Since this season, Adrien Briffod swims with Orca equipment. At the end of a complicated season, but well finished, he gladly answered some questions.
Adrien, in what state of mind did you arrive in Abu Dhabi?
It was the last race of a year with few competitions due to several problems: covid in March and multiple fractures of the collarbone at the end of May after a fall at the Arzachena World Cup. The season was limited to two triathlons before my fall, followed by a 4 month break from competition. After that, I participated in 3 running stages of the Tour du Pays de Vaud and a TimeTrial (TT) on bike before resuming my triathlon season with a victory at the European Cup in Alanya and an 18th place at my return to the world series circuit (WTCS) in Bermuda. I came to Abu Dhabi wanting to improve on this result, knowing that I had not yet recovered 100% of the mobility and strength of my right shoulder (3 months without swimming is a long time and the muscles melt quickly when the muscle is only slightly activated).
To prepare this race, I had to put all the chances on my side. Given the conditions (35 degrees and 60% humidity) in the United Arab Emirates, I had to make a climatic preparation. Back from Bermuda, I used MotionLab’s facilities and their climatic chamber, before flying to Dubai and doing a week training camp with the Swiss team. After this preparation and a very good acclimatization to the heat, I was ready to go.
How was the pre-race?
On Friday, pre-race day, I could observe the great performance of one of my training colleagues, Maxime Fluri, who finished at a superb 5th place in the U23 category.
Saturday, race day, after a little muscular awakening, a breakfast, a little patience in the room to avoid the outside heat, I started the warm up on the home trainer around 1:00 pm and went to the start dressed with a cooling vest to avoid my body to heat up too much.
What about the race?
In the swim, I had a relatively good start compared to the 2 previous races. Everything went well in the swim during the first lap but in the second, the 3 months off were felt and I lost some precious places. I get out of the water tired and I tell myself that the rest of the race will be difficult.
I start on the bike (we have 9 laps to go) in the 3rd group, but very quickly after taking a few stints I move to the back of the group because I start to be really “in trouble”. Mentally, I force myself to hold on. Four laps later, we join the 2nd group with the most athletes and I start to feel better. The sensations return little by little in the last 2 laps on the bike and I begin to replace myself in the group to arrive in the first at the 2nd transition.
I start my run without going out on a high note (for once 😉 ) because I know that if I don’t, I’m going to explode 2 kilometers later. I try to cool my body as much as possible with cold water or ice packs. As the kilometers go by, the sensations come back as well as my energy, I can relaunch and take back one by one competitors. I finish the race at a nice 13th place which makes me take back some places in the WTCS ranking to finish 40th, with only 3 races out of 5 that can count.
Finally, the season ends rather well with 3 top20 on WTCS (16th Yokohama, 18th Bermuda and 13th Abu Dhabi) and 1 victory on European cup! 😊
Thanks for your availability, and good winter training
Adrien Briffod, winner at the European Cup in Alanya in October 2022