Bulldog takes a bite of destiny
Back when he was a scrappy 8-year-old hanging around the pool with Brett Sutton’s elite swimmers and triathletes there was something about kid that caught the coach’s attention. He was short and powerfully built – as wide as he was tall – and a bundle of energy. Sutton recalled fondly that young Brett Carter was “terrorizing people” and the old coach had to “put his foot in [his] arse” as Carter was a “cheeky, happy tear away kid always going a million miles an hour.” Sadly for Carter, Sutton later on told a teenage Carter he would not coach him because, as Sutton describes it, Carter’s wrestler’s physique didn’t have the hydrodynamics to make it as an elite swimmer.
After honing his skills with another legendary Australian swim coach, Carter lost his drive in swimming and spent a decade seeing the world — paid for with a bunch of odd jobs. Two decades after Sutton cut the kid loose, Brett Carter was back from his travels and decided that time was running out on his dream to make it as a professional triathlete. In 2010, Carter posted a decent sub-3 hour marathon, finished 20th overall at the Gold Coast Half Ironman in his first triathlon in 15 years, placed 39th overall and 6th in the 30-34 age group at Ironman Western Australia in 9:16:17, thus earning a spot at Kona in 2011. Carter signed up with Team TBB satellite coach (and multiple Ironman winner) Rebekah Keat. While he improved on all fronts with Keat, he was disappointed with his 9:16:08 time and 22nd in his age group at Kona. Still, Carter sent a note to Sutton to keep an eye on him. By June of 2012, Carter had a breakthrough performance against a class field at Ironman Cairns, placing 7th overall in a time of 8:44:03 – ahead of the likes of Jason Shortis, Chris McCormack, and Luke Bell.
While Carter’s physique and advanced age didn’t fit Sutton’s usual profile, the man who has coached 28 World Champions had a soft spot for longshots seeking last chance to make their dreams come true. After measuring Carter’s prospects as first rate swimmer, promising biker and never-gonna-be a first rate runner, Sutton took the 31-year-old on as a full-fledged TeamTBB elite squad member. Sutton told Carter if he could get to TBB summer headquarters in Switzerland in two weeks, he had a spot. Carter quit his job on the Gold Coast, sold virtually all his possessions, took out a $5,000 loan and showed up in Leysin with a small bag of tri gear and a bike — ready for everything Sutton could dish out in a two-year, make-it-or-break-it mission.
Last August, Carter showed Sutton’s judgment was on target with a win at the MetaMan Triathlon in Bintan, Indonesia in a PR of 8:43:58. This year Carter has posted a 9th at Ironman Los Cabos. Carter responded to questions from the Team TBB training camp in Cozumel.
Slowtwitch: What is your nickname in Team TBB?
Brett Carter: I'm known as Bulldog.
ST: Where did that moniker come from?
Brett: Doc [Brett Sutton] actually gave it to me. He said I remind him of one — I haven't exactly got your classic triathlete physique.
ST: What were those days like at the Palm Beach pool on the Gold Coast?
Brett: I just loved sports and was always trying something. Was also a bit of a smart ass, but that probably came from being about a foot shorter than all your mates. Brett was great as a swim coach because he had us doing lots of variation. Run-swim-runs around the pool grounds. Was great compared to your typical swim sessions as even by that age we were doing around 6 sessions a week of 3 to 4k each.
ST: From your kid’s perspective, what was Brett like?
Brett: Brett is made out to be some maniac coach but he really was never that bad. My next swim coach after him was Laurie Lawrence. Now he was a maniac. Brett would only give you a serve if you deserved it. Same as he is today.
ST: What did you think about his senior athletes?
Brett: I loved seeing all the senior guys training. That’s when the Formula 1 series in Australia was massive — first Tooheys Blue, then St. George, then the Accenture series. All the guys wanted in and trained so hard. It was just no nonsense training.
ST: What sports did you like to play?
Brett: Anything in the water. I did surf Ironman, surfed, kayak, water polo, butterfly in the pool. I loved running cross country and rode my bike everywhere, still do to this day (had to sell my car to pay for triathlon).
ST: Were you even aware back then that you were a stocky powerful kid? And did you gravitate toward the sports that generally fit your physique? Or were they the sports you simply loved?
