July 30, 2024 • 10 mins
Triathlon New Zealand CEO Pete De Wet joined D'Arcy Waldegrave to discuss the postponement of the men's event due to water quality.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from News Talk ZIBB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well join now on sports talk here on news Talk
ZIBB by Pete de Witt, he runs the show when
it comes to triathon in New Zealand in Paris currently,
and I suppose that, well, are you treading water? Excuse
the pun, Pete, with what's happened at delay in the triathon?
Not ideal? Tell us what you know and how this built?
(00:34):
And thank you?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, yeah, so absolutely trailing water and certainly disappointed with
the outcome this morning, but or this morning in Paris
afternoon a few guys, but we've been pretty well briefed
this whole time around the challenges with water quality, and
obviously the rainfall that happened in and around the opening
Serieny didn't help things. So the water quality has generally
(00:59):
been improving day by day, but unfortunately not at the
levels that we needed to be for the ment event
to go ahead today. So yeah, not an ideal scenario
at all, to be fair.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
As far as predicting this, I'm presuming you and the
team knew that this was likely with the rain that
happened in the opening ceremony, So this is not a
massive surprise yet.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
No, not necessarily, And to be fair, I mean, we've
known that the water quality has been a challenge for
a while, so that's always been in the back of
my mind as far as preparation is concerned, and certainly
from an athlete's perspective, they've been aware of that as well.
And excuse the pun had to remain fluid as well,
So I think, you know, yeah, it's not an ideal situation.
(01:42):
But you know, it's not like we've woken up this
morning and gone, oh my god, we did that. We
didn't see this coming.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
How do the athletes cope with this? That they know
what's coming and they know what's happening, and plainly that
the women haven't been delayed as yet, but the men,
what space are they in to actually be at their
best when they thought it was going to be like
six o'clock south of New Zealand time, but they're going
to move it out twenty four. Is that problematic for
these athletes?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Not necessarily. I mean, we've got a resilient bunch, to
be fair, and you know, like I said that, they
were aware that this could be a reality. I think
that they will probably be surprised with the fact that
it's been moved to tomorrow after the women's event, because
the second of August was always penciled in as a
as a day where we would have the event moved too,
(02:30):
should it be postponed. So I think what we'll try
trying to do is give themselves a couple of more
options by having the men go after the woman tomorrow
and then still has the day on the second of
August is as follow up reserve day as well.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, I can't for the you pete that it will
actually remain two triathlons as opposed to a truncated version,
which I think is the fear of a lot of
people that the basic energy of triathm will disappear if
you take one of the disciplines out.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yes, certaey will do and I think that's why, you know,
credit to the Paris Organizing and World Trips One for
having the flexibility to do this. As you can imagine,
they knock on effect. It's fairly significant from a broadcast perspective,
there's going to be a whole lot of people doing
a whole lot of stuff today to try and make
sure that's the events ready for tomorrow. Whereas you know
you had grandstands full of ticketed at ticketed patrons for
(03:25):
a woman's event tomorrow. Then I need to read the
whole ticketing plan and then bring all there, all the
people who were in with tickets for the men to
ben afterwards. So there's going to be a whole lot
of work that's going to be done behind the scenes.
But again, I think that we always knew that this
was potentially going to be a challenge and sod of
world Tripps and the paras of without the committee, so
(03:46):
they'll have scenario two, three, four, five, and six up
their sleeves and hopefully we can activate it as quickly
as possible.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I suppose anything Peter underlines the frailty of the decision
to put it in the scene any way, and this
was something that was objected to globally, but they went
ahead anyway. Now we're in that position, do you think
maybe the organizing committee might be going, you know what,
we actually messed this one up.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Potentially, But I don't think that they're going to say
anything like that right now. I think they'll wait for
the games to happen and they'll do their post of interviews,
and I hazard a guess that that might be the outcome.
I think at the end of the day, this was
always meant to be a legacy project for the city.
You know, there was a real willingness to have during
(04:31):
the summer Parisian swimming in the same and that's what
they were hoping to achieve here. So whether that's going
to be a reality going forward is yet to be seen.
But I think that they'll take stuck at the end
of the games and hopefully arrive at it, and I
come that they're prepared to talk about.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Is there still a chance peak that it will actually
be reduced and the triade no longer as a try?
