The physical side of triathlon

Ryan Sissons. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Triathlon is supposed to be a non-contact sport but Ryan Sissons has the physical evidence to prove otherwise.

The New Zealand triathlete was kicked and punched in the face in his last race, the World Cup event in New Plymouth last weekend, and emerged with a black eye.

"With the amount of competitors on the start line and the rough conditions and everyone fighting on a short first leg of the 750m swim, it became difficult at the first buoy as everyone converged," he said.

"It was a bit freakish. I got stuck around one of the ropes on the buoy and it just stopped my forward momentum. Then I got swim over and pulled back. I was mauled and lost my goggles and was kicked and punched in the face. You come out of it pretty startled and from then it was difficult to rectify."

From that point, Sissons' race was essentially over as the field cleared out ahead of him, leaving too much work to do on the bike.

He has no lingering effects from the injury, other than a black eye and a strong desire to put together a strong race in Sunday's ITU World Series triathlon in Auckland.

"The head is fine now, my face was a bit swollen and I have a black eye but it hasn't stopped me from doing anything this week so it has been OK.

"On Sunday I just want to put a good solid race together and get everything right. I want a solid performance that I know I am capable of, I have been training well and I am certainly fit. It is a case of going out and putting all three disciplines together, getting out of the swim in a reasonable position, being safe and comfortable on the bike and running well. I won't be doing anything crazy. I am just after a solid race."

Memories of last year will help leading up to Sunday's race that features a world-class field, including world No 1 Mario Mola (Spain), returning champion Javier Gomez (Spain) and Olympic bronze medallist Jonny Brownlee (England). Sissons was sixth 12 months ago.

"Last year was a risky move but it was a great race and very memorable to perform like that at home. I enjoy racing in Auckland. I am looking forward to it. I will come up a day earlier, stay at my parents house for the one night and enjoy racing in front of family and friends."

Sissons says his focus on improving his swim over recent months during many hard weeks of hard training has only fueled his frustration from New Plymouth.

"I have been working on the swim fairly hard for the past six months, then New Plymouth went pretty horrible which was quite demoralising when you work so hard and get destroyed. It sucks. I know I am swimming better than that, though. Auckland is another opportunity."

Sissons will be joined by fellow New Zealanders Tony Dodds, and Sam Osborne in the elite men's race.