Triathon: Carter advocates altitude training camp

By CHRIS RATTUE

Triathlete Hamish Carter has scaled the heights of his sport and has climbed the mountains of Europe to help him reach his goals.

Now Carter, the world No 1, is promoting a radical plan to revive and improve New Zealand's athletics and other sporting fortunes.

For the third successive year, he and most of the New Zealand triathlon squad have done their altitude training at St Moritz, a Swiss ski resort.

Carter believes the Sports Foundation should back the setting up of a base at St Moritz not only to take advantage of the altitude-training facilities, but also to provide a gateway to European competitions for budding athletes.

A crazy plan? Too far-fetched?

Carter, who returns to New Zealand tomorrow for some fine-tuning before heading to the Olympics next month, is serious.

"I'm not just talking about triathletes," he emphasised from Switzerland. "It would be such an advantage if athletes coming to Europe knew they had somewhere to stay and a base to work from.

"New Zealand is so far away from the big competitions and our athletes need to be involved in them.

"If you want to get to the top you cannot stay in New Zealand. You have to get to Europe."

Carter said a central European base for New Zealand athletes would also help them to deal with event promoters and work out how to get into major competitions.

Carter and fellow Olympic triathletes Craig Watson and Evelyn Williamson have been at the St Moritz base. The fourth squad member, Ben Bright, of Christchurch, has prepared in New Zealand.

Among the world's top athletes at St Moritz have been Kenyan 10,000m star Paul Tergat and Germany's former Olympic 5000m champion Dieter Baumann, who has just had a doping suspension lifted.

The Kenyan runners have long used the area as a base, and Carter believes New Zealand should follow suit.

The St Moritz City Council has really taken the initiative and the whole town is set up for training in athletics and all sports.

"There are rowers and all sorts of athletes here," Carter said. "There is a four-lane track and any day you will see 200 athletes down there. They are also about to start building a 50m pool.

"I believe the Sports Foundation should look at buying an apartment here where our athletes could be based. They could recoup that money by hiring it out to skiers in the winter."

Carter is a strong believer in training at altitude, where there is less oxygen, which encourages the body to process it more efficiently.

He said it was important to time a return to sea level properly. There were two ways to go: straight to a sea-level competition or what Carter said was the better method, which involves heading down three weeks before competing.

"I've experimented with both ways, and you get the big effect when you come down from altitude a few weeks before. When you get the timing right you are bullet-proof."

On Bright's decision to prepare in New Zealand, Carter said: "Some people don't think they react well to altitude.

"It's a matter of what works for each individual. But I believe he is missing out. Altitude gives you such a big lift."

The New Zealanders competed in a European Cup race in Geneva overnight, before heading to their bases: Carter to Auckland, Watson to the Gold Coast, and Williamson to Wellington.

Then it will be a training diet of sea-level speed work before heading to Sydney, where the triathlon makes its Olympic debut. The women's race is on day one (September 16) and the men's on day two.

The 1.5km swim/40km cycle/10km run begins and ends at the Sydney Opera House forecourt. The cold September water means wetsuits will be used in the swim, the cycle leg includes some tight city routes, and the run, which includes the Royal Botanical Gardens, finishes with a downhill sprint.

Australia are the powerful force in women's triathlons. Their team include world No 1 Michellie Jones and current world champion Nicole Hackett.

Their main competition will come from Canadian and Swiss triathletes.

Carter is rated one of the favourites in the men's event with Great Britain's Simon Lessing, 2000 world championship winner Olivier Marceau, from France, the 1999 world champion, Dmitry Gaag, of Kazakhstan, and Gilberto Gonzalez, of Venezuela.

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