David Potter - Athlete Ambassador

Have you always been into sport?

Not always I started playing hockey when I was in my twenties but more as I enjoyed the social aspect but I had never really been serious about a sport until I started triathlon. I only started triathlon and cycling in 2018 at the age of 36 and my first proper season was 2019 having never really done any swimming, running, or cycling, so I'm a total new comer to it all.

How did you first get into triathlon?

My brother wanted to do a race in 2018 and I wanted to get a bit fitter, so we just decided to enter into a sprint triathlon with a few weeks to try and get ready, and then panicked, but we survived. Later that year I went along to a club swim session and just became hooked. I enjoy the variety in the training but I am competitive so just love to race more than anything.

If you are interested in getting into Triathlon, Sundried's kit is suitable for beginners as well as seasoned athletes. We have both men's and women's options available. 

What has been your favourite race to date and why?

I really enjoyed the Race Rapid Mallory Park event this year as its just a great set up and spectator and athlete friendly

What is your proudest achievement?

I suppose up there is qualifying for Great Britain age group team for the ITU sprint world championships in my first ever triathlon season, but I think in general I'm proud to keep improving as that takes a lot of consistent work, and motivation. We have a quote on the wall at home that says, it's not the will to win that's important, but the will to prepare, and I think that's true of this sport as you get out what you put in definitely. I think that to keep working and improving is something to be proud of for anyone whatever their level in a sport.

Have you ever had any racing disasters?

Fortunately nothing too horrendous, or embarrassing....... yet!!!

How do you overcome setbacks?

I try to learn from them, all races have positive and negatives, I just try to take stock and identify key points to learn from and how I can use those to improve. in my training or in the next race.

What advice do you wish you'd been given when you first started out?

It is better to focus on where you have come from and how you are improving each week, it's motivating to see your progression, try not to focus on what others are doing, Strava, race times etc as this can have the opposite effect.

What are your goals?

I want to keep improving and achieve my potential as I'm still new to endurance sport as a whole. I want to put in a good performance I can be proud of at the sprint distance and mixed relay world championships in Bermuda this October, and then next year I am moving to half and full Iron distance races after my 2020 Ironman was cancelled.

Who inspires you?

More than pro athletes, I get inspiration from people new to the sport, club members, seeing normal people with tough day jobs, achieve things in a sport they thought was never possible, living a life but finding time to put in the training hours and improve week on week at club sessions, that is inspirational to me. But if I had to pick a Pro Athlete I would say Eliud Kipchoge.

Why work with Sundried?

I like that Sundried are a sustainable company, offering eco ranges which are made from recycled materials. I think that's important to a lot of people now and should be something that businesses strive to achieve. In general I also find in cycling and triathlon a lot of products are seriously over priced for no reason and often disappointing, I was looking for a good value brand not a cheap one, a brand that was high quality but reasonably priced in the market, and that's why I chose to use Sundried as I feel they offer that, plus the kit looks cool, and that definitely helps you go faster 100%.

To hear more from our ambassadors and get free tips on workout plans and more, connect with the Sundried Personal Trainers on our app.