David McNamee is one of the few Scots to have seen more sun than snow this year. The triathlete spent the first three weeks of the year with the rest of the Great Britain squad in Spain, returned home for a week, and then left for another three weeks in Spain.

As he studies part-time for an accountancy degree at Stirling University, it is a hectic schedule but one that he is happy to take on board as he bids for a place at the London Olympics in 2012.

"The next eight months will give me an indication of whether that is a realistic aim," he states, "To be able to compete in London, you have to be able to be competitive in 2011 so I'll see how it goes.

"This is my make or break year for 2012. If I don't make it, then there's always 2016 and I still have time on my side.

"I'm also looking towards the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. Triathlon is not in this year's Games in Delhi as it is not one of the designated sports but to compete on home soil would be great.

"I feel as if I'm in great shape just now, which is encouraging so early in the year and my training has been going well.

"I'm not sure when my first race of the year will be - maybe April 11 in Portugal - or in May when there is a race at Strathclyde Park and I'm also hoping to go to the World University Championships in Valencia."

Last year was a breakthrough year for David as he was selected for the Great Britain Under-23 squad but McNamee, 21, admits he is still learning the sport.

Brought up in Irvine, he was a swimmer of note and reached West of Scotland level before looking for a fresh challenge.

Triathlon was ideal, as it gave him a chance to use his swimming and combine it with running, a sport he was naturally gifted at.

"I had been swimming for nine years and taken it as far as I could," he explains, "I didn't want to give up sport altogether and didn't want to waste nine years of swimming.

"Maybe I was doing the wrong sport for nine years as I'm finding now that my running is strong and I expect this year my running to overtake my swimming in the triathlon.

"But I really enjoy the sport. Triathlon is becoming increasingly popular and there are 12,000 competitors at the London race in August and it's big throughout Europe. In Germany, you can get 250,000 watching a big race and that is much more than for a football game.

"It's a difficult sport to grasp and I'm only really beginning to understand it all. You have to learn the changeovers and, although the swimming is supposed to be non-contact, it never works out that way when there are 60 athletes all trying to reach the same point.

"I find it much more challenging than swimming which was just going up and down a pool all day. There is a lot more to learn and you can only learn from experience.

"It's when something goes wrong in a race and you have to learn how to deal with it and that gives you an insight into what is required.

"My swimming background has helped but it is a completely different style of swimming in triathlon in that you have to change pace more.

"I think the fact that there is so much to learn about triathlon makes it more fascinating for me and more of a challenge."

McNamee has been fortunate not to have picked up any serious injuries ("it's an endurance sport so you're always going to have aches and pains but as long as you can keep training then it's fine") and is looking forward to a healthy year.

"I don't have a lot of time for any interests outside sport just now as I'm spending 14-15 hours a week at university studying for my degree so there's not much time to relax," he continues.

"I will graduate next year so at least I'll have something behind me if triathlon does not work out. But my ambitions are to get in the team for 2012 and hopefully to medal in 2016."

RM
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