Mertz places 13th, 33rd in London

Times Reporter   

 

Strathmore’s Kevin Mertz competed in two races for the 2013 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in London earlier this month, earning 13th in the aquathlon (1 km swim, 5 km run) on Sept. 11, and 33rd in the sprint triathlon (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run) on Sept. 13 for his age group.

“I just spent some time visualizing each leg that I would have to do, and certainly, spending lots of time visualizing transition, because that’s where a lot of mistakes can be made. It’s also a good place to make up time, and gain some places,” said Mertz. “They’re higher placings than I had anticipated, that’s for sure – especially that 13th. I feel like I could have done better, I made a few mistakes on the triathlon.”

Mertz was caught by a referee taking off his helmet too early, losing about 15 seconds, and also found his bike ride quite slow through the pouring rain.

“Gaining that experience, biking through slick roads, will help in the long run. I kind of went there to learn, it was my first world championship; (I was) just kind of there for the experience, (I’ll) build from there for Edmonton in 2014.”

Mertz had competed amongst 2,000 in the World Cup in Edmonton this past June, but not at a Grand Final level, which usually has 8,500 athletes (including Olympians); next year’s Grand Final will take place from Aug. 26-Sept. 1.

Mertz felt seeing the Tour of Alberta cross through Strathmore spurred him on even more to compete.

“The Tour was so cool,” he said. “Just to be around elite athletes totally got me excited.”

The swim, Mertz found, was the toughest part.

“The swim was crazy rough. I got kicked in the nose; I had a good bruise on the side of my face. It was way rougher than I envisioned,” he said. “I just wanted to go out and really push the swim, and get out of the water. I was top four out of the water in the triathlon.”

Now, Mertz plans on resting for a month before training for Edmonton 2014 begins.

“I just want to take a month off, let myself eat some fatty foods and drink pop, those kinds of things,” he said. “They’re wicked placings, and I’m very pleased with it. I’ll try to go as far as I can with it.”