Race Reports

2009 Season Review . . .

The start of 2009 saw Jodie head out to the Gold Coast, on her own, to put in some intense preparation and training for her first meaningful venture into the Elite racing category. The 2009 season saw Jodie step up from the Junior ranks into the Under 23 category, however that did not stop her stepping up further onto the full Elite circuit to take on the best of the best in the Triathlon world. So with a clear set of goals for the 2009 season in her mind, Jodie headed out to Australia with a plan of action in preparation for her most important season yet.

It was whilst she was training on the Gold Coast where Britain’s most successful Triathlete and newly qualified coach - Michelle Dillon - spotted Jodie’s natural talent for the sport and complete dedication to her Triathlon career. Jodie continued to live and breathe the life of a full time triathlete and continued to push herself to the limit in training sessions. After witnessing this dedicated and determined athlete throw herself into training, it soon became clear to Michelle that Jodie had a real and natural raw talent for Triathlon – as well as the mental capacity needed to make it to the top.

It was at this point that Michelle decided to take Jodie under her wing and become her full time Triathlon coach, and was soon to become the catalyst for Jodie’s most successful racing year to date.

The decision to move coaches at the start of the 2009 season was an extremely difficult one for Jodie and was a decision which certainly wasn’t taken lightly by Jodie.
However, Jodie spent more and more time with Michelle and started following her training sessions alongside Stuart Hayes, who was also out on the Gold Coast preparing for the 2009 season. Training in such an environment alongside some great athletes brought the best out of Jodie, and she began to develop both her personal and training outlook further.

After a number of hard weeks training Jodie headed back to the UK with an even more dedicated and professional mindset - having experienced life as a full time Elite athlete alongside both Michelle & Stuart.

Jodie touched down and hit the Black Country in the best shape of her life, looking leaner, fitter and more than ready to hit the training ground running – picking up where she left off in Australia. There was an air of confidence surrounding Jodie that was only going to grow as the season progressed – the clearest indication yet that her winter training programme was going to pay dividends.

Back home and there was no let up in the training regime, with Jodie flying into every session full of confidence and with complete dedication to the markers being laid down by new coach Michelle Dillon. The first race of the season was soon approaching – a trip up to the Scottish Highlands to compete in the Elite National Championships.
With a field of the best Triathlete in the UK all competing for the National Champion title, it was going to give Jodie the clearest indication yet as to just how far she had come over the winter months. The race had also been chosen as the Qualifying race for the U23 European Championships – which gave Jodie the additional incentive and pressure to perform well.

With a big performance needed in order to qualify for the Euro’s, Jodie delivered just that. As ex-Olympian Jodie Swallow took the National Title – Jodie came in and took the Bronze with a fantastic performance which saw her qualify for the U23 European Championships. Jodie’s performance in the race was arguably her best performance of her career to date and clearly justified her decision to spend her winter training time out on the Gold Coast alongside Michelle Dillon.

Heading into a busy June and next up on the racing calendar were trips down to Royal routes, as Jodie headed to Blenheim and Windsor for back to back racing weekends.
A sprint distance at Blenheim was followed by an Olympic distance at Windsor, where both races would again see Jodie looking to accumulate points towards to the British Super Series Championship. Both venues had historically not been happy hunting ground for Jodie. However on the back of a great performance in the National Championships, Jodie was keen to continue her good form into the two races and deliver some further credible performances.

She did just that, with a fantastic running performance at Blenheim to take the first Gold of the season, Jodie proved that her once weakest discipline – her run – had clearly come on leaps and bounds under the development of Team Dillon. On the back of her Gold medal, Jodie headed to Windsor full of confidence and looking to continue her winning streak.

Windsor had historically been a difficult venue for Jodie to pick up medals, with a tight course and difficult run to finish. However her performance could not have been any different to her past results. From start to finish Jodie completely dominated the race, to take the Gold medal with a phenomenal lead over 2nd place of 7 minutes 46 seconds – breaking the course record previously held by Beijing Olympian and World Champion, Helen Jenkins.

Next up for Jodie was the U23 European Championships, which saw her head out to the Italian mountains, which were battered by torrential rain and thunderstorms the night before the race. Her third race in as many weeks was her most important of the season so far, with Jodie looking to make an impression on the International Stage. Having only stepped up to the U23 stage for the first time this year, there was going to be some tough competition and would be a difficult race for Jodie to make an impact. However, as the race progressed it became clear that Jodie’s dedication, raw talent and Michelle Dillon’s training regime were paying dividends. Jodie crossed the line to take the Silver medal and maintain her 100% Podium placement record for the 2009 season. The podium finish also secured Jodie’s place on the GB squad for the U23 World Championship race to be held out on the Gold Coast in September.

After a busy and successful June, Jodie returned from Italy with her European Silver medal, in preparation for a July schedule which would see her head to Wales for the penultimate race of the British Super Series, where another Gold medal finish would see Jodie crowned Champion of the British Super Series. July was also the month which would see Jodie make her International debut on the Elite ITU Dextro World Championship Series, held in Hamburg.

Bryn Bach Parc provided the backdrop for Jodie to continue her domestic domination, as she romped home with another Gold medal finish, to see her crowned Champion of the British Super Series – despite there still being one race left.

Jodie’s first major title of the season was dedicated to the Team Dillon regime which had seen Jodie develop so much over the first part of the season.

After a fantastic run of results, Jodie headed over to Germany to make her International Elite race debut - full of confidence and ready to test herself against the best of the best. However things did not go quite to plan. After suffering an illness Jodie was unable to complete the race, despite her best efforts to battle through to the finish line.