Is that still very distinct? Do you believe.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
It's a reality? If on the so, if the water
quality doesn't improve by tomorrow and they then have to
postpone the men's and a woman then to the second
of August. As the water quality doesn't improve by the
second of August, then a will revert to a U
s F one, which which is certainly not something that
we would be overly pleaceless. But we're you know, again,
(05:21):
our athletes has been aware the whole time that that
could potentially be a reality. That's not something that they've
prepared for bed preparing for a tramp on all along,
and you know, so that that's what they'll continue, excuse me,
continue to pre prepare for. But the reality is that
on the second of August to Ford equality hasn't improved.
If the events get moved tomorrow, then it could be
(05:42):
reduced to a gas when.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It comes to the strengths of the four that we
have over there, most of means and that the women's
try taking it back to a dress un does that
give any advantage to our athletes in particular.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I guess the only advantage would potentially be for Haden
because the swim is probably is his weakest disciplinal though
he's made significant strides over the last three or four
months in that area. But at the end of the day,
you know, if you if you medal under a du Felon,
(06:18):
there's always going to be an asterisk against that medal,
so you'd rather not have that happen. So yeah, you know,
fingers crossed, we can get both these events done tomorrow
and celebrate some success from his.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Dim and I'm presuming Peton, thanks so much for your time,
Pete Dewey, the CEO of Triathlon in z you are
relying completely on the Olympic Committee to make this call.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Do you guys do any of your own private testing
around what the condition of the scene actually is.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
No, that's all done by World trips On and the
Organizing Committee. They've been testing rigorously for a number of
months now, which is why some of those early warning
signs were called up a couple of months ago. So
they test a couple of times a day. We were
informed recently regularly around what the results look like. So yeah,
(07:16):
we were in their hands and to be fair, and
I think they made the right call. You know, we
don't want to put our athletes in danger and athlete
welfare is the most important thing for us is the
health and safety our athletes. So yeah, it's a negative
situation for us to be dealing with, but I think
it's the right one, given that the quality isn't good
enough to swim it.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yet to get up very very early in the morning
to deal with this. But I'm presuming you had a
rough idea it wasn't going to go ahead before you
went to bed. This is not a complete surprise.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I was actually reason to be optimistic, to be honest,
because the levels had come down, I said, but day,
day after day. So I think that the biggest concern
for us was the waterflow rate, because if the waterflow
rate was above one, the rules stipulate that we wouldn't
be able to hold the triumph one anyway. So if
(08:11):
the water quality was good to go. But the water
flow rate was more than one meter per second, which
it has been for some time since the rain, so
we were reasonably confident that it would go ahead. But
obviously had had my alarm set for around four o'clock
for when we would get confirmation from Will Try whether
(08:34):
it was going ahead or not. So yeah, we were.
We went to bed thinking we'd be on the sidelines
sharing our ata sun. But you know, we always knew
that there was a possibility that it might not happen.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Sorry, but you keep adding new stuff. I should really
stop talking you, but I can't. Just did one last thing.
So you've not only got pollution to worry about, you
got the flow to worry about as well, as there
are chance that that might stop things before sometime tomorrow.
Indeed after that, is that a real possibility too?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
No, they'll they'll figure they'll figure a plan out for that.
So obviously the volume of water coming down the river
has been fairly significant since since the rainfall a couple
of days ago, so the flow rate does drop and
has been dropping. But it was about that want me
to perfect in yesterday, So that was something that will
(09:26):
tramp on. We're looking at and not one hundred percent
clear on what their plans would have been around that.
I think that they would have made some type of
contingency or some leniency on their rules if the quality
of the water was good, because you don't want to
have good quality water but a spunge the elevated flow
rates and then have to postpone the events in that
(09:48):
respect either. So yeah, it's it's a for for a
reasonably simple three sports or three discipline sports, there's some
fairly complex rules and regulations behind the scenes that do
sometimes making a little challenging.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Well that's what the CEO is all about. All that
on board, Pete Dewet and you deal with that afterwards. Hey,
kind regards to yourself, the whole team, to Nicole, to Ainsley,
and to Dylan and Hayden as well. They can actually
get out and bring us some glory in the triathlon.
