Lydia Dant uses her PTO bonus to set up scholarship opportunity

Lydia Dant has come up with an innovative way to use her PTO end-of-year bonus from 2022.

The British pro, who has won IRONMAN Lanzarote in each of the last two years, earned an extra $5,000 after finishing last season at #39, as did all athletes between 21st and 50th.

It was a breakthrough first full season as a pro for Dant – for as well as that Lanzarote win in May, she added 70.3 Vichy in August before racing in her first IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships at the end of October.

Giving back

And now she hopes to help others following in her footsteps as Passion Fit Coaching in partnership with the training platform Train Xhale have launched a scholarship opportunity “for either an early or aspiring pro”, using the PTO bonus money Lydia received for that world ranking position.

Going into more detailed when we caught up with her to find out more, Dant explained: “It’s for someone who is either an early career pro or has the potential and are on a trajectory to achieving their licence within 12-18 months.

“And the reason for targeting this type of athlete is that it’s quite a unique journey to go on. Having gone through that process quite recently myself, I’ve been really fortunate to have a support network through Passion Fit Coaching that first helped me to make that step and work out how to make a sustainable career through elite sport.

“It made a massive difference in how I’ve been able to retain the perspective and enjoy my journey and make that transition into professional racing and have the season that I had last year. I know this balance is not that easy to strike.”

Learning from experience

Lydia adds: “Having spoken and learned a lot more about other athletes, I felt that there is a massive gap and need for this type of opportunity. It felt vitally important to use the PTO bonus money to provide a similar opportunity for an athlete to receive the same level of support that I have.

“I started my triathlon journey in 2018 at Passion Fit with Tom Ward as my coach and it’s without a doubt that the coaching approach that focuses on behaviours and mindset alongside being part of the wider coached athlete community, led by Loren Ward, has been the fundamental reason why I have been able to go from total novice to racing on a professional licence in just three years. It is important to have the right environment and people around you.

“It was important to me that I really understood why I was taking my pro licence or not. And just because I had the opportunity to, didn’t mean that I necessarily should.

“When I made the decision to take my professional licence, I wanted to make sure I used the privilege that comes with being able to race on an elite licence is use that in a positive way, to be able to give back to the sport. The sport and community I am part of has given so much to me – more than I ever could ever try and pay back. And that was one of the things I wanted to be able to provide opportunities for other people in the same way that I have had support – this scholarship opportunity is one way I can begin to do that.”

Positive reaction

When the scheme was launched – and it is still inviting applications (details on Lydia’s Instagram) – she highlighted that she felt the PTO had failed to deliver on one of their mission statements, something I ask her to clarify.

“The key one for me is that most middle and full distance triathletes are essentially ‘freelance’ athletes, that work outside of a federation set up and the PTO could have helped to fill this gap and provide support.

“Their mission statement spoke of investing in the athletes financially and marketing them, together and equally.”

And while Dant clearly feels they are not currently “on a clear path” to fulfil that mission statement, she wants to do her best to be part of a solution.

“The general view was that the PTO would be helping to support and bridge the gap for the grassroots athletes as well. And I feel like this isn’t just the PTO but some federations too – there’s a gap to be able to help athletes who are starting off in that rookie year or second year.”

Creating a community

And on a practical level, there are already things that Dant has done herself in that first season which have made a difference to her and others.

“I am in the process of bringing together a Passion Fit & Train Xhale race team, which the scholarship athlete would be part of. This will be a a team of athletes who are turning up to races together and supporting each other through the process.

“I’m really fortunate that with the environment and the community we’ve got at Passion Fit, I never go to races on my own. I’ve never turned up and had that experience, but I know that the majority of pros are doing that.

“One of the things that I made sure I did at IRONMAN Lanzarote this year and 70.3 Luxembourg last year was message all the girls on the pro start list just to say like, look, I’m here, do you want to go for a coffee, go out for a spin on the bike course or go for a swim. I know a lot of people travel alone, so just let me know – I’m around if you want to just catch up.

“Because there’s not necessarily that sort of team camaraderie. And quite a few were there on their own in Lanzarote, just sitting in their room, and they got back in touch.

“At IRONMAN Lanzarote, everyone was providing support to each other out on the race course, especially in the tough moments, you kind of had that little uplift rather than sometimes where it’s that sort of game face and where no one makes eye contact.

I think the more that you can create that atmosphere and that culture, the more you’ll probably find that as an individual, you unlock different levels of potential that you didn’t even realise that you had

Spinning those plates

As to her own aims for the 2023 season, she’s in the nice position of having already ticked off her number one race objective.

That was successfully defending her IRONMAN Lanzarote title and she explains: “For the rest of the year, I’m actually looking to develop this scholarship opportunity, creating the race team and launching a mentoring scheme for 18 to 23-year-olds, totally free of charge, to help with anything, not just limited to the athletic space but also the personal and professional aspects of life too.

“So I really want to get that off the ground and also really invest some time in the bike fitting business that I run alongside the coaching I do within Passion Fit because these areas are why I left my corporate job in 2021.

“So I’m keen to keep all of those plates spinning. I love racing, but I also love doing all of the other pieces as well and they’re important to me because like I said right at the start, it was always important that I was give back to the sport in any way I could. And racing is one way because it obviously helps to create platform and that then allows you to be able to discuss, have that opportunity to share what you’re doing.

“But my journey is not just defined by racing. I love the athletic piece but the bike fitting and coaching are also what I get such a buzz out of doing – and actually these things that are more important than just racing. So I’m going to be developing these three key initiatives this summer, keep training consistently and be patient. I know I’ve had my best training and best races when I’ve focused on the process and waited for the right race at the right time.”

And don’t be surprised if it’s not necessarily a triathlon race she turns up at next – a couple of weekends ago her focus was a mountain bike event: “Oh, gosh, I absolutely emptied the tank. It broke me, but it was wicked. I set a new record for maximum heart rate and highest average heart rate!

“And in a weird way, it’s actually one of the races I’ve enjoyed most this season. I came 15th or something, I wasn’t in the race but it was just that I was really able to find that really good balance between professionalism and enjoyment and that’s also what I want to make sure I keep doing.”