The year of Stephen Bayliss

October 2, 2008

2008 has been a very magical year for Stephen Bayliss with Ironman wins in South Africa and UK, and a bunch of other very fine results. He is currently getting ready for Kona and has even bigger plans for late November.

ST: Stephen, winning two Ironman titles in one season is quite impressive. What are you going to do to top that next year?

Stephen: Yes this season has been a great season for me, my best yet. I'm very happy with my consistency over the whole year, hopefully I can continue this with a great race at Hawaii and then at Clearwater. Then it is the biggest event of the year Bella and my wedding at the end of November in Scotland.

ST: How did it feel to win an Ironman title on your home turf?

Stephen: Winning Ironman UK was very special, the best thing about winning in the UK is the great support from all the UK athletes and also I had quite a few family and friends there which makes winning with them there so so special.

ST: Of all your race results, which one means the most to you?

Stephen: That's a difficult question, I am very proud of lots of my races, ones that I haven't won but races where it has been tough or my situation wasn't perfect. For instance winning the ITU long distance championships in my age group was very satisfying, I was working full time and so training and racing with a full time job is very tough. I have a lot of respect for the athletes out there doing that. But this year winning IM South Africa is the most important as it showed all the hard work I have been putting in paid off and it gave me great confidence for the future.

ST: Are you ready for Hawaii?

Stephen: I'm definitely fit and ready to do a good job and feel it is a good race for me, however I have just had a little hiccup with food poisoning this last weekend, which put me in hospital but I think I will recover fine and be ready.

ST: What is your athletic background and who or what inspired you to race triathlons?

Stephen: I started my sporting career at my local swimming club, Croydon Amphibians and I was introduced to triathlon by my brother and his PE teacher, he encouraged my brother to get involved and I then really wanted to do what he was doing and we both got heavily involved. I was inspired by seeing Spencer Smith winning everything at that point, I remember going to watch him win at the Manchester ITU world championships in 1995, it was pouring with rain, Spencer won by miles and I just thought the whole thing was the best thing ever.

ST: How much do you train with Bella?

Stephen: Not that much really, she trains with the girls or on her own and I train with the boys or on my own, we do leave together for lots of training and we often do easy bikes and runs together and swim at the same time.

ST: What do you do to overcome a disappointing race?

Stephen: I had one disappointing race this year. It was the Alp d'huez triathlon; I got my nutrition wrong and also did not give the race enough respect and trained a bit to hard right up to it. But to get over it I worked out my mistakes then moved on and concentrate on training and the next race which was Embrunman in 3 weeks time which was one of my best races of the year finishing 2nd.

ST: How are things going for you in terms of sponsorship?

Stephen: I have some great support from lots of different companies. Team TBB, the No1 team in the world. Cervelo, they really have the best triathlon bikes on the market. Gatorade does exactly what we need it to do. USE1.com, check out their new ITU legal clip on it is the best out there. ForGoodnessShakes, I'm on the banana flavor:). Imp sport, they make our great custom clothing. SRAM, I believe they are the best components on the market. Blueseventy, fastest suit I have used. Saucony, everything you could want from a racing shoe and training shoe.

ST: If you could change the sport of triathlon, what would you do?

Stephen: I really think it would be great to have a triathlon race that is a true test and so a time trial. It would be brilliant if even just the World Champs each year were a time trial. We would see a true result. You would have to swim every km, cycle the whole event on your own and run all on your own in the fastest time you can. I know this may never happen with Hawaii but maybe there could be professional Time trial race once a year and this race could be in different countries each year.

ST: What do you do in the off-season?

Stephen: Last year Bella and I didn't race from after IMWA in December to IMNZ in March so that was our off-season, we spent the time in our apartment in Leysin Switzerland in the snow. I did a bit of skiing and lots of training:)

ST: Do you follow any other sports?

Stephen: Not very closely, but I love to watch most sports. My favorite sports to watch are Athletics, all cycling disciplines, motorbike racing. I would love to have been a motocross rider if not a triathlete.

ST: We heard about the pending wedding plans. Can you give us some details?

Stephen: Yes as I mentioned earlier the biggest event of the year is our wedding at the end of November in Perth, Scotland. We are both really looking forward to seeing lots of friends and family for a great day in the beautiful Scottish countryside.

ST: Can you share with us some of your food likes and dislikes?

Stephen: Well, I think I now will dislike Sushi forever as I think that was the cause of this weekends poisoning! My favorite breakfast is raspberries, Greek yoghurt, muesli and honey. My favorite lunch is a turkey, Swiss cheese, tomato and lettuce in a fresh crusty white baguette. My favorite dinner is rice, fish fingers, salad and sweet chili sauce. Oh the other thing I eat tons of in Switzerland is a Swiss vanilla and chocolate chip yoghurt called Toni, yum, I'm missing it just thinking about it.

ST: What about music? Anything you listen to more often?

Stephen: I always find this question difficult, I love music and listen to all types but can never remember the names of bands or singers. While here in Korea I am listening to a lot of the BBC radio over the internet they have shows on all genres of music, at this present moment I am listening to a country show, I know you Americans will find it amusing that I like country music:). Some British music I can recommend, is a singer called Adel, she is from my hometown Croydon and is very talented. Also Amy Macdonald she is on a CD I have with me and her song "This is the life" is brilliant.

ST: What was the last book you read?

Stephen: I don't read much, I am always to tired but I don't think it was the last book I read but the best book I have read recently is Graeme Obree's Autobiography, it is the most honest, interesting and readable book I have ever read.

ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Stephen: In 5 years I think I will still be doing triathlon, I think I can improve year on year so hope to be one of the best in Ironman.

ST: Is there anything else we should know about you?

Stephen: I think you know enough, I can't go telling everyone everything!