20: Erin McNeice, GB’s Rising Star
Erin is a boulder and lead climber from team GB who has been having a stellar 2024 season so far, making finals for boulder in Keqiao, lead in Wujiang, and getting bronze in Shanghai OQS! In this episode, we’ll get some insight into how she seemed to rise out of nowhere, her brutal off-season training, we’ll learn a bit about team GB, and stay for the end to hear about where the Erin McBeast nickname came from.
Timestamps
Timestamps of discussion topics
0:00 - Intro/Rest after Shanghai OQS
2:52 - Starting climbing + skateboarding
9:12 - Her dad’s gymnastics/climbing background
11:29 - Jumping without bending your knees
13:26 - Climbing preferences, strengths, weaknesses
15:53 - Traveling for climbing experience
17:36 - Team GB training process
21:48 - Finding incredible form this season
26:25 - Taking on a less serious mindset
34:06 - Training goal setting
35:41 - Difficulty maintaining friendships through training
39:45 - Competing against your idols
42:43 - GB Climbing Funding
44:59 - Need for sponsorship
46:33 - Handling the quick OQS -> Olympics turnaround time
49:28 - Future climbing goals
50:55 - Planetology interests
53:20 - Living in Malaysia
56:11 - Erin McBeast origin story
57:29 - ISO activities
59:28 - Discord Q: Did you ever had doubts in wanting to become a pro climber?
1:02:30 - Discord Q: Training at home vs abroad
1:03:59 - Discord Q: Do you do any other sports? Is cross-training beneficial?
1:06:03 - Where to find Erin
-
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,600
push her hard. If you reach a ceiling, then we know that she can't work that hard. And
2
00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:10,000
if she doesn't reach the ceiling, then we know that she can work harder. It's been sort of like
3
00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:17,760
seven to nine hour days, six days a week. I either want to change the way that I view
4
00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:22,240
competition climbing or I don't want to do it anymore. I just want to
5
00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:28,240
climb my best and be at my strongest. If I do, hopefully go to the Paris Olympics.
6
00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:35,040
Welcome to the season two finale of the That's Not Real Climbing podcast. I'm your host, Jinni,
7
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:40,960
and I'm excited to introduce my guest, Erin McNeice. Erin is a boulder and lead climber from
8
00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:47,840
Team GB, who has been having a stellar 2024 season so far, making finals for boulder and Keqiao,
9
00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:54,080
lead in Wujiang, and getting bronze in Shanghai OQS. In this episode, we'll get some insight into
10
00:00:54,080 --> 00:01:00,880
how she seemed to rise out of nowhere, her brutal offseason training, we'll learn a bit about Team GB,
11
00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:06,640
and stay for the end to hear about where the Erin McBeast nickname came from. This is her
12
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:12,160
first long form interview, so please send her some love and well wishes for the next OQS event in
13
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:26,080
Budapest. Hope you enjoy this episode with Erin. I guess we'll just start with how you're doing
14
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:33,680
today. Did you do any training today? I'm doing well. I did a bit of training today about
15
00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:41,520
I'm sort of having a deload after Shanghai, so focused on recovery at the moment. So it's
16
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:48,160
been pretty relaxing. Yeah, that makes sense. So not getting ready for Budapest yet. I've had a few
17
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:57,920
intense days, but I've got quite a lot of focus sessions coming up. So I've got like a GB training
18
00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:03,600
weekend, which will be focused on really hard boulders, and then I'm heading out to Innsbruck.
19
00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:11,600
So focused on hard leads. So I think that'll be my prep. So I've got a bit of time to relax now.
20
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:18,000
Okay, that's good. That's good. Glad to hear. Are you happy with your position right now going into
21
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:25,760
Budapest? Yeah, pretty happy. I think I couldn't have really done much more. And I think I put
22
00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:33,760
myself in quite a good position for Budapest. Obviously, the job's only half done, but yeah,
23
00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:41,280
the points are looking quite positive at the moment. Yeah, I mean, congrats on your performance
24
00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:47,040
in Shanghai. It was really cool to see, and I'm glad that we get to talk about it today. Thanks.
