Drew Scott may be the son of Dave Scott, the six time Hawaii Ironman Champion, but Drew isn’t resting on his father’s laurels. Drew made a name for himself when, as an amateur, he had the fastest overall time at the Buffalo Springs 70.3. More recently Drew finished 2nd at the USAT Age Group National Championship and next year he’ll be racing as a pro while finishing his last year at Colorado University.
Slowtwitch: Thanks for finding the time.
Drew Scott: Of course! Thanks for the chat.
ST: What did you think of the course at Burlington?
Drew: I think overall it was a great course- fast yet still very challenging. The swim in Lake Champlain was a bit choppy on race day, which I think may have contributed to some of the larger gaps that you saw on the swim. The bike course was very fast for the first half, but deceptively tough coming home the last 12 miles or so. Once you made the turnaround at the far end, it was a gradual climb all the way back to the highway with steady rolling hills. I saw this as a good section where you could either gain or lose a decent amount of time during the race. The wind kicked up on race day, making this section of road even more difficult. On the run, after you suffered up the big hill out of transition, it was pretty flat the rest of the way and you could really rip that first 2 miles that were slightly downhill. There were some extremely quick run times put up by some of the guys in the top 10.
ST: Where did you stay?
Drew: I stayed at the Burlington Hostel right down on Main Street. Two friends from Boulder, Cameron Afkhami and Rudy Kahsar, had stayed there the year before and recommended it to me when I was searching for a place to stay. There were a number of other athletes who were racing staying at the hostel, so it was fun getting to meet some new folks and it was a pretty relaxing place to be the days before the race. It was also only about a 5 minute walk to the race start which also made it pretty convenient.
ST: How did the competition stack up against some of your other big races?
Drew: In terms of depth, I think Nationals is easily the most competitive age group field at any race in the United States. There is no other race in the nation where the time gap is only about 6 minutes from 1st to 20th. It’s a race where you can’t afford to have a bit of an off day because it will really show in the results. The fields at some of my other races this year were still very competitive, but the depth just isn’t there. The races in Boulder attract a good amateur field every year, and in a race like Boulder 70.3 it’s a good opportunity to see how you stack up with some of the top professionals in the sport.
ST: What was the atmosphere like at the swim start?
Drew: My wave (24 & under) started last in wave 17, so it was a later start than most races I’ve done. It was almost 2 hours after transition had closed earlier that morning, so I think everyone was itching to race and eager to get the show on the road. Once we got in the water, everyone wants to be on the front line at the start of the swim, so it takes a bit of jostling just to maintain your position in the water. I just try to stay relaxed the few minutes before the gun and not get too stressed out about the chaos around you. The start of the race was definitely one of the most frantic swim starts that I’ve ever been in with the exception of Kona. The first turn buoy was only a couple hundred meters out, so that always makes for an interesting start.
ST: I believe at one point you were leading the race.
Drew: Yes, I guess I was! I had no idea what position I was in during the bike leg. I knew I was going pretty well on the bike and must be getting close to the front of my wave, but was never quite sure if I had caught everyone.
ST: Did you have any idea where you competition was?
Drew: Not really. I came out the swim pretty far back, so I knew that there were at least 8-10 people ahead of me in my wave. I went pretty hard the first few miles on the bike and I think I caught quite a few in the early miles. I had closed the 1:10 gap I had out of the water to Brian Duffy before the turnaround on the bike, and was a bit surprised to find out I was only able to get 4 or 5 more seconds on him the rest of the ride. When I entered T2, I didn’t know I was leading my wave at the time. I made a dumb move when I ran down the bike rack just adjacent to mine and had to duck under the rack to get to my spot. I think in the end it cost me about 10 seconds, which was enough for Brian to go by me in transition without me even noticing and get out ahead on the run. There were so many people out on the run course and I was never given any splits, so I had no idea that Brian was so close. It’s frustrating to know that he was right there at the start of the run, however in the end he put about 30 seconds on me during the run so Brian definitely deserved the win that day.
ST: What did Dad have to say about the race?
Drew: He was quite happy and very proud of my race. He felt it was one of my best races of the year with a solid bike and a run that was significantly better than what I’ve done in previous Olympic distance races. He is an honest person, so he won’t inflate anything that I do and he will be the first one to tell me if I’ve had a bad race.
ST: Do you have any plans on patronizing a HITS race?
Drew: At this point, I don’t have any that I’m planning to do. Hopefully the series will continue to grow and over time will begin to attract a more competitive field across all the distances.
ST: What are you studying in college?
Drew: I’m studying Political Science right now and just about to begin my senior year at CU. I never would have thought that I would be a Political Science major if someone had asked me 5 years ago, but after jumping around a bit my freshman and sophomore years that’s where I ended up.
ST: What teams did you participate on at Montana State and Colorado?
Drew: When I was at MSU, I competed on the Nordic ski team for 2 years. It was a great experience getting to compete in an NCAA sport and I had a fun time while I was up there.
Last year was my first year attending CU, and also my first on the CU Triathlon team. It’s impressive how big of a team we have at CU with people of all different abilities and the enthusiasm that everyone has is awesome.
ST: Who is coaching you?
Drew: My Dad has helped me put together a general program in the last year, mainly just making sure I structure in the key sessions that are important to do each week. He really lets me do my own thing but is willing to help when I come to him for some advice.
ST: You stirred up plenty of debate when, as an amateur, you had the faster time than Michael Lovato, the winner of the professional division at the Buffalo Sprigs 70.3. Commenters were arguing who the ‘real’ winner was. What many people don’t know is that you caught a ride to the race with the Lovatos.
Drew: At Buffalo Springs 70.3, as you mentioned, I ended up with the fastest overall time of the day. I had started back in wave 8 while Michael Lovato and the rest of the professional men had gone off in wave 1. As a result, neither Michael or I really had any way of knowing just how close we were on time. Michael had no reason to worry about me though because I wasn't going to be stealing his check. He had a very quick 1:16 run to win the professional race on a tough course. I had an awesome day to win the amateur race which was phenomenal for me and having the fastest overall time by just 2 seconds was an extra bonus. Because I was not in the professional wave and racing Michael head to head, I don't think I can really be called the "winner" of the whole event. Hopefully next year I can come back and do it again racing as a professional. Both Michael and Amanda live in Boulder and were kind enough to let me catch a ride with them to Lubbock. In the end I don't think Michael was too upset about the 2 seconds, and he's a pretty humble guy so thankfully I still had a ride home from Lubbock.
ST: What will you race the rest of the season and will you race pro next year?
Drew: Hy-Vee was my last amateur race and I think racing as an amateur this season was a smart decision and gave me time to get more races under my belt and gave me an opportunity to race the best amateurs that I could. I’m looking at possibly doing a Rev 3 race-either Anderson or Florida in October as my first professional race.