Brett: My upper body comes from my old man. I just can't shake it. People always ask me what strength program I do, but I haven't touched a weight in ages. I didn't really think too much about doing sports. I thought I would suit just what I enjoyed.
ST: When you were swimming – your best sport at the time – how hard did you try every swim practice?
Brett: I was a butterfly swimmer, one stroke that having short legs actually helps and gives you a good whip kick. The one thing with butterfly is you can't swim it easy, it's rhythmic. Like trying to do a 100 meter hurdles easy, you just end up ruining your technique. I was doing 40x100s fly when I was twelve. But by the time I was 15 I knew I wasn't going to make it in the pool. When the brain’s gone in the pool, you’re done. I went through until I was 17, but by then the effort was gone.
ST: Was your technique up to par then?
Brett: When you have pull buoys & kick boards thrown at your head, your head flushed in the toilet by older kids in the squad because you broke stroke and everyone had to repeat the main set, you get your technique down pretty good.
ST: What did you feel like when Brett told you that you didn’t have the right physique to be a great swimmer? When he said that “swimming is unforgiving in fluid-dynamics and so from early days I tried not to raise unattainable expectations.”
Brett: That's the nice thing about being a kid — you think adults are morons and don't know anything anyway.
ST: Did you agree with him?
Brett: Nah, I thought: ‘You watch me!’
ST: What other sports did you pick up?
Brett: Surf Ironman was huge in Australia at that time and I loved it. Was actually why I didn't choose triathlon, that and Luke McKenzie kicking my butt running.
ST: A step back in the chronology – what did you inherit from your mom and dad?
Brett: I definitely got my physique from my dad – short and stocky. My mom is short also. My dad did triathlon, surf swimming and water polo in the Navy. My mom wasn't in to sports at all, but she gave me my attitude, never gives up. They just wanted me to be fit and healthy and have a go at anything.
ST: Who at that time of your life were your heroes?
Brett: My sporting hero was Brad Beven. He was amazing back in the day. Got to train with him a couple of times when I was 15. He just got it done every time he stepped out. And Kelly Slater, who I think is probably one of the most under rated sportsmen ever. Waves change, conditions change, judges change yet he is still killing it 20 years on.
ST: When you met Brett Sutton again in 2011, he remembered you well. He observed: “Out of 100s of kids, he made me think. Then I meet him last year training with our coach on the Gold Coast. Physically he hadn't changed, still a pit bull of a man. The type that if you needed to change a tire on a car but had no jack, you be sure he could lift it up for you, 'No worries, mate.' Just as he was as a kid. But time wears us all down, the cheeky smile was there, but the happiness, the free spirit had been drained.” How accurate was he?
Brett: He was pretty much right. I'm not going to start the sob story, clichés and ‘Poor me.’ That's just life.
ST: Doc said you had gone through a lot in the ‘24 years since you were a kid hanging out at his pool.’
Brett: It was only 21. Doc’s counting isn't his strong point. After I finished high school, I had to get out of home, so 8 months after graduating and working 50 hours a week as a lifeguard and pizza delivery boy at night, I set off traveling. I used my lifeguarding background and talk to travel round the world from 1999 until about 2006. Lifeguarding in New Jersey, Myrtle Beach, the Bahamas, Switzerland and the UK. I bussed tables in Whistler; coat checked in Austria, sold tours on cruise ships in the Caribbean and was a fitness trainer in London.
ST: Any sporting ambitions during those years? Serious girlfriends? Illnesses?
Brett: Didn't swim a lap for ten years. Did plenty of running, surfing and snowboarding. Only had three proper relationships and weirdly enough they have all been American chicks. I generally get sick about once a year (like gastro before Ironman Cozumel last year)
ST: What did you ask Sutto?
Brett: After 2012 Ironman Cairns, I just sent him a email to say this is how I'm coming along and keep an eye out for me.
ST: Why were you ready to lay it all on the line with triathlon?
Brett: Think Bruce Springsteen's “Glory Days.” I don't want to be old saying, ‘Shoulda, woulda, coulda.’ I have had a life that I wish so many people could have and I'm only 32. I have had a go at everything I have wanted. I don't care if I fail, and I don't care what others think of me.