25
00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:53,760
So we'll just get right into it. When and where did you start climbing? I guess when I first
26
00:02:53,760 --> 00:03:06,400
started climbing was when I was five. My parents took me to a wall. It's called Revolution. I
27
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:14,960
actually don't know where it is. It's sort of near London, I think. It was like a climbing wall,
28
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:22,480
a one-half, and then a skateboard park. Oh, okay. Yeah. So I went to do both, and one of them was
29
00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:33,120
climbing, obviously. Yeah, it was quite uneventful, really. I joined a club and I went there weekly,
30
00:03:34,320 --> 00:03:42,560
and I just did it for fun for the next eight years. Oh, okay. So the whole time was at the
31
00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:54,160
climbing skate park gym? I think predominantly until I was about maybe 10, nine or 10, and then
32
00:03:54,160 --> 00:04:08,880
we moved and then I joined a similar club. And it was just fun, really. And I was six years old
33
00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:15,120
and under 13, so I think I just enjoyed the fact that I could climb with 12-year-olds who, at that
34
00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,840
point, I thought were big kids and I just liked that I could keep up with them. Yeah, I mean,
35
00:04:19,840 --> 00:04:26,640
if you were six and they were 12, they are pretty big kids. I remember how that feels like. So the
36
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:33,200
skate park part didn't appeal to you. Now, I remember liking skateboarding a lot more than
37
00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:42,320
I liked climbing at that point. It's quite cool, skateboarding. I just liked it for the novelty of
38
00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:48,720
it being skateboarding. Okay. Do you still skateboard ever? I haven't skateboarded in a long
39
00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:56,320
time, but I did sort of carried it on as I got older, but climbing sort of took over. How did you
40
00:04:56,320 --> 00:05:03,920
make that switch from doing it, doing just climbing for fun and actually preferring skateboarding to
41
00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:16,720
getting more into the climbing portion? So I joined this competition squad. The reach, and then I was
42
00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:25,520
there for a bit and I started doing Blockfest, which is like a regional competition series in
43
00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:30,960
the UK just for fun because everybody else in the reach squad wanted to do it. So I sort of joined in
44
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:39,520
and that was just, it didn't really feel like a competition. It just sort of felt like a day out
45
00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:47,200
with my friends, like having fun. And through Blockfest, I heard about national competitions
46
00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:53,280
and the guy that was telling me about it was really emphasizing that it was a massive step
47
00:05:53,280 --> 00:06:00,480
up from regional competitions. And it was like really official and like kids going who were
48
00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:09,600
practically professionals. So I was like, okay, I'll go and try this. And it was definitely,
49
00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:15,840
he wasn't exaggerating. It was definitely a step up. And my first national, I think I came
50
00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:27,520
14th in my age category, which wasn't too bad, but definitely it felt so different. That's the
51
00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:35,040
first time I saw the GB team and all the people my age who were like in GB kit and working together.
52
00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:43,040
And that's sort of the first time that I thought I had the thought of wanting to do it and wanting
53
00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:48,880
to be one of those kids who is basically a professional at the age of like 13.
54
00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:54,240
So I guess at the time at those competitions, were they already kind of setting like
55
00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,480
a low percentage comp style moves or was it different?
56
00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:04,320
And it was pretty different. I think I remember it being quite like
57
00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:11,840
crimpy and there was only there were like eight qualification blocks and only one of them had a
58
00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:19,840
jump and the rest were like, yeah, pretty crimpy and quite like on really small overhangs
59
00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:27,120
and quite technical. But I watched the finals, I stayed and watched the finals and they were
60
00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:37,360
like very much showy and jumpy. And yeah, it was fresh. And like all of the six finalists were all
61
00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:44,720
in the GB team and they were just so sort of like went and executed every one of the finals blocks
62
00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:50,400
and I just remember thinking like that was like beyond anything I could have done.
63
00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:55,680
So I was so amazed that there are people my age who were able to go and execute those kinds of
64
00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:03,440
moves straight away. Sounds kind of intimidating. Did you kind of feel that way at your first comp?
65
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:10,400
Yeah, definitely. I think you don't really think that there are people,
66
00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,200
when you're that age, you don't really think that there are people your age doing that.
67
00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:21,120
And to see it, to see this group of people working together to solve a problem and then
68
00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:27,760
competing against each other at that higher level is definitely eye opening. And
69
00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:36,880
then think of my second national. And my second national I made finals. I don't know how I was
70
00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:44,320
incredibly shocked. But then to be competing alongside those kinds of people was, yeah,
71
00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:50,400
it's pretty crazy. Well, it's really cool that even though you were like intimidated at that
72
00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:58,480
first nationals, you kind of still felt that inkling of wanting to do this more full time
73
00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:05,440
or like become a professional in a way. I feel like I could never do that. So that's cool to hear.
