1992 Simon Lessing Interview And Michael Rughede Stuff
Here’s an interview with Simon Lessing. It was done just after he won the World Short-Course Championships in Muskoka in September 1992.
It compliments what I posted yesterday about the 1989 Triathlon International de Cannes. It gives some more information about his sporting background, leaving South Africa, life in France, professional triathlon at the time and his training. See also my Simon and Brad post.
Images: 220 (UK) October 1992
I also like finding random triathlon history stuff online. Fact checked or decent first person sources. Here’s something from Michael Rughede posted on the Triathlon Denmark site.
Michael was a solid Danish athlete in the late-80s and early-90s. And was a member of Salon Triathlon with Simon. I’ve just done a quick Google Translate but there’s some cool info in there.
About moving to France with fellow Danish triathlete Gabor Klozcl (1989 and 1990 Embrunman winner). Their first French race in Toulon (I’ll try and find the race report) and racing the Grand Prix for Mantes la Ville.
In 1989 Michael switched club to race for Salon. And therefore training and raced with Simon for a few years. Here’s what he had to say:
Next season we moved 40 km up the road to Salon de Provence. We lived there for a few seasons with Simon Lessing. Triathlon superstar in the 1990s. 4 x world champion in the short distance and once in the long distance.
He had come to France as a big 17-year-old boy from South Africa with a couple of friends. Simon had turned down a free college stay in the USA as a runner, to try his luck as a triathlete in France instead.
When he got to the Salon de Provence, he trotted down to the stadium and ran his intervals. He hadn't even had down on his upper lip and he was already running 2.37-2.38 in the 1000 meters.
He was also a good swimmer (his mother was a swimming coach) and had cycled on a regional youth team. So everyone knew that here was the future world champion. Simon became Nike's new global name and set to replace Mark Allen as Nike's front man.
However, his career turned out to be a little different. He was not as good at the Ironman distance as he was at the short distance, where he was the king. The explanation probably lay somewhere between genetic predispositions and form of training.
Simon trained for many years after his own head and wanted to win every training session. But intensive training just above and below the acid limit just doesn't harmonize with long distance.
On the other hand, we had fun on the bike! His problem was that the French would not train with him and that the international class triathletes who planned to stay a few months left after a few weeks.
No one thought it was fun to train with Simon.
1989 Triathlon International de Cannes
The image used on the 1990 Triathlon International de Cannes poster (above) is from the 1989 race. It shows Simon Lessing and Jorg Ullman in the process of running down Karel Blondeel. Lessing won. He was 18.
Lessing had only arrived in Europe from South Africa at the start of the season. He raced Southport, the first televised UK triathlon, on 18th June. Where he got 6th at Mark Allen’s only ever UK race appearance.
He then moved to France where he was welcomed by Salon Triathlon. That’s the kit that he’s wearing on the poster. Mandy Dean, the women’s winner in Southport and Cannes, also raced for Salon.
After his arrival in France Simon raced the Vars Triathlon on 9th July where he got 2nd to Danish athlete Michael Rughede.
Then 3rd at Courcouron the week after behind Greg Welch and Pierre-Alain Frossard. I spoke a bit about that race in TSP17.
He raced Toulouse on the 27th August. 2nd again behind Patrick Girard. Finally Monaco on 1st October. Another 2nd. Behind Yves Cordier.
The French scene was fast and deep at this time. So to instantly get results like this. At 18 years old. Showed a remarkable talent.
Simon might have also made a trip to Germany in August and / or September. As friend and training partner Mandy Dean had a West German passport and would race for them at the World Championships in Avignon.
Cannes is just 30km from Nice. And the course is somewhat similar. A tough sea swim from Iles de Lerin to the mainland. A bike ride through the mountains behind the town. And an out and back seafront run.
In 1989 Nice moved to June. Mainly to not clash with Hawaii anymore. So Cannes could take up an October date. The 1989 race was on the same weekend as Hawaii. So Yves Cordier was over there. Where he got 8th.
The poster below annnounced Cannes for the 17th September. But it eventually took place on 15th october. I’m not sure why.
Here’s race report from Cannes in 1989. And I’m currently working on a translation. I’ll copy and paste it below when it’s finished.
Images: Tri-Athlete (FR) Nov-Dec 1989
Mark Allen At The 1986 Hawaii Ironman
I’ve already done a post about the 1986 Triple Crown. But here’s some more stuff about Mark Allen at the Hawaii Ironman in 1986.
In fact it’s my first request post from a reader. Let me know if you’ve got a fetish race, athlete or period that you’d like me to research. Or join me on a podcast to dive deeper into the subject.
Mark got 2nd at Hawaii in 1986. Although he showed up only two days before the race. He wasn’t really supposed to be there. As he’d planned to focus on Nice. After too many disappointments in Kona.
