“I’m looking after what makes athletes go faster,” Sheldrake said.
That ranges from making sure they have top-notch bicycle equipment to developing a heat strategy for Tokyo.
He expects to work 25 to 30 hours a week for Triathlon New Zealand and will stay in Gisborne, even though the organisation runs a centralised programme in Cambridge.
Sheldrake, 45, declined to move there but signed up until the end of the Tokyo Olympics campaign.
Triathlon New Zealand took a team approach to factors such as nutrition, strength and conditioning, and life skills, he said.
High performance was about risk and reward, managing training loads and intensity.
Sheldrake is also the personal coach for Gisborne’s Tayler Reid, the under-23 world champion.
The pair sat down eight years ago and planned Reid’s path to 2024.
Getting a medal at u23 level was part of the plan, achieved a year ahead of schedule, and Reid has made a bright start to 2019, winning a sprint event in Tasmania.
Just back from Abu Dhabi, where the New Zealand mixed relay team came third, Sheldrake said the team event looked the country’s best chance to do well in the sport at Tokyo.
New Zealand are ranked fourth in the world and need to still be in the top eight at the start of next year to gain automatic qualification to the Olympics.
Sheldrake’s life is busy.
He is married to health and fitness tutor and equestrian competitor Ashleigh, and they have two children; he owns and manages Gisborne bike shop AvantiPlus Maintrax; and he runs the Gisborne Cycling Club.
“My phone’s always going,” he said.
Sheldrake is up at 4.30am most days. He likes to get in some exercise before work, and probably after work, too.
The former professional triathlete ran 18 IronMans between 1998 and 2005, including four at Hawaii.
He still competes in events and has raced in six world age-group championships.
What is the biggest mistake that people make?
“They do too much too soon,” Sheldrake said.
“Most people are in too much of a rush.
“I’ve seen many superstar juniors.”
Some end up hating the sport, or they get burnt out or injured.
Sheldrake is much more interested in long-term development, making improvements bit by bit.
Male triathletes tended to peak about the age of 28 and female triathletes about 30, he said.
Carter resigned from his role with High Performance Sport New Zealand last year and apologised for giving confidential documents to former cycling sprint coach Anthony Peden.
Sheldrake described Carter’s Triathlon New Zealand role as “paper work”, looking after processes and policies.
A national coach at the London 2012 Olympics, Sheldrake prefers to be more hands-on.
He’s plotting the athletes’ path to Tokyo while always keeping in mind longer-term development.