74
00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:12,720
And so your parents didn't have any like climbing background as well.
75
00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:23,520
Oh, my dad used to do it in university. He was in the English gymnastics team when he was younger
76
00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:33,280
for a bit. And then he'd sort of... Yeah, I used to get him to do like tricks when I had my friends
77
00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:39,440
around to try and impress them. But he wasn't a climber, but he just did it for fun. So he took
78
00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:46,640
us with him. Okay, cool. Can he still do any tricks nowadays? I reckon he probably could.
79
00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:52,160
He's not... I haven't gotten to do it in a while, but I'm sure he could if I put the pressure off.
80
00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:59,760
Okay, cool. So do you feel like his gymnastics background and maybe like slight climbing
81
00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:06,320
background helped you at all when you were young and improving? I think it definitely helped that
82
00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:13,920
he had an athletic background because he got me involved in a lot of sports. Climbing wasn't the
83
00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:22,560
only one by far. It was one of so many, like I said, skateboarding and triathlon, so like swimming
84
00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:29,840
and cycling as well and surfing. And like I had so many options, which I think really helped
85
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:36,080
because by the time I started getting properly into climbing, I was so confident in my ability
86
00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:44,560
in sports in general that I sort of felt less intimidated in this sporting environment, I guess.
87
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:50,240
Did he ever put you through any training or like put together plans for you?
88
00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:58,160
I guess it always was... If it was training, it was always fun, like challenges. I guess
89
00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:04,960
it was sort of a way to just trick me into training by giving me challenges because I was stubborn
90
00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:11,360
enough to get involved. But definitely now he's really involved in my training and picks up on
91
00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:19,200
really niche things that I need to work on that's definitely helped. He's been really involved in
92
00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:26,240
like random weird exercises this off season that have improved tiny little things that I haven't
93
00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:36,080
noticed. Okay. Do you have any examples of that? Yeah. One of them was like power in my legs, but
94
00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:45,360
not power in the first part of a jump, like power in your ankles at the end. And he came up with
95
00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:52,720
loads of exercises to increase that last like little bit of a jump. And it's made like a massive...
96
00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:58,640
I think it was the main reason I made World Cup finals, Boulder World Cup finals, because I
97
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:05,120
wouldn't have been able to do that jump without the like pop of my ankles. So yes, it's made a
98
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:12,240
massive difference. Okay. So what are you supposed to work on? Because I could probably use some help
99
00:12:12,240 --> 00:12:21,840
with that as well. It's just sort of like focusing on... He's given me loads of like jumping exercises
100
00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:26,560
except that you aren't really allowed to bend your legs. So all of the jump comes from the ankles.
101
00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:32,880
Okay. I've actually seen that as like a trend on TikTok where you're supposed to try to jump as
102
00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:40,160
high as you can without bending your knees. Is that a helpful exercise? Yeah, so I've seen that as
103
00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:47,360
well. Yeah. You don't look the... I mean, it's not the most... You don't look like an athlete when
104
00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:54,240
you do it, but I promise it really helps. Okay. So then I assume you're really good at that one?
105
00:12:55,040 --> 00:13:01,280
Yeah. There's always room for improvement, but I'm okay. I might ask to see a video of it if I end
106
00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:07,760
up creating a short or a reel of that later. And then I'll try it as well. So it's not just you.
107
00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:17,360
No. Okay. Cool. So you had just sort of more recently come into the worldwide scene where
108
00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:23,440
you made finals. So people are kind of starting to become more familiar with what your climbing is
109
00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:33,040
like. But yeah, we haven't seen too much yet. And you've also done like a pretty good mix of both
110
00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:40,160
boulder and lead comps, and it looks like you're kind of equally strong in both. So which one is
111
00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:50,240
your preference? Probably bouldering, just because I think I'm more confident in bouldering. I've been
112
00:13:51,520 --> 00:14:00,000
focusing on it more, I think, for longer, but definitely still enjoy lead. And I've worked
113
00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:04,880
really hard on it over the last year, and I think I've gotten, well, I've definitely gotten a lot
114
00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:12,800
better. So I have started enjoying it more since I've gotten more confident at it and more
115
00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:19,200
comfortable as well. But yeah, boulder probably. Yeah. I mean, I didn't know you had a strong
116
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:25,360
preference for it at all because you seem to be doing both quite well. It's like really not obvious
117
00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:35,200
which one you feel stronger at. So that's cool. And then in terms of characterizing your climbing,
118
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:42,560
I think a similar thing, like with a lot of people, it's easier to tell if there are certain moves
119
00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:51,680
they're more comfortable with or what their strengths and skill sets lie. But yeah, how do
120
00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:56,640
you characterize your climbing? Yeah, I don't think that there's anything that I'm
121
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:05,360
like, that I would say is a weakness. But I also don't think there's anything that stands
122
00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:11,280
out massively as a strength. I think I'm pretty okay at everything.