Although Nice always offered good prize and appearance money, Hawaii was offering prize money for the first time in 1986. So after winning Nice two weeks earlier. And feeling good. Mark decided to tackle the Ironman too.
I like the Bell Stratos helmet. The Eyeshades. The Lake shoes. The Nike kit. Obviously. The Coke bottle behind the saddle. And the low-pro bars. Most pros wouldn’t be on Scott DH bars until May 1987.
Oh. And there’s a bonus photo of Dave below. Because it’s so good.
Images: Tri-Athlete (FR) Jan-Fev 1987
Fresh Brew
From 1990 until 1992 Robin Brew was sponsored by Fresh Brew Tea. We mentioned it in TSP14. I also spoke a lot about Robin in TSP9. What a link up. Robin Brew. Fresh Brew. I’ll get in touch with Robin to find out more about how the deal got done. Then post the info here.
Anyway. Although he was minimally branded in 1990. See Emberton Park photo below. He had some pretty cool kit and equipment in 1991. InSport. Quintana Roo. Grip Shift. Hed. Scott DH bars were a rare choice in 1991 however. As most athletes were on clip-ons by then.
The 1991 photos I’ve included below are from the St. Croix Triathlon. The first ever round of the ITU World Cup. Back when it was still draft-free. And let’s take a moment to remember how good the photography and race coverage was from John Lillie and 220 magazine.
In 1992 Robin’s sponsor was Ty-Phoo Tea. Guessing this brand was part of the Fresh Brew group. He was also now on a Serotta with Syntace bars. By 1993 the tea was gone and Robin was sponsored by Trek.
1992 European Short-Course Championships
The 1992 European Short-Course Championships were in Lommel, Belgium on 5th July. Simon Lessing was the defending champion. These were the non-drafting but we-are-actually-kind-of-drafting days. Except for Spencer Smith. He was pumping away off the front on his beam-bike.
There was no internet back then. So my source for results was the Tuesday editon of The Daily Telegraph. I was pretty stunned to read about the GBR podium-sweep. It certainly motivated me to keep training hard and improve my placings in the second edition of 220 Triathlon Series.
I really thought Cook’s career was heading slowly downhill at this point. But I certainly didn’t have the courage to tell him that the next time we met up for the Wednesday ride. Next to the post-box outside the Eastbourne Campus of the University of Brighton.
Three weeks after Lommel he won the European Long-Distance Championships in Finland. Probably his second best career result after Avignon. I recently got hold of the 220 with the report in. Blog post coming soon.
1992 Embrun Olympic Distance Triathlon
The Embrunman is still on my bucket-list. The goal would be to just get fit enough one year to enjoy a long day out in nature.
The Embrunman Triathlon was started in 1984. The distances the first year were 750m/30km/10km. Then increased to 1500m/70km/21km in 1985 and 4km/132km/42km in 1986. In 1987 they moved closer to the ironman standard with 5km/180km/42km. Seriously. 5-clicks of swimming!
They stuck with the same distances in 1988 before settling on 3800m/180km/42km in 1989. Finally the Col d’Izoard was first used in 1990, creating the super-tough course that is still used today.
They added an Olympic Distance race in 1988. In the 1989 race Yves Cordier had a bike crash which put him out of the first ITU Short Course World Championships in Avignon. He would have been one of the favourites. Instead he did some commentary for Canal+.
In 1991 the ITU launched their World Cup Series. The races were draft-free back then and Embrun was a stop on tour in 1991, 1992 and 1993. By 1997 the World Cup Series was draft-legal but Embrun was back on the docket.
Since 1990 the race has always been held on 15th August as it’s a French public holiday. Here’s all the Olympic Distance results.
I raced it in 1996 in the middle of a hectic Grand Prix season. It was something like my 15th race of the year. I swam and climbed well and descended and ran not so well. The following week I was on antibiotics with a throat infection. They worked though, as I had a solid September.
The article below about the 1992 Embrun Olympic Distance Triathlon is from the October 1992 issue of 220 Magazine. It’s written by founder and editor John Lillie. The race was one of the many Spencer Smith and Simon Lessing head to heads from the early to mid-1990s.
Images: 220 (UK) October 1992
Looking through my archives shows me that Simon seems to have come out on top most often. But Smudger had a few significant victories, including the 1993 Worlds in Manchester. Here in Embrun Spencer found the long, steep climbs and technical descents pretty tough.
Check out Scott Molina’s Lightspeed. You can see that he sometimes switches the GripShift from the tri-bars to the drops. He won the long-distance Embrunman the year before. He had a year-off triathlon in 1993 and then came back in 1994. Even returning to France to do the 1994 Iron Tour.
