Up close with Jan Van Berkel
Jan Van Berkel took the win at Ironman 70.3 Galway in early September and more recently earned the runner-up spot at 70.3 Miami. Van Berkel, whose father is Dutch, has raced for the Netherlands in ITU races as recent as the 2011 ITU World Championships in Lausanne, but started to focus on longer events this year. Van Berkel resides in Zürich, Switzerland and he now competes for that country. He is getting ready for Ironman Arizona as we speak.
Slowtwitch: Good to chat with you Jan.
Jan: Thanks Herbert, for a European athlete it feels a bit like getting knighted having an interview here.
ST: Are you telling us that we don’t cover enough European athletes on slowtwitch?
Jan: Not at all, I consider slowtwitch as a US based tri site and naturally there is more coverage about your home turf races and athletes. That makes me as a Swiss athlete appreciate the attention of your site even more. Being able to talk to you in our maternal language German and seeing you at Eurobike was evidence enough that you take European Triathlon serious.
ST: That is very kind, but I was just giving you a hard time.
Jan: Well that is part of a good journalist’s job description.
ST: On a more serious note, how is your prep for Arizona going?
Jan: The time of three weeks between 70.3 Miami and Ironman Arizona is short, so I focused mainly on recovery for six days, then got five days of regular work done. I am very happy how I feel right now, hitting the numbers. Now taper starts.
ST: When did you arrive in Miami?
Jan: Just 36 hours before the race, I took the shock of jetlag and the race at one hit.
ST: The second place at 70.3 Miami must have found you well. Or at the very least started your US trip on a good note.
Jan: 2nd place is good. It was not great, a win is great, but it was a solid performance on a high level and definitely worth of a mention in a season wrap up.
ST: Talk about your race there.
Jan: I swam like crap, no feeling and no rhythm. But I was able to limit my losses and with a quick T1 I was in the main group. We already dropped James Cunnama which was important. I wanted to keep the pressure up on the bike and I felt great, so I lead big chunks on the way out in the headwind. On the way back after the aid station, I had a minimal gap of 20 meters and in that moment my heart took control over the race tactics, I went all out. I just felt fast with all my new gear and wanted to see how fast this stuff can go! Looking on my Quarq power analysis afterwards (not having references of older 70.3 races for pacing I only analyze my files afterwards), I pushed some serious wattage and that makes me very confident. It is one thing to be an ITU guy coming up and run fast off a bike that is a bit longer, it is another thing to determine the way a race unfolds by your own actions on the bike. The run was a suffer fest, I had muscular problems from my new bike position, it was the 4th time ever on my new Scott Plasma bike. It is the first time ever I got positioned professionally on a TT bike and that means there were lots of changes. The fitters found an awesome position and I feel very powerful, just need to get used to it now. I recovered from these problems thru the first lap and posted a negative split half marathon. It was too much of a gap to reel in Terenzo but luckily enough to catch some others in front and secure 2nd.
ST: Where did you get your bike fit done?
Jan: The federal technological institute of Switzerland (ETH) in Zürich encourages PhDs from all their faculties to found spin-off companies in their specialty. I got my bike fit done by a company called Swissbiomechanics, these guys combine classic tools like 3D in motion measurements with their freshest own research and the research of their colleagues still active in the science. I have another ETH spin-off called Exersciences giving a scientific guidance to my training and racing.
ST: Talking about Switzerland, at the Ironman there you also grabbed the runner-up spot. As a Swiss Pro, did that result mean more to you?
Jan: Zürich is my hometown and it is the race where I did my first triathlon ever. The race course passes 50m from my grandmas house. It is the race where as a kid I admired Ironman athletes of all abilities and doing so told my self that one day, I m going to do that race as well. I train on the course every day. Nothing came close to the emotions I felt while racing in Zürich and I get goose bumps just thinking of Ironman Zürich, the past edition and the ones to come.
ST: Ronnie Schildknecht has kind of owned that race. How tough will it be to take it away from him?
Jan: It will take a world-class performance on the 28th of July. That is what I am preparing for. Not for what it takes to beat Ronnie, but for the ability to lay down a world-class performance. Ronnie and the final result will tell me if I succeeded in doing so or not!
ST: Why Ironman Arizona versus Cozumel or Western Australia?
Jan: I can combine two races with one transatlantic trip. Tempe is easy to get to from Miami, perfect timing of three weeks between these two races. It will be a deep field where I can measure myself with the best. This is what I am looking for.
ST: We assume Kona 2013 is on your mind.
Jan: Kona 2015 is even more so on my mind, and that will be the year when I plan to be in the mix for the win. But yes, I am aiming to race in Kona 2013. If things go as planned, then I’ll get enough points, if not I prefer to stay on my long term plan rather then chasing points. It is easy to get distracted by short-term goals.
ST: But why even attempt to qualify for 2013 when it isn’t a real goal?
Jan: Sebi Kienle is a good example for me. He didn’t race Kona until he felt that he s ready for it. I like that approach, I m going to do the same. I set myself certain goals I want to fulfill before my first IM Hawaii and I might fail in doing so 2013, only one year after changing distances. My main sponsor Notenstein Privatbank’s slogan is “thinking in scenarios” and that is what I try to do in Ironman too. Some scenarios of my development include Kona 2013, some don’t.
ST: We first noticed you as part of the Abu Dhabi Tri team. How did that connection come up?
Jan: I met Faris at altitude training in St.Moritz and we found mutual respect that finally led to my membership within the team and I raced for them for two years.
ST: Do you handle sponsorships yourself now?
Jan: Yes. I have put up my own sponsorship concept that enables companies and myself to grow our names together as my career moves forward.
ST: Anything else we should know?
Jan: My sister Martina is a Swiss Olympian and she swam the 200m Butterfly in the 2012 London Olympics. She is one of my main sparring partners in the water. Notenstein Privatbank is not just a nice logo on my race kit – they are my employer as well. Notenstein honors the unique abilities a high performance athlete brings into a company and I work part time as a lawyer (finished law school at University of Zürich in 2010) in their legal & compliance section. Which keeps my brain busy and gives me the balance between body & mind I lacked while being a fulltime pro.
ST: So how did you juggle law school and racing fulltime? Or did you take a break?
Jan: I did both fulltime. It was a very hard time at some points, leaving no space for social time or sufficient recovery. This period made me learn what performing really means. It is a lesson I will be able to use in both Ironman as well as in professional life and one that I share with many age-group athletes.
ST: Does your sister kick your ass in the pool?
Jan: Herbert, every time I leave the pool after swim sessions with my sister, I am a broken man…
ST: Are your parents quite athletic too?
Jan: Their support comes from giving Martina and me the complete freedom to find an activity where we both can feel fulfilled, while honoring hard work. It happens to be endurance sports for both of us. My mum, a primary school teacher, used to coach the local basketball team on which I played and by the way that is the team on which Nicola Spirig played too. We grew up in the same village and crossed paths at many points. My dad, a retired Swissair Jumbo Pilot, does some Nordic walking sometimes but has calves of a Tour de France rider.
ST: Thank you.
Jan: Thanks you Herbert and thanks for reading. You can follow my journey on Twitter @janvanberkel and on Facebook, I appreciate your support on race sites and in the social media. At the races, I m always up for a chat, just come and say hi!
