Richardson qualifies for World Championships

Kent Richardson may have to give Victor Rubbery a big thank you after the Triathlon World Championships if his swimming keeps improving.

Richardson won his age group at the Miami International Triathlon on Sunday and record a time of 2:08:24 to place first in the 50 to 54 age division and was 62nd overall.

He said: “I prepared so much after the World’s from last year in Budapest. I needed to work on several different things. I felt fantastic. I prepared so hard through this winter to get ready for this event.

He freely admits he “made a couple of mistakes at the start,” but was able to overcome those for his first place finish.

Richardson said the course changed and was moved to downtown Miami so the field was limited to 500 competitors.

“They wanted to see how it would work in an urban setting. There were almost 40 pros in it.”

He said while he was getting to the start gate, the race had already started, already putting him behind.

“But it was still by far my best swim. I haven’t posted a swim time like that ever. I realized all the hard work I did at Sandys 360 has definitely paid off.”

He said the Sandys 360 Community Centre is a fantastic idea, which certainly is giving him dividends. “It’s an unbelievable facility. To be able to have a 25-metre pool in the Somerset area is fantastic.”

He said the hours are flexible enough to allow him to train at his convenience.  “I can swim right up to nine o’clock at night or early in the morning.

“It’s just a lot more accessible for me.

“I did a couple of stroke classes with Victor Rubbery (former Olympic swimmer). Victor runs the masters programme there in the evening.

“My swim wasn’t weak, but it needed to be improved if I wanted to get into the top 15 at the World’s. I can’t rely on my cycling to get me there and be dead after doing it.”

Richardson said he’s never had to worry about his bike time and his clocking of 1:01:18 showed that as he was true as he was 39th overall.

“It was a really strong bike and I’ve been really been doing some great work with the Winner’s Edge group.”

He said his run time of 41:00 was a bit faster than the 43s and 44s he’s been posting. “It was nice to bring the run time down.

He said he made a couple of wrong turns, one the fault of bad directions, but was “still able to post a decent time”.

That time will allow Richardson to compete at the 51-50 HyVee Championships in the U.S.

“Unfortunately, that’s around the same time as the World Championships in Beijing and that’s been the big goal for me.”

Richardson said he wants to finish in the top 15 at the World Championships and he believes with his improved swimming regime, that can happen.