Loft Finds 6: TVT Car Window Sticker
Probably from 1989. Goodie bag swag from TVT Relays in October. Thames Valley Triathletes were formed in 1983. Maybe UK’s oldest tri club.
Loft Finds 5: 1989 East Grinstead Junior Triathlon
In 1989 a junior was anybody born in 1972, 1973 or 1974. So 15, 16 or 17 at the end of the year. There weren’t that many stand-alone junior races. Although at 16 we could enter races of approximately sprint distance.
The East Grinstead race had been going a few years and seemed to draw good fields of juniors from the south of England. It was to be my third triathlon. And the last for my Peugeot Elan.
Memory suggested it was a bit of moral-killer. After easily beating local Berkshire juniors in May. And then getting 3rd, in a better junior field at Biggleswade 2 weeks earlier. But reviewing the results I actually did OK. 7th place. 5:30 behind the winner and 3:30 behind James Long. Who would finish 4th at the National Juniors a month later.
I never went back. I think the date eventually clashed with a local event or Ironbridge or something. But of course. This became the race to do if you wanted to get beat by all 3 Herbert Brothers on the same day.
Loft Finds 4: My 1990 Training Plan
I’m guessing this is a week of school holidays. I was in my first year of Sixth Form at Upton Grammar. And I’m using miles and metres.
I’m baffled by the short swims. As I was already a member of Windsor SC. And getting used to the 2 hour / 5km sessions at Eton College.
I liked to ride hard. Still do. And the Tuesday and Thursday runs would be with Burnham Joggers. The 1 miles would be off the bike.
Pretty I sure I didn’t do any stretching. And Saturday might have been a full triathlon starting at Montem Leisure Centre.
Loft Finds 3: 1989 National Junior Championships
The National Junior Triathlon Championships were held at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham on 20th August 1989. I spoke a bit about this in TSP2. It was my fourth triathlon of eight that season.
I don’t have any photos from the day. But this one must have been taken around that time. As the Dave Russell looks kinda new.
The distances were 500m/15km/5km. The water is always cold at Holme Pierrepont. And I didn’t have a wetsuit yet. Maybe half the kids did. Yet I don’t remember it being a problem. I was pretty tough!
The bike was three anti-clockwise loops of the famous rowing lake. It was quite a buzz passing the spectators in the grandstands after every lap. The run was one lap in the opposite direction.
Matthew Belfield probably won it more on experience than fitness. I think it was Spencer Smith’s first triathlon. Although he’d done a few Thames Turbo Aquathlons. And he cycled with his helmet on backwards.
A couple of weeks earlier I’d got 6th at East Grinstead. A decent result at probably the best junior event in the south-east. But this was my first real test against kids from the west and northern-scenes.
I got 27th. Which I think I was really pleased with. But knew that more was possible. Later in the season. Or the following year. That afternoon I also did the relays. In the old SBRSBRSBRSBR format.
Loft Finds 2: More 1989 Try-A-Tri Stuff
TSP2 was about my first triathlon. I wrote it from memory and using details from articles published in 220 and British Triathlon Scene.
So it was great to find more documents in my mum’s loft last week. My race number. Full results with splits. Course maps. And a write-up in Berkshire Tri Squad’s 3 Up newsletter. I was even awarded Athlete of The Month.
Although Martin’s Pool is no longer there. I’m going to try and re-create the race next summer. Like we did with the 1991 Windsor Triathlon.
Loft Finds 1: 1989 BTS Tri-Suit
I was in Slough last week. I didn’t do the local triathlon history jog that I mentioned in TSP17. However. I did find some triathlon stuff in my mum’s loft. Mainly concerning the 1989 season. My first in the sport.
Here’s the first Berkshire Tri Squad tri-suit. Eleven were made. Paid for by Dave Russell. And given to an OG batch of members.
BTS had 17 members at the time. So it was decided to give the suits to athletes who had already raced for the club in 1989. Committee members, all more experienced triathletes, also didn’t take one.
It says BTC. But that’s a printing mistake. It should say BTS. The club was founded in early-1989 by some former-TVT members. Thames Valley Triathletes was the UK’s first triathlon club. Formed in 1983.
I’ve made a folder for all BTS history here. And will do more loft finds this week. Including a retrospective of my 1989 races.
Triathlon Magazin By Spiridon
I picked up these 6 copies of Triathlon Magazin on eBay Kleinanzeigen recently. Triathlon was a German language magazine published by Spiridon Verlag between 1985 and 1997. From 1998 onwards the triathlon content was absorbed into Spiridon. The famous running title.
The French language running magazine Spiridon was launched in Switzerland in 1972. The goal of the magazine was to encourage running for fitness.