123
00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:17,680
That's a strength in a way. Yeah, definitely. I never come out to a climb and
124
00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:26,240
I'm worried about it, which is good. But I also never come out to a climb thinking I've 100% got
125
00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:34,560
it. There are definitely climbs where I look forward to it. I really enjoy jumps and coordination
126
00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:41,920
moves. So if I see one of those, I'm always excited to get on it. But I think slabs probably
127
00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:50,000
definitely used to be a weakness. And I've worked really hard on that over the last off season.
128
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:55,680
So it's not so much of a weakness anymore. Yeah, I think you also mentioned earlier that
129
00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:03,280
you'll be going to Innsbruck to train for LEAD specifically. Do you feel like for things like
130
00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:10,080
LEAD and slabs, there's not as much experience that you can gain in the UK? Yeah, I think there's
131
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:19,520
quite a lot of things in the UK that I've struggled to get on. LEAD is probably the main thing.
132
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:27,280
I've managed to do it over the off season, but that's mainly because I've been focusing on my
133
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:37,360
base. So I don't necessarily need really hard climbs. But now, especially after the last OQS,
134
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:42,240
I wanted to get on 8Cs and stuff to feel more comfortable on those because I'm pretty
135
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:50,400
comfortable on anything up to 8B plus. And you just don't get 8Cs in the UK. And for slabs,
136
00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:57,360
sort of the same. You don't really get slabs in the UK. I have pretty hard to find actual slabs
137
00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:04,000
that aren't there in the UK. So yeah, going abroad for that is also quite important.
138
00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:12,240
Do you have a favorite place that you've trained slabs? Any depot wall in the UK will always have
139
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:22,640
a slab. So you can go there and be sure that you'll get onto a slab. And Boulder UK in Preston also
140
00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:31,840
is very good for slabs. I think most of the walls are slabs or a vert wall, which is really helpful
141
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:36,880
for more training. I was going to talk about the GB climbing team a bit later, but
142
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:48,400
this is kind of a better segue into it. Do you guys have a training team or a training facility,
143
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:53,680
or do you just kind of go around to whatever gyms are near you? Yeah, at the moment, it's,
144
00:17:53,680 --> 00:18:02,560
we go around to gyms. We used to have a base in Sheffield, but we don't have that wall anymore.
145
00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:14,400
So recently we had a training weekend at London and we'll have another one coming up in a couple
146
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:23,920
of weeks. And they were really good. We have setters in and they set specific jaw zone problems.
147
00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:28,480
And yeah, the setting was good and the whole selection was really good. And the wall was
148
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:34,560
really good. So definitely still, there was so much effort put into it. So even though we don't have
149
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:42,960
a wall, it was really, really beneficial before the OQS to have that. And we also had the GB
150
00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:53,040
coaches there, which is never going to be bad because they're good coaches. So it's nice to have
151
00:18:53,040 --> 00:19:02,320
them around. How often do you guys get together as a full team GB training session? As a full team,
152
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:12,160
we had one before the Shanghai World Cup as a full team, so seniors and juniors and everybody
153
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:22,000
down to quite young, which is actually really cool. And I hope we have more of them. But usually it's
154
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:29,280
a little bit more segregated. So there'll be like the OQS group because they need to train different
155
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:35,760
things. And also people are at different comps. People are at like youth comps and ECs and then
156
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:43,440
World Cups and stuff. So it's quite hard to get them all together. But normally pre-season, it'll be full team.
157
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,520
And do you only work with the team coaches or do you also have your own coach?
