Cave is a tried and true champ

14 April 2012

In a sporting world where dedication is a euphemism for total, albeit necessary, self-absorption, Britain's Leanda Cave is worried that her whole life is about nothing but triathlon. Of course you don't get to be world champion, as she did last November, without huge focus and effort. But there are signs that the 25-year-old is feeling claustrophobic.

"I get sick of . . ." began Cave, before clarifying slightly. "It's really horrible when your full-time occupation runs every part of your life. When I go out with friends it really bothers me if triathlon is the only thing I talk about.

"My partner Torsten Abel is also a triathlete. We share a house in Swansea which I bought so that I can be near my coach Chris Jones. Sometimes I wish Torsten wasn't a triathlete because we only spend training time together not quality time.

"The rest of the time we're too exhausted and spaced out to do anything."

With the London Triathlon this weekend and, peculiarly, two world championships scheduled before the Olympic Games next year, there is no end in sight. Cave gives about six hours a day seven days a week to training. Even the occasional 'day off' includes two hours of strength and conditioning work.

"It's a long, hard grind," said Cave. "It's passion for the sport more than the financial rewards that drives me to keep doing it, although triathlon is paying fewer competitors than it used to.

In the World Cup competitions we have all season they used to pay the top 15 and now it's only the top 10. Yet there are hundreds of us getting as fit as we possibly can to compete.

"It's tough. Nothing is easy on the way to the top. It's about pure commitment, giving it everything I've got. That's why I came back to Britain four years ago."

Leanda was born in Louth, Lincolnshire but her family emigrated to Australia when she was four.

Originally Cave competed as a swimmer, but was in the habit of cycling 45 minutes to school and running to keep fit.

Eventually, combining the three became logical. But making a living out of the sport in Australia, where the competition is huge, was too difficult.

"It's survival of the fittest over there," she explained. "If you have money to start with it's easy, but I was living in Sydney and working at three jobs. I was a pool attendant, working in a homewares store and waitressing. I ended up breaking down. Then I did the London Triathlon in 1999 and felt really welcome here. I just thought to myself: 'What am I doing in Australia'?"

Financially, life has become far easier since her shock world championship win in Mexico last year, with new sponsorships including the multivitamin brand Purdey's. But it seems that so far either Cave or her agent have not grasped that sponsorships are not only about banking cheques but also professional responsibility.

This interview was arranged through Purdey's during a two-hour slot which Cave was supposed to give the company.

But to her sponsor's embarrassment she turned up 70 minutes late, intending to leave again after 20 minutes for a hitherto unheard of further appointment. Perhaps she is still getting used to life at the top.

"I was amazed to become world champion," confessed Cave. "I didn't think the training I'd done was enough to win. So now I think of how much more work I can do before Athens to be Olympic champion. That prize is sacrosanct, and I know what I've got to do to get it."

Catch the action

The London Triathlon begins with a swim in the Royal Victoria Dock, in front of the ExCel centre. The elite women start on Sunday at 8.25am and the elite men start 15 minutes later. Competitors then ride their bikes along Victoria Embankment past the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament to Big Ben. The women are expected to reach Big Ben around 9.05am and the men 10 minutes later. They then cycle back to the dock for the run, with the women due to arrive from

9.50am and the men from 9.55am. For more information, visit www.thelondontriathlon.com

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