Naturally the race left Jodie deflated and disappointed, however upon reflection her body just wouldn’t let her go any further despite trying to battle through.

August saw 2 trips to London, with both the London Triathlon and the Hyde Park stop for the ITU Dextro Series scheduled within 2 weeks of each other. Both events would see Jodie test herself once again against the best Triathlete in the World.

A strong line up at the London Triathlon saw Jodie on the start line alongside the likes of Helen Jenkins, Liz Batchford and Jodie Swallow – with other World Class International athletes’ using the race as a pre Hyde Park warm up. However, after experiencing symptoms similar to Hamburg, Jodie battled through to the finish line to take a credible but disappointing 8th place finish - the result casting doubts over Jodie’s fitness for the coming ITU race at Hyde Park and ahead of the fast approaching World Championship race in Australia.

With the World Championships just 4 weeks away, Michelle tailored Jodie’s training plan to ensure that there were going to be no fitness issues and tapered off slightly for the ITU race at Hyde Park. With a race on home soil at Hyde Park – the venue for the 2012 Olympic Triathlon – Jodie was determined to make the race with a clean bill of health.
Having experienced disappointment in her debut Dextro Elite ITU race in Germany, Jodie was determined to put on a show in Hyde Park. Heading into the race alongside Olympians and World Champions added to the pressure, however Jodie handled all expectations and delivered a performance to be proud of.

Heading out of T2, Jodie led the run for long periods of the race, before the more experienced athletes’ on the circuit managing to step up a gear and pull away from Jodie. Despite this Jodie completed her first ITU race in a credible 11th place - ahead of some top quality World Class and Olympic contenders.

The event in Hyde Park gave Jodie a much needed boost ahead of the U23 World Championship race, and further proved the strides she had made, showing she was more than able to hold her own against the best Elite athletes in the World. The event also demonstrated coach Michelle Dillon’s strengths, having amended and meticulously planned Jodie’s training schedule to ensure she went into the race in full fitness.
On the back of a difficult few weeks, Hyde Park provided Jodie with a great platform as she left the UK and headed out to familiar territory in Australia. Having spent a number of weeks on the Gold Coast pre season, Jodie journeyed out to the Gold Coast once again to compete in the biggest race of her career to date – the U23 World Championships.
The Gold Coast was to be host to the full GB squad ahead of the grand finale of the ITU Dextro World Championship Series – along with an international foree of world class athletes.

A pre race training camp was held for the full GB squad outside of the Gold Coast, before Jodie headed over to Surfers Paradise in preparation for the race alongside coach Michelle.

A strong U23 GB team was entered all harbouring hopes of a Gold medal and a World Championship title. Having witnessed her performance at Hyde Park, Jodie had proved that she was more than capable of holding her own against the best athletes in the World and went into the race full of confidence with high expectations.

With high expectations and a lot of competition Jodie delivered a fantastic performance to take the Silver medal, finishing just behind eventual Gold medallist and Beijing Olympian Hollie Avil. Having taken the race all the way to the wire and gone toe to toe with Avil, Jodie could be more than proud of her finishing position which saw her add to the Silver medal from the European Championships.

The race was the highlight of the season so far, and despite such a successful season Jodie was keen to progress and take on more challenges. As the GB squad headed back to the UK, Jodie stayed in Australia working alongside Michelle Dillon, before jetting off to the States for 2 non-drafting races in the Life Time Fitness Series.

Keen to develop her skills and planning her 2010 training programme, Michelle decided these races would provide Jodie with a real platform to push on and further progress her performances. Therefore as October came Jodie competed in both the Los Angeles and Dallas legs of the Fitness Series – both races giving Jodie some much needed exposure and experience of non-drafting races. These races also provided Jodie with a real indication as to where her preparation needed to be for 2010 season, along with the experience of swimming in some extremely rough conditions.

However, despite her inexperience and difficult conditions Jodie finished both races in the top 10 and certainly took a great deal of experience and learning outcomes from both races.

Having spent some time out in the States training alongside Michelle and Stuart, Jodie’s next trip and final race of the season was out in Barcelona. Jodie and training partner Bex Milnes, jetted off to the Spanish city where the race once again saw Jodie contending with some extremely turbulent swimming conditions. However, this did not deter Jodie as she once again romped home with a massive lead to take the Gold medal, as the final piece of precious metal was brought home and added to the collection.

Having experienced such a fantastic season which saw Jodie crowed British Super Series Champion, British National Sprint Champion and take a double Silver medal at both the World & European Championships, along with smashing the course record at Windsor – Jodie’s progression under Michelle Dillon couldn’t have been any better. With just 7 months of working together, 2009 proved both Jodie’s credentials as a real and genuine competitor on the Elite stage, along with Michelle Dillon’s credentials as a top class International coach.

With much being written about Jodie coming off the development squads at the BTF and therefore loosing funding, Jodie’s decision has clearly been justified having progressed so well over the past 7 months. Moving coaches after having a season such as 2009 would not have been an option and therefore was the catalyst for not being on the development squads. However, despite this, the BTF remain confident that Jodie will continue to progress under Michelle Dillon.

The 2010 season will therefore see Jodie competing on the full Elite stage, with a view to hitting the necessary criteria to keep Michelle as her coach and once again become part of the development squad. Without question Jodie and Michelle’s partnership will continue and see Jodie go from strength to strength under her guidance.

Both Michelle and Jodie are now placing the foundations down for another successful season, which will no doubt see Jodie progress further. A full pre season under Michelle will also reap the rewards and put down the necessary blocks for Jodie to build on as the season progresses.



For a full and frank assessment of her races and season...Check out Jodie's blog



Click here to visit the Race Report archive