158
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:56,080
I have my own coaches. I get my training plan from Oli Tor from Lattice. And then I have a
159
00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:06,000
strength and conditioning coach, Tom Parkington. And then I have Rachel, who is a GB coach and they
160
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:14,320
all sort of work together to make sure that the training plan is coherent to all of their views.
161
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,280
That's a lot of coaches.
162
00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:23,040
Yeah, I thought it would be, it's definitely a risk to have that many people because ideas and
163
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:30,720
views clash. But they're very good at communicating. And I think each one of them brings something
164
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:39,200
completely new to the plan, which has been vital for my season so far. So it's been good.
165
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,880
So it's good that I guess they all have communication with each other.
166
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,520
How long have you been working with those coaches?
167
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:53,120
I've been working with Oli for maybe two years, but I've been with Lattice for quite a long time.
168
00:20:55,360 --> 00:21:03,440
Tom, just this like previous off season, I started working with him. And Rachel,
169
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:12,640
worked with Rachel for quite a long time, but she's been more involved in my training for the
170
00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:23,440
past two years. And I see her, I see her a lot and have sessions with her a lot. So yeah, I think
171
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,480
probably two years properly, but I've known her for quite a long time.
172
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:35,040
Yeah. And I guess we can kind of get into your training a little bit more. Well, first of all,
173
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:41,520
it's like, it's really interesting to me from an outsider's point of view to see how people
174
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:48,720
seem to suddenly come out of nowhere, like season to season and like find really incredible form.
175
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:54,400
What do you think you did in training during off season that really worked for you this year?
176
00:21:55,120 --> 00:22:09,680
I think that this off season, I basically pushed, I think it's hard because last off season,
177
00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:16,880
I worked hard, but sometimes you think you're working hard and you're maybe not working as hard
178
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:23,680
as you can, but it's hard to know how hard you can work. And I remember Tom Greenall,
179
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:31,440
who used to be like the head coach for GB before he retired was basically saying to my coaches,
180
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:40,560
push her hard, harder. And if you reach a ceiling, then we know that she can't work that hard.
181
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,800
And if she doesn't reach the ceiling, then we know that she can work harder because I think
182
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:54,080
coaches are scared of overworking their athletes, which is fair, but then I didn't break and I could
183
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:58,800
work harder. So is the ceiling like injury or?
184
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:10,960
I think the ceiling is just, I wouldn't say injury, I guess. When you start getting
185
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:18,880
like minor tweaks and stuff way more often, then you should lower it a bit.
186
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:29,920
But I didn't get to the point where I was getting like tweaks every week. So I took that as that the
187
00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,440
training load was okay.
188
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:38,720
So you felt like this season before you thought you were working hard and you actually just weren't?
189
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:44,960
Yeah, I think there's a difference between being tired and being like, well, there's obviously a
190
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:50,080
difference between being tired and being exhausted. And this past off season has definitely been like
191
00:23:51,120 --> 00:23:57,120
exhausted. It's been sort of like seven to nine hour days, six days a week.
192
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:04,320
Oh, wow. All right. So what happens in seven to nine hours? Because that is quite a long time.
193
00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:11,760
And the depths of off season, I would be doing circuits every day. They wouldn't always be hard,
194
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:21,120
but just to get the base in, I'd do that. And usually finger boarding, I guess. Obviously not
195
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:29,680
every day, but usually in a normal day, finger boarding and then circuits and then like, so
196
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:35,920
no, every day is different. But if I'm on the board, then two hours on the board or then boulders.
197
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:45,840
And I guess every part of that day has to be really focused to what you're actually meant to be
198
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:53,200
achieving. But when you actually put it all together, it actually takes a really long time to do.
199
00:24:54,160 --> 00:25:00,080
Yeah, I guess like, do you consider resting as part of those seven to nine hours? Obviously like,
200
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:07,280
not like a full rest, but like taking some time or like having a snack or like,
201
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:13,840
is nutrition part of those seven to nine hours? I'd say yeah, but I would never take more than like
202
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:20,240
45 minutes to it. Because obviously if it's seven to nine hours, there's always going to be a meal
203
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:28,720
in between. Yeah. I'd hope so. Yeah, maybe give or take 45 minutes. Oh, wow.
