Tim Berkel and Clayton Fettell Ironman Cairns wrap-up

Tim Van Berkel put together a stella run to set a new course record of 2:44 into a serious headwind, Tim has copped his fair share of flack lately so I am bloody proud of his effort on the day despite losing 4mins to a penalty he very nearly got there. Clayton Fettell 5th, Clayton and McKenzie were away at the front and had a 6:30 advantage after only 60kms and then Clayton pulled into the zone on a climb and also got a penalty and that did rattle his cage, he’s young and very passionate.

There’s been a lot of talk about these 2 athletes that I want to put to bed, as their coach I can state with the shadow of a doubt that Berkel and Fettell are far more talented than people realise, Tim Berkel hasn’t gone close to reaching a strength peak yet, without doubt there will be more IM wins-he is one of the best IM athletes in the world and has an extraordinary ability to build a great backend race, when he backs his confidence with his bike ability he is going to go much further forward.

Clayton is being torn apart by knockers at the minute which I guess is expected in Australia, a week ago it was Berkel – I see Clayton and Tim everyday and I have been in the sport for 25 years so I’ve been around long enough to see people come and go. I totally get that people want to throw stones but I will bet my whole career on the fact that this guy Fettell will disappear into the distance very soon and never been seen again, his ability to absorb training and gain strength makes it a surety. The fact that people think he can’t run is so far off base it doesn’t rate mention.

I love to see Aussies win, and watching Luke (McKenzie) and Liz (Blatchford) win made me feel proud to be Aussie. I really would love to see our home country value all of young Aussies regardless of who they train with or how they approach it. Passion often appears different to what it actually is in the heat of battle. These guys are not men yet they are still dealing with the difficulties of staying present under fire which comes naturally to guys in their mid to late thirties. Will these guys be at the forefront in 5 years time? You can bet your life on it.