Who am I?

Who am I, hmmm, good question?

My name is Derek Cross. I am firstly a husband and a father, an Engineer, I used to be a Professional Triathlete and now occasionally I am a triathlon coach.

I live and train in Perth, Western Australia, down the Fremantle end for anyone who knows the city.

At the moment I am 38 (I was born in 1979) and have spent a good chunk of those 38 years married to a pretty girl I met in Uni. She is also an engineer and so I sort of think I have struck the jackpot with getting both brains and beauty. We have four kids, two of which are covered in fur, one meows and the other woofs. The other two are more regular bipeds, a girl (8 years old) and a boy (5 years old), and they are pretty much my entire world.

One of the four

I did my first proper triathlon in 2012 (Singapore 70.3), but I have always done sport of one kind or another. I started off as a swimmer as a teenager and then moved into rowing when I started Uni. I wasn't bad at rowing and narrowly missed the Australian U23 team in 2001. After I started work I didn't have time to fit in rowing any more and so I stopped. It wasn't until quite a few years later that I got into kayaking, which then lead to adventure racing, which then led to triathlon.

After a few years of racing I had the opportunity to take my professional racing licence in March 2015. Knowing that I didn't have all that many years of elite racing left in me I jumped at the opportunity. The next couple of years were spent working part time and traveling the Asia-Pacific region racing. Whilst racing as a Pro required some sacrifices it was a great couple of years that I have never regretted for a moment. It is a period that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately in early 2017 after Ironman WA I started noticing some unusual heart rhythms. After a bunch of tests and a catheter ablation my symptoms had improved, but my cardiologist still recommended that I ease back on the training and stop racing, which I obediently did. After spending a couple of months pondering what to do next I decided to try my hand at coaching, which is what I do now as part of the Front Runner Sports team. Whilst the decision to stop racing wasn't one that I made willingly, the transition to coaching has been great and has allowed me to stay connected to this sport that has been such a big part of my life.

So that is me and this blog is my story in the world of triathlon.