Photos: Darren Smith

This past fall America got a visit from an iconoclastic Australian triathlon coach, Darren Smith. He chose the mountain town of Sedona, Ariz., as his base for four and a half weeks from late September to October, as Sedona provides his preferred elevation—around 4,300 feet—and has great pool facilities, which were open to his group of elite ITU athletes.

Smith has received very little media attention during his career, and today he works mostly under the radar in Canberra, Australia, and Davos, Switzerland, two places that he and his squad split their time between.

But if you delve into his credentials you’ll discover that he’s one of the most successful coaches in triathlon today, and many of his current athletes are among the finest short-course athletes on the planet.

The athletes on his squad are Sarah Groff of the U.S., Anne Haug of Germany, Lisa Norden of Sweden, Kate Roberts of South Africa, Vicky Holland of Great Britain, Andi Giglmayr of Austria, and Bart Aernouts of Belgium. Chile’s Barbara Riveros Diaz, who has worked with Smith since 2009, recently left the squad.

Smith’s detail-oriented attitude and individual attention has allowed him to accomplish something that most would say is impossible: morphing non-swimmers into strong swimmers on the ITU circuit, where, unlike in Ironman, swimming is of utmost importance and can be the difference between first and 30th. The success of Norden and Riveros, who both lacked swim backgrounds, are case in point.

To learn more about Smith’s coaching and swimming philosophies, pick up the March/April issue of Inside Triathlon magazine today, on newsstands now.

To learn more about Smith’s coaching and swimming philosophies, pick up the March/April issue of Inside Triathlon magazine today, on newsstands now.

To learn more about Smith’s coaching and swimming philosophies, pick up the March/April issue of Inside Triathlon magazine today, on newsstands now.

To learn more about Smith’s coaching and swimming philosophies, pick up the March/April issue of Inside Triathlon magazine today, on newsstands now.

To learn more about Smith’s coaching and swimming philosophies, pick up the March/April issue of Inside Triathlon magazine today, on newsstands now.