it.
“It was a bit of a baptism of fire in the first 20 minutes. I hadn’t been able recce the course so the first 10 minutes was flying down at 60 kilometers an hour not knowing what’s coming, which I struggled with.
“So I burnt too many matches and then I settled in a group with me and Alistair and another guy – basically the way to describe it was max out for 30 minutes and then you’ve got about three hours to go!
“But I’m hoping it’s going to set me up well for the technical streets of Jersey because after doing it in the mud and the gravel, that should feel quite comfortable.”
Sprint finish!
Jonny was sixth last time out in Chicago and, asked what sort of shape he’s in, he said: “I’m really fit. My run sessions have been really good and I’ve tried to enjoy this last month and do different things at this stage of my career.
“But at the same time I’ve trained well and I would say my running is the best it’s been for a few years. I just want to go out there and show it and I’m looking forward to racing.
“Obviously. I really like racing in Jersey and have got some great memories. It’s a really iconic venue – it feels like it’s where Supertri got going and really kicked on. All the fans come out and support it and the crowd makes it – it’s kind of like an amphitheatre of triathlon.”
When asked about that race in 2021, it’s one he looks back at fondly despite coming out on the wrong side of the photo finish: “It was off the back of the Olympics and I wanted to show I could still do it.
“I remember it was a real tough, honest race. Hayden got ahead of us and then Alex came past me, and I thought, I can go with him here. And then, as we caught Hayden, I felt great and thought, here’s my opportunity to go around them and I did everything I could to get to that last corner first.
“I was thinking if I can do that then it’s going to take someone good to come around me. And then I had that feeling, oh Alex is coming, oh, he’s gone!
“It was a great race and even though I got beaten, I go back and watch it every now and then. I think that’s what Supertri racing is great for, those really close finishes and not knowing who’s going to win into the last few seconds.”
If you haven’t seen it, then take a look at the clip below…
Asked if he can go one better this weekend, he replies: “Obviously I’m not getting any younger and this type of racing definitely gets harder. But this enduro format should suit me because it’s just tough, hard racing.
“The first swim can be carnage. You then run up a big steep hill out the water. The bike’s just twisty and hard – you’re always having to be on the pedals and sprinting out of corners and then two laps on each run means it’s a real honest run as well.
“So, like I said about the gravel racing, where you go hard for the first bit and hang on, this is pretty similar. You go hard for the first 20 minutes and then you’ve got another two rounds to go. So, for me, in these races, I’m getting through the first round and seeing where I am and then going from there and hopefully I’m competitive and can use my endurance.”
Bright future
Yee of course followed in the Brownlees’ footsteps – he’d famously watched them as a fan at London 2012 – and Jonny is relishing helping the younger members on his team, whether they are British or not.
Marcus Dey, Brandon Pye and Oliver Conway will be alongside Brownlee in an all-Brit men’s line up and he’s full of praise for all of them, particularly Conway after seeing him race in Toronto before a stunning WTCS debut last weekend when he was fourth in Karlovy Vary.
He said: “You kind of hear about these guys but I went away from Toronto going, yeah, this lad’s gonna be good. He’s got it in his head and he’s obviously got a really good engine. He rides well, he runs well off it and he basically races well.
“He didn’t get the result in Toronto because his chain came off but he got it last weekend which was really good to see. And if he can do it on that course at Karlovy Vary, he can do it anywhere.
“I think he’s got a good chance of podium in the weekend. We want to support these British athletes coming through and give them the opportunity to compete on this kind of big global stage in the hope that they can take that into their careers going forward.
“Ollie Conway is probably a good example of that. Someone who in Toronto, like I say, didn’t have the best overall finish but he was there going, yeah, I could have been on the podium in that if my chain hadn’t come off. And then he isn’t going to World Series going, oh, no, it’s Matt Hauser or whoever, I can’t beat him. He’s going, you know, I can beat these guys.”
Change of focus
And for the women it was a certain ‘Swim Bike Run’ book by the Brownlee brothers which helped inspire Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen take up triathlon.
Expertly recruited for Brownlee Racing by Tim Don, whom Jonny says “is the best team manager out there”, she couldn’t have made a better impression in her first start – running away from the field for a debut win at Supertri Toronto.
Jonny explained: “We want to have people who have got a bit of story on our team. And Jolien actually started triathlon because she read our book. So I really liked that one. She told me in Toronto that she had been a swimmer when someone gave her our book at which point she’d never heard about triathlon but thought that’s pretty cool and something she’d try.
“So that was quite nice. And then in Toronto, I basically showed her around the bike course, showed her how to corner and it worked out pretty well!
“Hopefully I can continue to pass on advice to other athletes like Jolien to help them have good races.”
So things are all going very nicely for Jonny and after the grand finale at Supertri Toulouse it will be time for a well-deserved break as he gets ready to become a father for the first time.
Other races could have been on the agenda but as Jonny rightly pointed out: “I’ve been travelling around the world for the best part of 20 years, so I think I’ve earned the right to be at home and take a breath for a little bit and get ready – including finishing the nursery!”
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