The first contact between athlete and prospective coach back in 2012 proved something of a false start as Jan Frodeno was ‘sent’ home by Dan Lorang after turning up for swimming training with a cold.
But in many ways it underlined the long-term athlete-focused view which has underpinned one of the most successful alliances in the history of the sport, as Lorang has since helped Frodeno add three IRONMAN World Championships, two 70.3 Worlds crowns and pretty much every middle or long-distance title which matters to his 2008 Olympic gold medal.
But it will all come to an end after this week as Frodeno looks to round off his pro career in the best way possible with a fourth IMWC title in Nice.
‘There’s no plan B, we just want to win’
We spoke to Lorang earlier this week about the build-up to that and took time at the end of the interview to reflect on what has been a remarkable 10+ years working with Frodeno, who is a prime candidate in any ‘greatest of all time’ conversation.
“It’s been a really amazing journey,” said Lorang, who has worked even longer with another IMWC and serial winner in Anne Haug and also coaches the likes of Lucy Charles-Barclay and recent 70.3 Worlds runner-up Frederic Funk.
“And I also have to say that I learned a lot from that what it really means to work with a high professional athlete on that level.
So the spirit that it takes, what it really takes you mentally to really be a champion.
“So that’s something I started to learn with Anne and then when Jan came, he was already an Olympic champion, so he brought already a lot of this into that relationship.
“And what I also learned from him was that when he goes to a competition, all he has in mind is to win.
“That was also, for me, new. At that time, I always had athletes who could compete at a good level, and I was happy if they made podium or if they were top 10.
“Then you speak to Jan and you see that’s not an option. If we go there, it’s for winning, there’s no plan B, we just want to win. And that was for me, also a learning process. And I’m really happy that I had a chance to do that together with him.
“And I think this also benefits all the other athletes that I’m coaching now, because I think now I know what it really needs to be a world champion or to be a champion and I’m thankful for that.”
The highs… and lows
And in terms of those moments which really stick in the memory, which would Dan pick out?
“One big highlight was for sure his first World Championship win in Kona [2015]. I think that was really a big one. So three years before [at that first meeting after the 2012 London Olympics], we said, okay, we’ll start to work together and we want to win Kona in three years. And then basically at that moment, it happened and that was really amazing.
“And then we have 2019, where he won his third World Championship and together with Anne – that was also really spectacular to have both athletes winning Kona that year. So I would point out these moments.
“But emotionally, I’d also add winning at the PTO US Open recently after coming back after the injury and all that stuff.
“I was not there for that, but I just looked at the TV pictures and I would not say I was crying, but I had some tears in my face! I was thinking wow, that’s really amazing what he is doing there. I think these were the most positive emotional moments.”
But there must have been some lows too along the way?
“A really negative moment was 2018 almost straight after the 70.3 Worlds where he’d won with an unbelievable performance against Alistair Brownlee and Javier Gomez.
“And then basically coming off the plane and calling me in the night and saying ‘there’s something broken’. And then he had this massive hip injury [which kept him out of Kona that year]. So that was really a down moment – especially because it came out of nowhere.
“So coming back after that injury and then winning at Kona in 2019 was quite amazing.”
Could something similar happen on Sunday? We’ll find out soon enough and it promises to be emotional afterwards whatever happens, with Dan admitting: “Yeah, I think it’s a mixed feeling. So on one side, you know, it’s the last big competition for him as an athlete, but also for me as his coach together with him. It’s something very special that has happened in the last 11 years.”
