Nathan Groch

“I grew up in Albury, NSW and spent 5 years in the US prior to moving to Port Hedland at the end of 2012. My athletic background prior to triathlon was Swimming, Waterpolo and Rugby League. Competing in Swimming at State level and Waterpolo at National level.”

I first started racing Triathlon after moving to Port Hedland. I was challenged by my best friend to race an Ironman to regain fitness following a shoulder reconstruction in 2013. My first Ironman (a triathlon, 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run) was in Busselton 2014, barely a year after a surgery and being told I wouldn’t be able to swim properly ever again.

I placed third in my Age Group during my second Ironman in Busselton, 2015 which qualified me to represent Australia at the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii.

A regular training week contains between 15-25 hours of swimming, cycling, running, gym work and stretching. When I’m not working, training, eating or napping I’m collecting vinyl and listening to music.

Results
2014
Ironman Busselton 11th in Age Group 107th Overall

2015
WA Country Waterpolo State Team
City to Surf Karratha 1st Overall
Race around Rottnest Triathlon 3rd Overall
Ironman Busselton 3rd in Age Group 44th Overall

2016
City to Surf Karratha 1st
Ironman World Championships 7th Australian in Age Group, 66th in Age Group, 289th Male Overall
Ironman Busselton 6th in Age Group, 30th Overall

2017
Half Ironman Albany 3rd Overall

Upcoming Races
Challenge Melbourne Half Ironman April 2017
Ironman Australia Port Macquarie May 2017

A piece of advice that has had the most profound effect on my career to date “find something within yourself, find what makes you tick and be ruthless with it, be relentless, be fearless”.

Why I love Life and Soul
This quote from Steve Prefontaine “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” Every time I go to Life and Soul I see people giving their best, it keeps me motivated to give my best and not sacrifice my gift. I’ve also noticed significant improvement in my speed and endurance since adding strength and stability work at the gym.