Thanks for your time, Pete, take care.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For more from sports talk, listen live to news talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from News Talk ZIBB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Well join now on sports talk here on news Talk
ZIBB by Pete de Witt, he runs the show when
it comes to triathon in New Zealand in Paris currently,
and I suppose that, well, are you treading water? Excuse
the pun, Pete, with what's happened at delay in the triathon?
Not ideal? Tell us what you know and how this built?
(00:34):
And thank you?
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Yeah, yeah, so absolutely trailing water and certainly disappointed with
the outcome this morning, but or this morning in Paris
afternoon a few guys, but we've been pretty well briefed
this whole time around the challenges with water quality, and
obviously the rainfall that happened in and around the opening
Serieny didn't help things. So the water quality has generally
(00:59):
been improving day by day, but unfortunately not at the
levels that we needed to be for the ment event
to go ahead today. So yeah, not an ideal scenario
at all, to be fair.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
As far as predicting this, I'm presuming you and the
team knew that this was likely with the rain that
happened in the opening ceremony, So this is not a
massive surprise yet.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
No, not necessarily, And to be fair, I mean, we've
known that the water quality has been a challenge for
a while, so that's always been in the back of
my mind as far as preparation is concerned, and certainly
from an athlete's perspective, they've been aware of that as well.
And excuse the pun had to remain fluid as well,
So I think, you know, yeah, it's not an ideal situation.
(01:42):
But you know, it's not like we've woken up this
morning and gone, oh my god, we did that. We
didn't see this coming.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
How do the athletes cope with this? That they know
what's coming and they know what's happening, and plainly that
the women haven't been delayed as yet, but the men,
what space are they in to actually be at their
best when they thought it was going to be like
six o'clock south of New Zealand time, but they're going
to move it out twenty four. Is that problematic for
these athletes?
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Not necessarily. I mean, we've got a resilient bunch, to
be fair, and you know, like I said that, they
were aware that this could be a reality. I think
that they will probably be surprised with the fact that
it's been moved to tomorrow after the women's event, because
the second of August was always penciled in as a
as a day where we would have the event moved too,
(02:30):
should it be postponed. So I think what we'll try
trying to do is give themselves a couple of more
options by having the men go after the woman tomorrow
and then still has the day on the second of
August is as follow up reserve day as well.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, I can't for the you pete that it will
actually remain two triathlons as opposed to a truncated version,
which I think is the fear of a lot of
people that the basic energy of triathm will disappear if
you take one of the disciplines out.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Yes, certaey will do and I think that's why, you know,
credit to the Paris Organizing and World Trips One for
having the flexibility to do this. As you can imagine,
they knock on effect. It's fairly significant from a broadcast perspective,
there's going to be a whole lot of people doing
a whole lot of stuff today to try and make
sure that's the events ready for tomorrow. Whereas you know
you had grandstands full of ticketed at ticketed patrons for
(03:25):
a woman's event tomorrow. Then I need to read the
whole ticketing plan and then bring all there, all the
people who were in with tickets for the men to
ben afterwards. So there's going to be a whole lot
of work that's going to be done behind the scenes.
But again, I think that we always knew that this
was potentially going to be a challenge and sod of
world Tripps and the paras of without the committee, so
(03:46):
they'll have scenario two, three, four, five, and six up
their sleeves and hopefully we can activate it as quickly
as possible.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
I suppose anything Peter underlines the frailty of the decision
to put it in the scene any way, and this
was something that was objected to globally, but they went
ahead anyway. Now we're in that position, do you think
maybe the organizing committee might be going, you know what,
we actually messed this one up.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Potentially, But I don't think that they're going to say
anything like that right now. I think they'll wait for
the games to happen and they'll do their post of interviews,
and I hazard a guess that that might be the outcome.
I think at the end of the day, this was
always meant to be a legacy project for the city.
You know, there was a real willingness to have during
(04:31):
the summer Parisian swimming in the same and that's what
they were hoping to achieve here. So whether that's going
to be a reality going forward is yet to be seen.
But I think that they'll take stuck at the end
of the games and hopefully arrive at it, and I
come that they're prepared to talk about.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Is there still a chance peak that it will actually
be reduced and the triade no longer as a try?
