Raynard Tissink prepares with Toni Hasler for Ironman Korea
July 31st, 2007 by Nikola Tosic
Just got Raynard Tissink’s newsletter: He was forced to miss out on Quelle Challenge Roth due to an piriformis syndrome, he has chosen Ironman Korea for his next race. An interesting detail is that he has been working with Natascha Badmann’s coach, Toni Hasler, since Ironman South Africa 2007.
Whenever you think about triathlon coaches first names that come into mind are Mark Allen and Dave Scott. They are the best marketed ones and they are best represented in the English speaking markets. Also they have already became famous as athletes.
However, every time I would meet any serious German speaking triathlete, especially Ironman triathlete, they would mention Toni Hasler to me… Eventually I started hearing a lot about this coach and all people respect his work. He coached Natascha Badmann into so many Ironman wins and a half-Ironman world record at the age of 40. Another athlete coached by Toni Hasler is Stefan Riesen winner of Ironman Switzerland 2006 and 3rd at Ironman South Africa 2007.
How scary it is to change coaching during the last part of base preparation I do not know. Raynard said he was not happy with his training before Ironman South Africa - he tried to experiment by doing lots of races including South Africa Champs in Langebaan. But he did not manage to get his running up to fight off Gerrit Schellens.
I am guessing that this radical change in March, just before the racing season, is a good move for Raynard and I hope it pays off. Unfortunately the injury might have prevented him from his best effort at Ironman Korea but the main race is Kona and there is still some time till than.
Read the full newsletter at RaynardTissink.com.
