About Walter

28 years experience in racing
6 years internationally
Top three NZ Championship finishes
Long Course Champion 1996 & 1999
Best Ironman time 9hr 07min
Best Half Ironman time 3 hr 48:08
5 sub 4 hr ½ Ironman races
Tauranga ½ Ironman record holder from 1996-2006
World long course champion 2009

Walter’s results for Tauranga ½ Ironman, New Zealand’s premier ½ Ironman:

1993: 5 hrs 40 min 160th place
1994: 4 hrs 03 min 3rd place
1995: 4 hrs 01 min 3rd place
1996: 3 hrs 48 min 1st place

I have always had a fascination with ½ Ironman races. It requires the speed of an Olympic course athlete, combined with the endurance of an Ironman athlete. I want to use this as an example of what can be achieved, as this is what I was focusing on at that time in my life. Starting with my result in 1993, which I can assure you I trained very hard for, this was a big wake-up and I realised I needed advice in both nutrition and training, in that order.

In the following two years, my time had been within two minutes of four hours. A credit to my consistency, but not to my improvement. I thought I had looked at everything I could in order to improve, but still no improvement was apparent.

What I hadn’t realised was that everything has to be in synergy and you have to examine yourself under the microscope. Twelve months later, I went 3hrs 48 08, which is still to date one of the fastest times ever achieved in Tauranga. In that year, everything was in place. My core condition was in top shape and this allowed me to get maximum power out of my legs. On top of that, I had looked at the relationship between key nutrients, i.e. quality food and supplements that support growth and recovery after training.

Though this time may be unrealistic for most people, even at the highest level, it shows that there is huge improvement to be gained by having the correct advice and understanding of your weaknesses and strengths.