Is that still very distinct? Do you believe.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
It's a reality? If on the so, if the water
quality doesn't improve by tomorrow and they then have to
postpone the men's and a woman then to the second
of August. As the water quality doesn't improve by the
second of August, then a will revert to a U
s F one, which which is certainly not something that
we would be overly pleaceless. But we're you know, again,
(05:21):
our athletes has been aware the whole time that that
could potentially be a reality. That's not something that they've
prepared for bed preparing for a tramp on all along,
and you know, so that that's what they'll continue, excuse me,
continue to pre prepare for. But the reality is that
on the second of August to Ford equality hasn't improved.
If the events get moved tomorrow, then it could be
(05:42):
reduced to a gas when.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It comes to the strengths of the four that we
have over there, most of means and that the women's
try taking it back to a dress un does that
give any advantage to our athletes in particular.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I guess the only advantage would potentially be for Haden
because the swim is probably is his weakest disciplinal though
he's made significant strides over the last three or four
months in that area. But at the end of the day,
you know, if you if you medal under a du Felon,
(06:18):
there's always going to be an asterisk against that medal,
so you'd rather not have that happen. So yeah, you know,
fingers crossed, we can get both these events done tomorrow
and celebrate some success from his.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
Dim and I'm presuming Peton, thanks so much for your time,
Pete Dewey, the CEO of Triathlon in z you are
relying completely on the Olympic Committee to make this call.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Do you guys do any of your own private testing
around what the condition of the scene actually is.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
No, that's all done by World trips On and the
Organizing Committee. They've been testing rigorously for a number of
months now, which is why some of those early warning
signs were called up a couple of months ago. So
they test a couple of times a day. We were
informed recently regularly around what the results look like. So yeah,
(07:16):
we were in their hands and to be fair, and
I think they made the right call. You know, we
don't want to put our athletes in danger and athlete
welfare is the most important thing for us is the
health and safety our athletes. So yeah, it's a negative
situation for us to be dealing with, but I think
it's the right one, given that the quality isn't good
enough to swim it.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Yet to get up very very early in the morning
to deal with this. But I'm presuming you had a
rough idea it wasn't going to go ahead before you
went to bed. This is not a complete surprise.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I was actually reason to be optimistic, to be honest,
because the levels had come down, I said, but day,
day after day. So I think that the biggest concern
for us was the waterflow rate, because if the waterflow
rate was above one, the rules stipulate that we wouldn't
be able to hold the triumph one anyway. So if
(08:11):
the water quality was good to go. But the water
flow rate was more than one meter per second, which
it has been for some time since the rain, so
we were reasonably confident that it would go ahead. But
obviously had had my alarm set for around four o'clock
for when we would get confirmation from Will Try whether
(08:34):
it was going ahead or not. So yeah, we were.
We went to bed thinking we'd be on the sidelines
sharing our ata sun. But you know, we always knew
that there was a possibility that it might not happen.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Sorry, but you keep adding new stuff. I should really
stop talking you, but I can't. Just did one last thing.
So you've not only got pollution to worry about, you
got the flow to worry about as well, as there
are chance that that might stop things before sometime tomorrow.
Indeed after that, is that a real possibility too?
Speaker 3 (09:05):
No, they'll they'll figure they'll figure a plan out for that.
So obviously the volume of water coming down the river
has been fairly significant since since the rainfall a couple
of days ago, so the flow rate does drop and
has been dropping. But it was about that want me
to perfect in yesterday, So that was something that will
(09:26):
tramp on. We're looking at and not one hundred percent
clear on what their plans would have been around that.
I think that they would have made some type of
contingency or some leniency on their rules if the quality
of the water was good, because you don't want to
have good quality water but a spunge the elevated flow
rates and then have to postpone the events in that
(09:48):
respect either. So yeah, it's it's a for for a
reasonably simple three sports or three discipline sports, there's some
fairly complex rules and regulations behind the scenes that do
sometimes making a little challenging.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Well that's what the CEO is all about. All that
on board, Pete Dewet and you deal with that afterwards. Hey,
kind regards to yourself, the whole team, to Nicole, to Ainsley,
and to Dylan and Hayden as well. They can actually
get out and bring us some glory in the triathlon.
Thanks for your time, Pete, take care.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
For more from sports talk, listen live to news talks
it'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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