ST: By the way, how far had you come with triathlon to that point?
Brett: In July 2010 I did my first marathon and went 2:47. I did the Gold Coast Half in October which was my first triathlon I had done since I was 15. Then I did Ironman Busselton in December and went 9:16 and got a Kona spot. Did Kona 2011 where I went a disappointing 9:16 again. But I was training over there with my old high school mate Luke McKenzie. He was the main reason I had a real crack at it in 2012. He told me he thought I could make it and has been a major help to me. So I went to Ironman Cairns and went 8:44 for seventh overall.
ST: Who spoke up for you with Sutton and what did they say?
Brett: Well the Doc makes up his own mind on people, he doesn't worry too much about other opinions. But when he called me out on the Team TBB site, Luke his wife Amanda and his dad (who used to be my teacher at school) all told Coach he would not regret it.
ST: One of your advocates was Rebekah Keat. How did you know one another? How did you get along?
Brett: I was coached by Bek for 6 months with the Team TBB online training program leading up to Kona in 2011. I coached myself to Busselton but didn't really know what I was doing. Bek is from the Gold Coast so I thought she would be good because she knows the terrain. I spoke with Liz Blatchford’s husband Glen, who I worked with, and he said she was a good bird and a bit of a nut so she would be perfect for me. Plus it was as close to being trained by Brett as I was going to get for the money. Bek was great.
ST: When Sutton evaluated you, did he offer sweet words? Or the usual tough truth?
Brett: The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. That's why I am with him. One of the first things he said to me was, ‘You ain't ever going to run 2:40 off the bike mate. I can only do so much with your speed. But you can swim a 47, ride a 4:30 and run sub-3 hrs. How does that sound?’
ST: I see you simply said ‘I couldn’t run?’ What led you to say that?
Brett: Ironman ain't about running fast — 2.48 is only 4 minutes per k pace. So in terms of being a real runner, no I can't.
ST: OK just how big were you? What was your body composition – percentage of body fat?
Brett: I don't know. I'm not fat, although my mate Clippa says I am. I'm just a nugget. I'm 5-7 and before tri usually around 165 to 170 pounds. Around 155 now — just have to keep away from [fellow Team TBB triathlete] Dave Dellow the bakery pig. He is a bad influence on me.
ST: How strong are you?
Brett: Let's just say I probably should be doing crossfit.
ST: What was your best triathlon performance on your own?
Brett: Ironman Cairns 8:44. Trained solo for 6 months.
ST: What was your job that you quit when Sutto took you on?
Brett: I've lifeguarded for the Gold Coast City Council on and off traveling since 2000. My bosses are very supportive and so are the boys working there.
ST: Brett said he went out of the norm to take you on Team TBB, but his final question was about your drive and ambition. Here is what he said “Did he have the fire, the guts and the determination of that 10 year old kid beaten out of him? Or has life and it foibles just covered it up? Is it still in there somewhere waiting and he just needs someone to relight the fire that used to burn within him.” What do you think of his perception?
Brett: That’s why he is so good, because he reads people so well. In the big picture, we are both running out of time. He’s had a few worries about his health and I think this may be his last year taking new people on in old Sutto fashion. Right now Brett needs 3 years of putting his foot in my arse again. That's the dilemma.
ST: Besides first names, what traits do you and the Doc share in common?
Brett: We don't bullshit. We're both fighters. Work ethic. We're both not into gimmicks or gadgets.
ST: What do you think of his no BS manner, his brutal truths?
Brett: Sometimes it hurts, but that’s what your here for. If you want sunshine blown up your ass, you’re in the wrong place.
ST: What date did you start with the crew in Leysin?
Brett: I think it was June 20th last year.
ST: How has Brett worked on your run? What sorts of drills, technique, workouts?
Brett: Lots of quality mileage sessions. Since June I think I have done 8 marathons, either on the track, road or race. I’ve done 42 x800s with a 200 float on the track – that’s one that sticks with me. At sub 3 hour pace.
ST: I hear he works you hard. That some folks think you are his whipping boy, so to speak. If true, what does that mean in terms of workouts and rest?