Images:
Triathlon Magazin (DE) Februar 1986
Triathlon Magazin (DE) August 1986
Triathlon Magazin (DE) November 1986
Triathlon Magazin (DE) April 1987
Triathlon Magazin (DE) Juni 1987
Triathlon Magazin (DE) Oktober 1987
Soon the readers of the magazine started to form Spiridon Running Clubs. In Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Canada. These new clubs also got involvedd in the organisation of local races.
A German language version of Spiridon was first published in 1974 by journalist and 1972 Olympic marathoner Manfred Steffny. His brother is two-eleven marathoner Herbert Steffny.
In 1975 one of the Spiridon founders, Noël Tamini, combined with Jean-Claude Pont, the race director of Sierre-Zinal*, to start the Coupe Internationale de la Montagne (CIME). Their objective was to promote international mountain and fell running competition.
I’m not sure if any of the Spiridons are still going. More research is needed. But there seems to be a cool tribute site selling merch.
I’ve found some super-articles in Triathlon. About the 1986 and 1987 Le Coq Series. And some triathlons close to me. Munich. And Bodensee. I’m also using the magazines to continue to work on my German.
*The first edition was in 1974.
Bike Nashbar
Here’s the Spring 1988 Bike Nashbar catalogue. @oldtriathlonstuff and I used to read it like a work of Shakespeare.
Our Mum cut the hair of a woman who had a daughter in the states. She’d organise drops of bike and tri related documents. Like Kim Philby.
French Race Calendars
When I’d finished reading everything in the Michael Hardcastle canon. Titles such as Away From Home, In The Net and Davey Must Score. These French race calendars became my bedtime reading.
I couldn’t speak French back then. But I’d use the key on the first page to work out the distances and the importance of the race. And then I’d spread out a map of France to locate the regions and towns.
My mum would call the race organisers to get entries for me and my brother. Then there’d be a few weeks wait as stamped-addressed envelopes and money-orders were exchanged. Always seemed to work though.
Ripley Bike Jumble
In April 2022 I was visiting the UK with the family and my brother took me to my first bike jumble. Life-changing. I need to go to more.
It was at Ripley. The Kona of bike jumble venues. And a town steeped in cycle touring history. As a stall-holder explained to me. At length.
There were about 20 stalls outside in a school car park. And then another 10 or so inside. We nearly missed those though. I only spotted the sign for the sports hall while queueing for a bacon sandwich and a coke.
Luke bought some Profile Sonic Strykes, a Vitus 979 frame and a Shimano 105-5 group-set that he put on his Dave Russell vintage tri-bike.
I found some Shimano Dura-Ace 165mm Square Taper cranks for my son’s bike, two Carradice saddle bags and three copies of Winning magazine.
I’ve got five Carradices now. It’s how I like to carry stuff. Training, touring and racing. I’ll try and make a quick film about them.
Winning was started by Jean-Claude Garot in 1983. Garot also owned all the Tri-Athlete titles in the 1980s. Here’s a podcast episode about the history of Tri-Athlete and some early-UK titles. And below are some ads for
Tri-Athlete subscriptions that I found inside.
The Seat Shifter
Here’s the Seat Shifter. Which really was a 1990 phenomenon. There weren’t many around in 1991. Did the company close? And sponsorships end. Or did athletes not think it gave them a sufficient speed advantage for the time lost due to the weight of the device? More research needed.
I know they used to break though. When I worked at Perfect Performance we had a big box of returned units in the corner of the office.
The Seat Shifter was essentially a spring-loaded sliding system that allowed you to pull a lever on your handlebars and change your saddle’s for-aft position while riding. Further back for climbing. Forward for riding hard on the flat. At least that was the theory. Of course, this would also create small changes in saddle height.
Images: Competitor Magazine (USA) September 1990
The most visible user was Mike Pigg. The video below is the 1990 Nice Triathlon. You get a few glimpses of Pigg and the Shifter.
And although Dave Scott featured in the article and the advertisement above. He didn’t use a Seat Shifter at Nice.
Triathlete (FR) did a product review of the Seat Shifter in July 1990. it’s below. I’ll do a quick translation tomorrow morning.
There were also plenty of non-moving alternatives to get your saddle further forward in 1990. I’ll present some of those soon.
And let’s not forget the Seat Leash! That definitely needs a post.
Images: Triathlete (FR) Juillet 1990
Old Triathlon Stuff
If you’re a fan of this site. I know there’s at least 6 of you. You really need to check out what my brother is doing on Instagram.
He describes it as An online shed for displaying old triathlon kit and equipment I own, and maybe other triathlon nostalgia.
Here’s the link: https://www.instagram.com/oldtriathlonstuff
Give him a sub and leave some comments!
Scott Tinley’s Quiz
Just did it. I got 31.
Answers are here. Write your score in the comments. No cheating.
