I can’t remember the last time I have been so excited to chat with someone. For the last couple of days around the office I have had this huge smile because I knew this day would come. And when I walked into the University of Toronto gym with my producer this past week, my emotions were running high. My interviewee was not an imposing figure — at 5 ft 10 inches and 154 pounds this 37-year-old from B.C. looked more like a pencil compared to my much “fuller frame.” When I posed for pictures with this Olympic gold medal winner in the 2000 men’s triathlon, it hit me…. Simon Whitfield is a well-oiled machine who can run, swim and bike faster than anybody in the world!
In Sydney, Simon finished the 1.5 km swim, 40 km bike and 10km run in a record time of 1hr 48 minutes and 24.2 seconds. Wow. After a brief wait and set-up for the one-on-one interview I ended up chatting with him about a range of topics from his specialized training, his motivation, his inspiration and what it felt like to win a gold at the Sydney Olympics for Canada! But my favorite topic and one we immediately bonded over was that of being a father of two girls! This was the only topic I felt I could guide Simon on from my own experience as he was a relatively new dad with girls aged five and two. The interview seemed to just fly by. We touched on why he was in town — to promote an online campaign campaign by Duracell to help support our athletes at the Olympics in London this summer (Facebook.com/DuracellCanada) — but the fun soon ended and the real work began….for me!
Simon (the three-time Olympian) was my personal trainer for the last 20 or so minutes of our time together…ugh! I had a stationary bike lesson in interval and resistance training and then it was time to hit the track for our running portion….not fun!
I was amazed from the few laps we did how easily he glides on the surface…almost like he has wings when he runs. This effortless gliding ability was no doubt from over 20 years of dedicated training! That was impressive.
But what I really took away from our hour-long meeting (besides realizing how horribly out of shape I am) was that Simon and I shared something very significant. This decorated Canadian Olympic champion had found out like me that some of the most rewarding and challenging moments in his life were not career-related. The real joy, happiness and occasional tears he had discovered were from simply being a dedicated, loving, family man with two beautiful daughters!
Good luck at the Olympics this summer, Simon!
For more on Canadian Olympian Simon Whitfield stay tuned for an upcoming CityLine episode and raw extended footage of my interview on www.cityline.ca