While most Bond University students look forward to the semester break as a time to relax, there will be no rest for Kye Robinson.
The Bachelor of Business student is one of Australia’s leading sprint triathletes and for the next four weeks he’ll undergo an intense new training block.
Robinson has just returned from a ninth-place finish at the UniSport triathlon in St Kilda, a result he was pleased with in just his second race over the Olympic distance of 1500m swim, 40km ride and 10km run.
His first attempt came just two weeks before when he competed in the Mooloolaba Triathlon.
“I race sprint distance, but my coach just wanted to do a longer distance and since the Uni nationals were draft legal and you don’t usually get a draft legal over Olympic distance, we decided to compete,” he said.
“So in the lead up I did my first Olympic distance race two weeks before at Mooloolaba. The swim was really good, the run was very hot.
“I was surprised, at Mooloolaba I did a 2.09 and at St Kilda I did a 2.06 - only two weeks apart and I was able to go way faster.’’
It was a nice change-up for the 18-year-old and the chance for Bond University to score its first points in the UniSport Tri series, however his focus remains firmly on the sprint events.
For the next month Robinson will train seven days a week as he prepares for his first major international event.
The schedule will include four running sessions, three rides ranging from an hour to three hours, two gym workouts and four swimming sessions totalling 15km.
In July he will head to Germany to represent Australia in the 16-19 years bracket at the World Triathlon Sprint Championships.
“This is my first World Championships and everything from here is geared towards that,” he said.
“But I enjoyed the UniSport event and I’d be keen to compete for Bond again next year.
“I’ve just finished my first semester and I am really enjoying it here Bond.’’
Robinson says he played every sport on offer until he found his way into sprint triathlons where athletes race over a course that includes a 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run.
“Growing up Wollongong I played all the sports and then I eventually put my time into basketball and soccer and I took that pretty seriously,” he said.
“But I eventually got bored and wasn’t enjoying it so my dad said I should try another sport.
“He suggested AFL or triathlon, I went triathlon and really enjoyed it.’’