Triathlete Rob Gray Tells All - Motivations and Appreciations POSTED ON JANUARY 5, 2018 BY MEGAN BUCCHIANERI Sven
Can See® had the privilege of catching up with Triathlete and Brand Ambassador,
Rob Gray. He just won the Ultraman World Championship! We sat down with him for
a little Q & A and discussed his passion for sports, motivations to win and
his appreciation for essential gear. When did you first start getting into races? In
my twenties I was living in England and raced XC Mountain Bikes. Those races
are about 2 hours long and are just full gas from start to end. I got into
triathlon when I “accidentally” purchased a time trial bike from my local
store, and then had to enter a triathlon to justify the purchase to my wife. Ha What were your motivations for these races? To
start with, I just wanted to be more active. But then my competitive nature
took over and got serious very quickly. I started triathlon in 2010, and
then a colleague made me enter Ironman Switzerland in 2011. After that I was
hooked! Where do you go from here? The
Ironman distance seemed to suit me, so I did a lot of races in a short space of
time. I improved quickly, and after a few years I was looking for the next challenge,
which is why I entered Ultraman. The Ultraman race in Florida was my first, and
I won it! It seemed that this race format was designed for me, so from 2016
onwards that has been my focus. How important would you say your choices in
active gear are? Equipment
is extremely important. The way I choose sponsors is to choose the gear that I
actually want to use and then
work with the manufacturer on a sponsorship deal. There are too many athletes
out there using inferior gear purely because they get paid to do it. Did Sven Can See meet those criteria? Yes,
and not only does Sven Can See keep my swim goggles clear. The fact that it’s used in winter sports
prompted me to try and use it on my bike helmet visor as well, which can get
quite foggy in humid conditions. It works well for that too, so there’s a
benefit that I originally didn’t anticipate! How do you think Sven Can See contributed to
your performance? With
a 10k swim, being able to see clearly is critical – both for the obvious reason
of seeing where you’re going, but also to your stress level. There is a
noticeable rise in stress when your sight is obstructed or unclear. Sven Can
See gives me the peace of mind that I’ll have clear vision for the whole
duration of that long swim. Obviously
Rob Gray is doing big things, and we are certainly thankful to him for being
part of the Sven Can See team. We look forward to more wins – we’ll be there
every sprint of the way! Find
out more about Rob Gray’s awesome race skills here. |