Discover The Long Distance Triathlon Camp With Chris Wild!

Can you explain a bit about what the camp involves?

“So the camp is open to people of all abilities as long as they can swim 200m non-stop which means it doesn’t matter if you’re a complete novice or elite level, you can come and join! You can join for one week of training or for the full two weeks. The bike sessions consist of three or four groups of varying speeds so you don’t have to worry about keeping up with people or waiting for other group members. During the swim sessions we make use of the 50m pools, the lagoon and the IRONMAN course at some points which makes it really nice and varied. You just need to remember to bring your own swim equipment so wet-suit, bike shoes, pedals and your helmet.”

What are your favourite elements of running the Long Distance Triathlon Camp?

“We get a lot of people who come back year after year, which is great, so we’re kind of this big dysfunctional family and it’s really rewarding to see how those people improve over the years. There are some people who have come on our camp who are World Championship level or people who have gone on to compete in World Championships. So that’s massively moving, seeing people who couldn’t stay with a group for the first time they came and then three or four years later they have moved up a group.

The lovely thing about triathlon is we all have strengths and weaknesses. Someone might be absolutely smashing it on the bike, but then they’re in the slow lane in the pool. So we tend to stay with the same small group of people for the entire camp, and you get to know that group really well.”

“As coaches we swap around a bit as well, which is great. Some of the long rides we do, we try and get people around most of the IRONMAN course here on a Tuesday on the long ride and some of those can turn out pretty epic – racing back to try and get back for the swim session.We have had some really good guest professionals on the courses over the years as well, we have had Philip Graves and Stephan Vuckovic. Some IRONMAN winners who have taken part and helped out. One of my favourite stories is Maja Stage Nielsen, the Danish road triathlete who is a Club La Santa sponsored athlete. She first came on the camp when she was working at Club La Santa as a golf professional, she said to Phil Price “I fancy a go at that. Can I join in?”. So she came on the camp as one of the guests, and now she’s top ten in the world pro triathlete which is amazing!

It’s very relaxed as well. There are a lot of professional athletes wandering around, Sarah Storey was there last week who is the most decorated UK athlete of all time – Olympic wise. She’s able to just spend time with the family and enjoy herself without constantly getting bothered. People come to focus on what they’re doing and even at age group level, there are fantastic athletes around. It’s an inspiring place to train.”

Lanzarote seems like the perfect place for someone like you who is constantly training.

“It’s an amazing place to train because there are no easy days in Lanzarote. The conditions are challenging at all times. It’s probably the easiest place to come and train from Autumn through to Spring without having to take a long haul flight somewhere.

We always get lovely people. The key information is to book the accommodation early because it’s so difficult, particularly with people from the UK.”

How did you discover Club La Santa?

“Club La Santa was my first foreign holiday as a teenager. My parents had seen kids at hotel resorts just messing around and being bored and they said “we need to find somewhere interesting”. Club La Santa had only been open about 12 months, 1984 and they just booked us for a week there at Easter. As vaguely sporty kids we absolutely adored the place, and at the time, you know, it had just opened so they were doing really good deals on timeshares. My dad bought a timeshare while we were there in May 1984 and 41 years later I’m still going on holiday with my dad to Club La Santa which is just brilliant. He’s in his 80s now and still active. I think like most people, once you have found the place you just keep going back because it is so special and amazing.”

How did you get into triathlon and swimming?

“Being at Club La Santa is kind of what got me into triathlon as well. You’d see people doing the mini triathlon on a Wednesday morning and think, “I wish I could swim that far in in that massive pool”. Eventually, I did the mini triathlon a couple of times. I can vividly remember 2004, being on a ride on one of the bike weeks with Phil Price, Ben Price’s dad, who has just been out helping us on the camp again. He said to me, “We’re going to set up our own triathlon camp”, I said “Brilliant, count me in! Definitely I’ll come out for that”. He didn’t mention that it was going to be the long distance one! I had a chat with my wife and she said, “well, you’ve always dreamed about doing an IRONMAN. So go up on that camp and if it works out, then do an IRONMAN the year after”.

That’s how I ended up where I am now! When I signed up for that first camp I had only done sprint triathlons, I was the only person on the camp who wasn’t doing an IRONMAN that year. These days we get a much wider range of abilities and I’ve done a couple of beginner camps as well.”