THE SPEED SECRETS OF HONEST JOE

Brit pro Ironman athlete Joe Skipper is known for two things raw speed and raw honesty. Here we find out how he achieves the first by sticking to the second, in all aspects of his life...

- TIM HEMING

In a modern era defined by airbrushed Instagram and curating an image for sponsors, the one thing you can still guarantee with Norfolk’s Joe Skipper is raw honesty.

“When I retire, I won’t f**king swim. I’m 100% sure. Okay, I might occasionally on a nice summer day in a lake, but if people say: ‘Do you want to swim four times a week in the pool?’ I can 110% tell you now: Not a f**king chance.”

If the point hasn’t landed yet, Joe Skipper isn’t overly enamoured by triathlon’s first discipline. “The only people who like swimming are those who started it when they were kids because they don’t know any different and have a very high boredom threshold.

“If I’m not doing it with other people I think it absolutely sucks. If I’ve got a group to train with I’m fine, but I hate swimming by myself, I find it so boring, just staring at the bottom of the pool.

“On the bike, I can ride up a nice hill and take in the scenery. I’m out there with the elements and get a sense of speed. I can’t even talk to people when I do an easy swim. It’s just the s**test out of the three sports.”

Given swimming makes up approximately one-third of Skipper’s occupation, it could be argued that this mindset is potentially career-limiting. But then he’s also an eight-time Ironman champion, placed seventh, sixth and fifth in the past three world champs in Hawaii, and is self-aware enough to realise his limitations.

“It’s part of the reason I’ve struggled,” he willingly admits. “We’re generally better at sports we enjoy, so while I can get my head around it and force myself to get it done, if I loved swimming I’d be a lot better than I am.”

PLAYING CATCH-UP

Plenty of amateurs would echo his ‘swimming is a necessary evil’ stance, but at 36 years old and uncoachable by his own admission, he is doing something about it, taking on some guidance that might mean he hasn’t got such a deficit to claw back on the bike and run.