Testimonial: Dr Rory A. Coupland

"I’ve had the privilege of being coached by Juz for the last 4 years and as such am in a great position to offer a very valid testimonial of his services.

Some info about me might be helpful to gauge the perspective my words about Juz are coming from. I’m a 40 year old mid-pack age grouper who enjoys the 70.3 and Olympic distance events. I had done 2 races prior to linking up with Juz, and for one of those had a different coach. I came into triathlon with a strong background in swimming and, as a medical doctor with a degree in Exercise Science, a pretty good understanding of human physiology.

Juz has an incredible amount of experience in the sport of triathlon - the sheer amount of full distance Ironman events he has competed at an elite level is something only a few people on this planet can attest to, let alone accessible triathlon coaches who cater for everyone ranging from the first timer to Kona qualifiers to elite professional athletes. In an age where science and ‘data’ can have us in the throes of ‘paralysis by analysis’, a welcomed corollary of Juz’s decades of experience and accumulated wisdom is that he brings to the table a rich understanding of the art of the sport. Furthermore, Juz is both adept and passionate about passing this on. Despite my strong background in science, I’ve throughly enjoyed and improved as an athlete (and as a person) learning from Juz about the art of the triathlon.

That’s not to say Juz doesn’t know how to craft together a supremely challenging session tailored to push you just beyond where your current limits set. The fact Juz still keeps himself incredibly fit and competitive, and often acts as the guinea pig testing out his new sessions before giving them to us, is entirely inspiring.

Juz also has incredible flexibility as a coach and absolutely goes the extra mile to individualise his training sessions for his athletes. Life outside of triathlon happens for us all - and in the event of something needing to be changed or moved around, a simple email will set in motion either some quick (in 4 years Juz has always responded swiftly to anything I’ve asked of him) and very sage advice about how to negotiate the upcoming sessions, or an entire reshuffle of the next week or month of training to adapt to what we need. Feeding back how you’re travelling is also something Juz allows us to do in our own different ways on our own schedule, with no pressure to conform to a strict method of doing so.

Perhaps the biggest impact Juz has had on me as my coach has been his humanity and incredible ability to listen and then validate what we, as people trying to better ourselves, are experiencing. For various reasons since I started the sport, I’ve found establishing and maintaining consistency in my training to be one of the hardest things I grapple with. Of course, under Juz that has improved, but whats more telling about him as a coach is how he has handled when the wheels fall off. Not once, not ever, in the 4 years of being coached by Juz has he come close to making me feel ashamed or embarrassed about my training, my progress, my race performances. There’s absolutely no negativity at all involved with how Juz coaches. From time to time I’ve definitely been an overly harsh critic of how I have been performing and after talking it out with Juz he’s always been able to masterfully reframe the narrative and that’s without exception left me surging with positivity.

On a personal note, despite being remotely coached as I live in NSW, last year I had the pleasure of meeting Juz for the first time during the Noosa triathlon week. Spending some time in his presence vindicated everything I had thought about him since commencing with his coaching. It was also telling seeing not only how widely recognised Juz is amongst the triathlon family, but how high the regard is in which he’s held by them.

I feel so lucky to have linked up with Juz and couldn’t imagine ever being coached by anyone else.

Dr Rory A. Coupland