Brett: It's more of an Australian thing, I think. If he said some of the stuff he says to me to yanks or euros, it would go down like a lead balloon. I just smirk and get on with it. He just likes trying to screw with my head.
ST: Some outsiders think Brett treats everyone equally savagely. That he works everyone super hard and whoever does not get injured can succeed. What is the truth about Brett’s treatment of individuals?
Brett: It's funny. That is the biggest misconception. We are the ones who injure ourselves. We all want to succeed so bad he spends most of his time trying to pull us back. He gives us hellish sessions for sure, but you have to be smart.
ST: How big a moment was it to win that Indonesian Ironman distance event last August? Your swim was first rate 48 minutes. Your bike was very decent 4:35. Your run was 3:2. How did you feel about each and what did Brett say to you about your performance?
Brett: He was really happy, but said ‘You were the dog and it was your day, they aren't all going to be like that.’ I was happy with the swim and bike, and got to shut things down with 12k left on the run. Times in the pros are of no consequence, just think about getting ready for the next one. It was a tough day. I think Bintan’s latitude is 1 degree — lucky I like it hot and steamy. Without that win I would be back working, dream over.
ST: Just what do you mean by that?
Brett: I took out a personal loan, sold everything I had, and put the rest of the trip to Switzerland on my credit card. I needed a top 3 at Indonesia to keep on going. It paid $15,000 for the win, which was great, but I was already $20,000 in the red.
ST: What is something most people don’t know about Team TBB and Brett’s coaching?
Brett: The development programs they do for youth. Like the one in the Philippines and [and Brazil] and the one they are setting up in Mexico at the moment. These are truly great. The biggest thing with Brett's coaching is that it's not just about the sessions — it's all in the mix.
ST: How much improvement have you made on your bike and on your run? Can you dream how fast you might run an Ironman marathon in your future?
Brett: The bike is coming along well [4:35 Ironman splits] , but riding with the front pack and the tactics and surges is something I am still getting used to. When the big boys are ready to play it's full on. I think I can get the run to a low 2:50.
ST: Who among your friends and family has given you the most support?
Brett: My mum and sister have been very supportive. Luke and Amanda McKenzie, and all the lifeguard boys back home, as well as my oldest mate, Jason Rose.
ST: Do you feel you are one of those folks who have arrived at their Last Chance in Triathlon? Do you feel a bit like you’ve joined the French Foreign Legion of the sport?
Brett: Not really. It’s just triathlon. Like I said I am not afraid of failing, just failing to have a go. If I do fail, so be it.
ST: What did you study in school and what might your professional be if you weren’t chasing the brass ring in triathlon?
Brett: Math, English, Japanese, Engineering , Industrial Skills and Health. I'd be a sports coach, which I hope to be in the future.
ST: What other races have you done since MetaMan last August? What is next on your list?
Brett: 70.3 Mandurah [12th in 3:56:45], Panama 70.3 [14th in 4:20:41], Ironman Cozumel (DNF gastro), Ironman Cabo [9th in 8:52:35]. Hoping to do Ironman Texas and Ironman Cairns.
ST: How do your teammates interact? How do they support one another?
Brett: There’s a lot of different personalities. The boys all get along pretty well. The girls are hit and miss, but that's girls in general. We are all good mates, but if we line up against each other, we still are doing our best to kick each other's asses.
ST: What are some of the nicknames for your Team TBB teammates?
Brett: Powder [Andreas Castillo], Taco [Ruth Nivon Machoud], Honey Badger [Mary Beth Ellis], Hollywood [Jenna Parker], Red Dog [Dave Dellow], Xena [Caroline Steffen], Wheezy [Carrie Lester], Animal [Scott DeFilippis], Skippy [Todd Skipworth], Captain Calves [Mathias Hecht], Spirit [Nicola Spirig], Upda [Rachel Kung].
ST: What part of Sutton’s training has made the biggest improvement in your run?
Brett: Marathons don't scare me.
ST: What did your mum and dad say when Brett picked you for Team TBB?
Brett: Mum was ecstatic and said just go for it. Dad is brown bread.
ST: Fighting any injuries?
Brett: Just my disappearing hairline.
ST: What is the most important lesson you have learned so far on Team TBB?
Brett: Ha ha! I got to say it. Hurry Slowly.
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