9 February, Phuket Boat Lagoon – In the island of hospitality, where the crisp sun starts to rise, silhouettes of 12 well toned figures on wheels, whizzes by the complex out into the local roads. Their shadows fade out in the morning, waiting for their return in the afternoon. That is just the start of the day! Training continues after lunch and a third session follows in the evening.

It’s been intense for the past 8 days at the first training camp for teamTBB. The training programme rotates between 2 sessions of cycling and one run, with the next day on 2 swim sessions followed by cycling. The athletes cover on standard per week; 20km swim, 300 to 500 km bike and run from 60 to 100km.

Most of them are training for their first race of the year- the Ironman Langkawi Malaysia Triathlon on 24th February. Athletes lined up are: 2006 World Champion ITU Long Course- Bella Comerford and 2006 Winner of Ironman Switzerland & Austria- Rebecca Preston. For the men: Stephen Bayliss, Reinaldo Colucci, Sam Renouf and Andrew Johns.

When asked about the intensity of training, Bella replies “I have to train very hard to become very fit. Ironman is a gruelling event and if you are not fit, you would not be able to do it. But I love what I do.” That summed up how all the athletes felt.

Other athletes at the camp include, Belinda Granger, Justin Granger, Luke Dragstra, Nicola Spirig, Hillary Biscay and Lizzy Hessing.

Founder and Team Director of teamTBB, Alex Bok, is excited about having 18 of the finest professional triathletes and world class coaching altogether in one team, in one training location. "These athletes are highly dedicated and passionate sport professionals and we are proud to have established this unique sports team in Asia."

We wish all the athletes an amazing journey with teamTBB!