IRONMAN Kona: British breakthrough star Kieran Lindars on ‘imposter syndrome’ and Hawaii glory bid

Having achieved one dream by qualifying for the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Kieran Lindars now intends to make his mark on full-distance triathlon’s biggest stage.

He is one of two Brits – David McNamee is the other – heading to Hawaii following his superb second place to Kristian Blummenfelt at IRONMAN Frankfurt.

In the first part of this in-depth interview with TRI247 he told us why that performance – against a stacked field of over 80 male pros – was a career-changer.

And now his focus is firmly on continuing the good work on Kona.

‘Imposter syndrome’ banished

It will be the biggest race of Lindars’ career so far by some distance – but he says that the confidence gleaned from Frankfurt means there won’t be any thoughts of not belonging when he arrives on the Big Island.

He told us: “I’d probably say my biggest opportunity until now was being invited to the PTO Singapore race last year, and that was because I was ranked 50th and there was a long roll down.

“I remember going to the event and just feeling like such an imposter. Everywhere you looked were top 20 athletes and I didn’t feel like I deserved to be there.

“And that was similar at Frankfurt. You saw the names and I was kind of in the background at the briefing, you’re kind of a part of it, but you’re just there. I know sometimes in the past I’ve been in briefings where a question hasn’t been answered and I put my hand up to say, can we just clarify this rule? And then you think are the world champions – or people at that level – wondering who’s this idiot asking that question?

“So I struggled quite a lot with not feeling like I was good enough or not feeling like I was there to really be in contention.

“But that was the first race where I’ve got a result like that and now I’m going to Kona feeling like I should be there. Whereas if I’d have come 20th and still got a slot, I probably would have had that same sort of imposter-type feeling. So getting that result against arguably one of the strongest fields assembled, it kind of tells me that actually, you know, on my day, I can do these incredible things.”

Tom Bishop a close ally

So having reached that level, the challenge is to maintain the progress, something which Kieran readily acknowledges: “The question now is whether or not I can repeat this as opposed to whether or not I can get to the level.”

He’s got a strong support network in place and one of the athletes he regularly consults is fellow Brit Tom Bishop, who had a very similar result to Lindars when second at Challenge Roth, also in Germany, this season.

Kieran reveals: “We’re really good friends and he’s helped me a lot – we talk about all sorts, whether it’s aero setups, recovery after races, training – whatever, it’s like comparing ideas.

“I remember him saying before Roth that he felt a bit underprepared and I said that was better than going into the race injured or with a niggle.

“He then he went and got the British record, came second in a stacked field and I was like, okay, that advice actually works, so I’m going to do it for Frankfurt.

“And he spoke to me a little bit about staying way back out of the drafting zone in a big field in Frankfurt so that when it ebbs and flows, it’s a lot more efficient. We’re competitors, but we’re also allies. We almost calm each other.”

Pride of Britain

But what about Kona advice, knowledge and experience?

“So I’m talking to all sorts of people at the moment,” says Lindars. “David McNamee has been kind of helping me a little bit with some of the tips and tricks and I’ve spoken to other British pros that are also helping guide me through it. Lots of ideas have kind of been filtered to me after Frankfurt and when people reached out to say well done, we would then have a quick chat about Kona.

“It’s actually been a little bit overwhelming to hear these people being invested in your story and helping me, it’s pretty special. As is the fact that I feel David and myself are representing the country this year which gives me a lot of pride.”

Lucy Charles-Barclay of course famously did a six-week heat prep block in the cold climes of Britain before her first IMWC victory last year and anyone who follows Kieran on Instagram will have seen him trying to replicate the heat and humidity himself on a bike trainer in a mini greenhouse.

“I’ve got a £30 pop-up greenhouse tent that I’ve got around my turbo currently that I’m creating a sweat box in and have done similar things with running in a painting suit!”

He’s also getting plenty of support from his sponsors: “I’m fortunate in the sense that my partners and all the people behind me are being very, very generous with different aspects of the build into Kona and when we’re there. It’s still obviously a financial pressure, but they’re making it work.”

Learning curve

And it’s clear chatting to Kieran just how special it is to be competing in Kona. “It’s always been a dream of mine to go there,” he confirms. “The history of it is just immense – it’s the dream that I never thought would happen.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the World Championships more so than the Olympics. I remember when I was young hearing about the Olympic slots and I think it was for track cycling, and we had one, two and fourth in the world in one event, and they could only take one and two. I was thinking, how can the fourth best in the world not go to the Olympics?

“So I just always wanted to go to the World Championships. And even getting into triathlon, the first race I ever watched was an Ironman. I thought it was the coolest thing I’ve ever heard. And then I found out that Kona was one of the hardest races that you could do and that was the big inspiration for me.

And then obviously, it being the World Championship makes it that bit more special. I can’t wait.

And while making it to Kona is a big deal in itself, Kieran now intends to make the most of the opportunity: “The whole goal for this year was to try and qualify for Kona. So the fact that I’m going and the fact that people are talking about me potentially pulling off a good result there is more than I ever dreamed of. So I’m kind of ahead of where I wanted to be.

“But I want to try and learn as much as possible for future years. I’ve never raced in these conditions, so it’s going to be a huge learning curve for me. But it would obviously be nice to come top 15, top 10.

“I honestly don’t know how I’ll be treated because at Frankfurt, I was very much left to my own devices. I kind of just sat at the back of the group. Nobody really cared about me. If I went off the front, no one would chase. If I got dropped, people wouldn’t put in an attack because I was off the back. Now there might be a slightly different perception.

“The biggest goal for me is I just want to be part of the race. I would love to be part of moves. It doesn’t matter if I’m the chase pack or the front pack or whatever, but it would nice be a part of the race where I’m contributing to the dynamics, feel like I’m going against people, and then the result will be whatever the result is.”