21-year old Aussie Trent Grimsey won the Waikiki Roughwater Swim and the Tiburon Mile in 2008, and at the recent FINA Swimming World Championships in Rome he earned a silver medal in the 25k open water race. Trent was kind enough to chat with slowtwitch about racing, training and his plans for the future.

Slowtwitch: Trent, have you stashed away that silver medal from the World Championships in a safe place?

Trent: I have just dropped it of to a place to get it framed so I can hang it on my wall at home.

ST: You swam the 5k, 10k and the 25k and you finished better as the distance got longer. Was that a question of the distance suiting you better or more so a leaning experience as the 25k race came last?

Trent: I think it was definitely a lack of international race experience that let me down in the 5 & 10km races at World Champs. Living in Australia we are so far away from any of the World Cup/Grand Pix races they have throughout the year, which makes them hard and really expensive to get to. The things I learned in racing the 5km and 10km races and the mistakes I made I really tried to use for the 25km race.

ST: Leading up to Rome you actually never swam longer than 10k. Were you at all worried about stepping up to 25k?

Trent: No, not really… a little anxious maybe? I knew I was fit and had done the hard work. I knew physically I could make it, but knew mentally it was going to be very hard.

ST: How many other athletes swam all 3 open water events?

Trent: I think I was the only one… I may be wrong. Doing all 3 gave me 3 shots at a medal!

ST: You are still fairly young at age 21. Most of the guys who finish on the podium at these open water events seem to be quite a bit older. What gives?

Trent: Most of them were a lot older. I think its just like anything the more experienced you are at something and the more you do it the better off you are going to be. That’s why I need to try and do as many races against the top athletes in the world as often as I can to get that experience.

ST: Your schedule seems to be quite busy. What is next?

Trent: Yes, the next couple of months are going to be very busy for me as I have The Portland Mile on the 22nd of August, Maui Channel swim (team) on the 5th of September, Waikiki Rough Water on the 7th of September and then The RCP Tiburon Mile on the 13th of September.

ST: You defeated some pretty good competition at the Tiburon Mile and the Waikiki Roughwater Swim last year. This year it would seem that you’ll be more of a marked man.

Trent: What was good about last year is that no one knew who I was… I will definitely have to swim these races a lot smarter then last year. I am looking forward to them!

ST: Of all these results, which one do you cherish the most and why?

Trent: This is a tough question… probably Tiburon because of all the incredible people who have won it over the past years… followed closely by silver at world champs.

ST: Have you always been a swimmer or did you dabble in other sports when you were younger?

Trent: No, I have always been a swimmer. Mum made me learn to swim as a baby so I would not drown if she took us to the beach and I just progressed from there.

ST: Could you describe how a week breaks down in terms of training?

Trent: I train 11 swim sessions a week sometimes 12, 2 gym (weights) sessions a week, 2 x 5km runs a week, 2 Pilates sessions a week. I swim an average of 90km a week.

ST: Can you go into a bit more detail about a swim training session?

Trent:
WARM UP
900 snorkel
200 drill
16x50 shake build pace exp on 45s
200 loose

MAIN SET (Heart Rate Set)
400 150hr on 6.40s
300 150hr on 5.00s X4 (with no extra rest)
200 fast on 3.20s
100 fast on 1.40s

WARM DOWN
10x100 fins kick on 1.30s
4x200 pull on 2.45s
8x100 free I.M on 1.30s
300 swim down

ST: How much time do you actually spend training in open water?

Trent: Well in the summer time I was going up to Kawana Lake one time a week to swim 6km with a bunch of my triathlon mates, as swimming 6km in a big lake by yourself sometimes gets a little scary. There are also surf races every now and then that I think really helps with my open water swimming.

ST: What about flip turns, do you still worry about them as a big time open water swimmer?

Trent: Yes, turns are still very important as I also like to swim 1500m in the pool and being good at turns can save you a lot of time at the end of a race.

ST: As you may know, the Waikiki Roughwater Swim was one of the events that got the whole Ironman thing inspired. Have you been inspired yet to race a triathlon of any distance?

Trent: Triathlons are very much something I would like to try when I am finished with my swimming career however I would only ever do them for a bit of fitness.

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

Trent: Funny you ask this question because I have just found my coach (who I have been with for ten years) has been offered the Head Coach role at the University of Toronto in Canada. He has asked me to go over with him. After sitting down with my parents and doing the sums we have found out it is going to be very difficult financially to be able to make this happen. So I have been looking very hard to try and find some sponsors that I could do proud.

ST: Do you follow any other sports?

Trent: I do follow the NRL, a football code in Australia, of which the Brisbane Broncos are my team!

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

Trent: Well I am on a blood type diet at the moment… Depending what blood type you are there are foods you should and shouldn’t be eating, I am O type blood so that’s wheat free & dairy free… I try and stick to this 75% of the time. However I do like hot chips, Pizza and chocolate every now and then.

ST: What music do you like?

Trent: I like really anything… except heavy metal!

ST: What was the last book you read?

Trent: In Pursuit of Excellence

ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Trent: I see my self in 5 years still swimming… Hopefully with an Olympic gold hanging on my wall.

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

Trent: To become the World and Olympic Champion in Open Water swimming, top level competition is paramount to my quest. With my positive results to date I remain determined to leave nothing to chance. I have a great coach who has coached countless Olympic medalists - three in Beijing. I have a very supportive family who will stand by me and support my goals which I feel is very important. I will always try my best and am determined to do everything it takes to be number 1! Thank you.


All pics courtesy of Trent Grimsey
1. Waikiki Rough Water swim
2. On the podium in Rome to accept the silver medal
3. With award after Hawaii Rough Water
4. Trent with his brother after a race
5. Trent casual