I wish him well ... who will fill his shoes?

That's too bad...he is a pretty nice guy and it looked like he was coming back fine after all those health issues.

Thats a bummer! I really liked his style of racing and would have like to see him try Kona. He was unbeatable before he had his health issues.

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Macca Fan Club

W O W. Waldo was one of the most exciting triatheltes to watch in action and his off the front swim/bike combo are legendary. I was looking forward to seeing him race again in Minneapolis at lifetime this year (with hopefully no mechanicals) and also down in Chicago. He will be soerly missed. He was able to put the fear of the 2 wheels into anyone (remember him winning on racing flats when he forgot his bike shoes at his hotel? yikes). The press release stated a bunch of his accomplishments...

"Walton made the world cup podium 12 times in his career, winning six times. He is one of only six men to win at least one world cup title in four consecutive years. Walton won bronze at the 2000 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Perth, Australia and finished 27th at the Sydney Olympics that same year"

At this point no one comes to mind that can swim like a fish and ride like a cheetah.

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//semi retired - old school = http://www.iwilltri.com //

Hi,

Wow indeed.
This man is a stud.
Racing in a style that would have you think he should be a sponsored athlete by "NoFear".

As an American who has had the fortune to live , train and race in Ozzy-land,
I can say he does his sporting country proud, but he also does our sport proud.

Good on him
TP

BTW: this is Swimming meet week. you tube "australia swim champioship", and check out all the goods:
wmn 400IM wr-"FUCK!" (her reaction, not mine,LOL)
Mn + Wm 400fr
Men + wm2..........Oh screw it....seriously, this and the European Champs are the best video on the net, this side of youporn.com
*
*
*

Waldo thanks for all that you have done for the sport of triathlon. It has been a pleasure watching you over the years and looking at your splits in complete amazement. Thanks again mate, I wish you all the best!

If I was to look up to someone in triathlon to admire it would be Craig Walton.

In the true tradition of non-drafting triathlon he was in a league of his own for a while.

Was quite dissapointed when he didn't make it to the Athens olympics. Recall in one of the olympic trials in Aussie he made a 2 mins break in the swim then added a few minutes more to that on the bike. All the rest were drafting the whole way in a pack as it was draft legal. So in the last 1km a small pack passed him. He was stronger and its to bad no one else could keep up out front to work with him.



www.triathlonshots.com

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http://www.TriathlonShots.com
Full event coverage of triathlon/ironman in photos.

Damn! I always wanted to see what that swim and bike could do at Kona.

I remember reading about the race in which he left his bike shoes at home and had to go back, retrieve his running shoes, thus losing his lead. He rode with Speedplays and racing flats. He smoked the field and held on for the win. Pretty amazing.

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_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

that sucks. he was one of our favorites, but i guess it's true, once you've lost the fire there's not much point in forcing it (at least at the level he played at). best of luck to him with whatever direction he decides to go from here.

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____________________________________________________________
"I'm happy when life's good,
and when it's bad I cry.
I've got values but I don't know how or why."
- The Who

This is dumb that his retirement gets put back to the 4th page, so I'm bumping and asking:

who do people think takes the Waldo banner of most punishing swim/cyclist?

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//semi retired - old school = http://www.iwilltri.com //

My thinking is that his retirement is an emotional reaction to whatever behind-the-scenes decision Australia's tri governing body has made in regards to his making the Olympic team. Like Chris McCormack and Craig Alexander before him, I think we'll see Waldo in 70.3 and Ironman as a result of their decision. At least I'm hoping for it.

As for a Waldo replacement, maybe Slowtwitch's own MarkyV???

*edit--how about Matt Reed? After his Olympics quest plays out, I could see him swim/biking like Waldo (and maybe running a little faster)

I would go with Keiren Doe to answer your question.

He has specialised in non-drafting races and recently won the N.Z champs long distance title.

He come out of the water with exactly the same time as Shane Reed(recently crowned Oceania champion) and put 9 1/2 mins into him on the bike. Reed caught up 6 mins on the run but obviously not enough.

He is first out of the water in most races and was out in 45mins in Taupo.

Similiar style to Walton. Blasts off the front and then hammer down. It is very dominant.

www.triathlonshots.com

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http://www.TriathlonShots.com
Full event coverage of triathlon/ironman in photos.

Eganski is the Age Group version of waldo...

Humm yes K Doe has been putting the hammer down, but he'll have to come over here in the summer and prove it in the big races. Either way it'll be interesting to see how emerges - we have ultra fast runners, ultra fast cyclists, but the swim/bike combo was definitely Waldo's. From what I read on the press release I do think he is retiring from the entire sport, not just short course. I don't read that to mean that he just doesn't have the racing spirit for olys anymore buyt does for longer stuff - who knows, maybe someone overseas can tell us more.

Alright, back to discussing compression socks or whatever is hot these days...

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//semi retired - old school = http://www.iwilltri.com //