Reply to open letter from Carlos Rodriguez. Thank you first sir for being a great supporter of the dove vision, and also to myself and ex athletes. However i waited till after the weekend to reply as i knew there was going to be some very big results to put your mind at ease - in all 3 areas. The facts may be a little brutal, but truth sometimes hurts. So point 1/ I do not need any athlete, and havent since 1977 when an an athlete trained by me won the open Australian 100m freestyle championship. I use the date only to point out, that i have been winning major titles before some of the make believe coaches were even born. As you seen on the weekend, much to the disgust of some, i havent forgot how to coach, how to improve people that thought their careers were over, or how to not only keep people going after the biggest prize of all has been won, but improve them. I am not the usual coach. I help athletes be better, till they no longer want to train with me, or they no longer are striving to be the best they can be. We say in our squad, there are no handcuffs. You dont like what i advise, you leave. No hard feelings. This is the essence of success. Each generation learns and is inspired by the stories of previous ones, even those that leave have a positive effect for the future. They stand as examples of what to do, or not do with ones career. Sir, i have no need to regress or have regrets, because even those that detest me will always attest (accept may be one) that i do my very best i can for every athlete that says youre my coach. I honour that, and try to live up to being the very best coach for them i can be. If because of personality reasons i feel im not giving 100% we agree to part company as i dont want to stifle an athletes career in a meager earning sport career. Contrary to what you intimate, i at this moment in my life, even though i have hit a few road humps with the dove project (which i will discuss to all the dove members), and having to continue to coach, am happier than i have ever been. The team tbb thing was not a disappointment at all. I also gave it my all, for however many years but soon as i could see it was not longer going to be an innovator for the sport but part of the problem, i moved out. Just like any other job, i havent looked at their website since the day i said Alex, thank-you, time for me to go. People say im arrogant. Why? because i know my craft and skills, but that is a positive to those that pay me. If you dont pay me, its my job for my athletes to try and beat you. Its my job to protect my athletes. Do i have regrets with any athlete that i left or they left me? Absolutely none. I did my best. They all were to become better athletes for meeting brett sutton. I only have one sadness, which i shouldnt, but i feel sorry for the character assassination in public by a so called coach. Not sad for the empty headed no thought comments, but that Caroline bought into the equation. So the last word ill have in still trying to protect an old sutto warrior. Caroline Steffen is one of the most courageous athletes who i ever had the privilege to work with. Instead of the mindless attack of she fails, and hasnt won kona, and complete false assumptions. It does make me lay awake at night. I think deeper than some of these people when im asleep. Xena was a warrior princess. She is fallible at times. Fragile in others. But what should have been made clear to her by any prospective new coach, is how brilliant her career has been at kona. How only circumstances have stopped her being a great. That would have been at least acceptable if one decided to try and turn her head before her last kona, in an attempt to recruit an athlete. Here is Caroline Steffens kona resume. First yr pro 2nd unbelievable 2nd yr 5th and that was a bad race - not too bad for a failure, when she struggled to come to grips with the new fame. I think great effort. 3rd yr 2nd bounced back, only to be denied when she had dropped the lead pack on the bike because of ridiculous rules that seen the leader of the world championship be penalised. Even her own team mate says it was all over before that diabolical call. 4th yr 5th another failure, after having her head turned, when i thought with Mary Beth accident, that she was so unbeatable that only a puncture could stop her. But no, we had the know alls in to help. Throwing up and delirious, she on sheer heart, guts and determination, some how closed her sutto chapter with 5th. All of this was done in the first years of her pro tri career. Lets put it in perspective with the accuser of missing something. Even when he was a world ITU champion, 10 year veteran, with 4 or 5 Ironman Australia titles and 3 or so kona ones under his belt, so experience wouldnt seem to be the problem, or ability to win one, lets look at his first 4 konas. First yr DNF 2nd yr about 58 but he finished 3rd yr DNF 4th yr 6th not a bad effort . Now unless im mistaken, he went on later to win the thing a couple of times, and become a house hold name. So, one could be mistaken for thinking that Caroline Steffen who was an amazing athlete at kona, what type of coach undermines an athletes confidence when they have that resume? Or what type of coach even gives their opinion when its so close to the biggest race of their life, and not his athlete? I do apologise in public to Jurgan Zack because i assumed it was him that turned her head in Thailand. I could say an L plater, but that would be unfair to all those with little experience but trying their very best for their athletes. No, it can only come from no coach at all. As John Hellermans once said to me, and he is a real coach - to be an athlete is the ultimate in self indulgence. To be a great coach is exactly the opposite. I should know cause ive been both. Well John so have i. The Brett Sutton and Xena show has moved on, and there will be no return, but the facts are Caroline Steffen will always go down a a super champion in my book, and people, that is all that counts with me. Take it or leave it. Thank you for your note. The way i see it. the doc
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 20:39:44 +0000
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