King Of The Swim? Interview With GB Junior Marcus Dey

Great Britain Junior athlete Marcus Dey is easily one of the fastest swimmers in triathlon and will no doubt be threatening the likes Richard Varga and Henri Schoeman in years to come as being the first man out of the water. We were able to get an interview with him where he talks about his move to University, making big gains on his cycling and how he has adapted his training during the pandemic.

1. You managed to make the GB team for the Junior World Championships last year in Lausanne. How was your first experience in such a big event?

The world junior championships were an incredible experience, although I didn’t race how I would have liked to. I ended up finishing in 24th with another year left in the junior age group. I had previously experienced two European junior championships and a European youth championship race, but this race took it up a level.

2. You are known as the king of the swim in the Junior world of triathlon and now that’s starting to get noticed in the senior ranks too. Do you enjoy having this title?

Obviously it’s nice to be recognised for my strengths and its great to have the confidence going into races that I will be in the lead bike pack. I’ve even been recognised by a few pro triathletes such as Henri schoeman and Martin van Riel.

3. You made the move to Loughborough this at the start if the academic year for University. This must have been a big move in terms of being in a new training location and joining a new squad?

I think that moving to Loughborough has been the biggest decision I have ever made regarding my sporting career and I am really pleased with the way things are going at Loughborough. It has been a total change as I now have a coach where as I was self coached before. I also have loads of people to train with which makes long rides and long runs so much more bearable. The facilities, the support staff and general lifestyle is much more suited to being an elite athlete. Im really enjoying it so far and am looking forward to future years with the LPTC.

4. Have you been doing any specific work on the other two disciplines of bike and run to try and match your stand out performances in the swim? 

Now I have moved to Loughborough I have a completely different training schedule, I am doing over double the cycling mileage I was doing last season and I am already feeling some huge benefits as my FTP has improved by just over 20w in around 3/4 months. I think I was definitely one of the stronger cyclists at the world juniors and if the race goes ahead this year and I manage to qualify again, I will definitely make a statement with my swim-bike performance.

Regarding my run, I have been struggling to get it to where I want it to be for the past few years however I trust that the training I am doing at Loughborough will help me get to where I need to be. I am doing much more triathlon specific run sessions (low recovery intervals and triathlon specific pace intervals), instead of just turning myself inside out every run session.

5. Have your studies finished early due to Covid-19?

I am now training and finishing off my remaining assignments at home. I will be travelling back to Loughborough as soon as I can.

6. How have you had to adapt your training recently due to the pandemic?

Everyone has had to adapt their training, luckily I have a home gym and can still maintain my S&C training. I also have zwift so I have been spending a lot of time on there too. I am saving my “one daily exercise” for my runs as I don’t have a treadmill. I am currently doing a stretch cord programme to maintain and develop my swim specific muscle groups whilst I can’t train in the pool. I think I’m in a better position than other people as Im not in desperate need to develop my swim and I will be able to carry on developing my bike and run. 

7. What are your aims for this year once the season manages to get underway?

I’m not going to beat around the bush, I’m just going to try and win any race that I can do. As this is my final year as a junior I want to enjoy winning some races before I move up into the U23 category. 

You can follow Marcus on all his social media accounts:
Twitter
Instagram
Website

Marcus’s sponsors: Pedal Potential, Aqua Sphere, Colnago, Kingsland Drinks, Torq, Windwave