Club focus a welcome distraction for Matt at end of season
FOR Matt Bevilacqua, the club focus of an event like the Queensland championships is critical to avoiding dreaded burnout.
Bevilacqua and recently crowned Nutri-Grain Series champion Matt Poole will head Kurrawa’s campaign in the team-based disciplines at North Kirra, taking on rivals including Northcliffe.
Nearing the end of an exhaustingly long season featuring many individual events including the Coolangatta Gold and Nutri-Grain Series, it’s a prospect the Tasmanian is looking forward to.
“I got home to Tassie for Christmas and that was needed so much just to have a week off but now it is just getting to the point (where I’m keen for a break),” he said. “Every athlete needs to have those four to six weeks off minimum every year to make sure you can back up and go again for another season.
“That burnout factor is something in our sport that is really important because you see Ali (Day, who has previously been affected by it) and things like that that’s such a common occurrence.
“For me I kind of lean on the club aspect of this sport (to avoid burnout) … it is all very individual and then you come to this end of the season and it’s all about the group and Kurrawa.
“We’re a really growing club at the moment and I sort of lean on everyone else and just pull the vibes and atmosphere off everyone else and that can get you through.”
Bevilacqua was the 2015 state ironman champion and takes confidence from seeing Kurrawa teammate Poole claim his maiden Nutri-Grain title. The 24-year-old himself feels in good nick.
“I had the best series I have ever done, not necessarily the best place but the best consistent racing,” Bevilacqua said.
“I’m still young, it was only my fourth series so these guys have been going around for a long time now and I’m trying to learn as much as I can.”