204
00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:35,920
Okay, that is a lot of training. More than I thought. I think, yeah, I guess like,
205
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:43,120
I can't imagine doing that much. My body would definitely break. So it's good to hear that
206
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:50,320
your body didn't break. The nine hour days were definitely, because obviously when I say I like
207
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:56,320
work on slabs, you can really, you can sort of work on slabs for like three or four hours,
208
00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:03,440
and it's not too taxing. So if it was nine hours, I would be working, I would be having like slabs
209
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:09,920
set for me for like four hours and then maybe some power endurance for an hour and then some
210
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:17,920
conditioning for two hours and stuff. So it's all, yeah, it sounds like a lot, but the tiny things
211
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:25,120
do add up. So then in terms of finding great form this year, do you think it was a good idea to
212
00:26:25,120 --> 00:26:28,960
do that? I mean, you've been doing a lot of great form this year. Do you think it was just like the
213
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:35,120
hours that you put into the gym or was there like a mindset shift or anything like that?
214
00:26:35,120 --> 00:26:41,120
There was definitely a mindset shift. I think in competition climbing, even if you're really
215
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:46,880
strong, you're not going to perform well or get good results if you don't have a good mindset.
216
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:54,880
For the last like two months before the season started, I would be working on my mindset with
217
00:26:54,880 --> 00:27:05,760
Rachel mostly, and it was difficult because I'd had the same mindset for so long and I sort of
218
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:13,600
felt like, because I think as athletes sometimes people feel like you have to be really serious
219
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:19,360
take it really serious because it's your job. So you've got to be really focused, but that doesn't
220
00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:26,160
work for everybody and it definitely wasn't working for me. So I found that taking a more
221
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:32,480
relaxed approach and smiling and laughing about things and messing about a little bit and
222
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:40,720
just focusing on enjoying the whole experience of it. You know, the crowd and the atmosphere and the
223
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:46,720
commentators and the tiny things that sort of make you a bit nervous, that's all part of the
224
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:53,360
experience. So smiling along with it and enjoying it really helped me really help me climb well and
225
00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:59,200
perform well. Would you say that you do that in training as well or is training more just like
226
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:05,280
it's got to be serious? Definitely try to implement it in training as well because I,
227
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:11,600
there are definitely days where I get really angry with myself and it's, I guess anger can help you,
228
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:17,520
it can motivate you, but it can also just, if it's just making you get annoyed, then it's not
229
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:27,040
beneficial for training, not beneficial for performing in training. So guess learning when
230
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:33,200
it's, learning when the anger is actually helping me try hard and learning when it's
231
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:42,720
just making me not able to learn and get off a block. So yeah, I try to, if I'm, if I realize that
232
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,960
it's not helping, I try to sort of like take a breath and smile and enjoy the process of
233
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:54,080
learning something instead of getting really angry that I'm not able to do it first try.
234
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,000
I feel like that's not super great for me to hear because I think I kind of reached that breaking
235
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:04,560
point. I'm kind of over it. So everything you're saying is kind of like, oops, I think I kind of
236
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:14,480
surpass that point, but that's okay. There's always next year. Yeah, I mean, training's always hard.
237
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:19,920
Do you, did you ever just have the thought of like, I just want to quit it all? Yeah,
238
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:26,880
so many times during the off season. I mean, there was a point before the off season where I had a
239
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:33,840
bad comp and I got a bad one. Well, I didn't get a bad one. It was just a fun comp in the UK, but
240
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:42,640
I didn't enjoy it. I was so stressed. I climbed really badly and I was just basically was thinking
241
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:49,440
I either want to change the way that I view competition climbing or I don't want to do it
242
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:56,000
anymore, which is part of the reason I changed my mindset. But also, yeah, during the off season,
243
00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:00,160
when you do something that much, there are going to be times when you don't want to do it.
244
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:07,200
And I can remember a few sessions where I completely broke down and was like,
245
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:15,120
yeah, I'm not doing this anymore. My mum had to be there a lot of the time to get me out of that.
246
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:27,280
But I think it's all part of it. And I think making the jump up to the top level is always going to
247
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:32,080
be hard when you don't, when you haven't done it yet, because maybe the belief isn't quite there.
248
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:37,120
And if you're working so much for something and you don't necessarily know if you can do it,
249
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:42,640
that's sort of, it's just hard to stay motivated.
250
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:48,240
How did you kind of pull yourself out of those funks? Or I guess, how did your mum help you with that?
251
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,440
I guess she always sort of is like,
252
00:30:51,440 --> 00:31:02,000
reminds me of my, what I've already done, which is helpful. But then also just saying that I'm
253
00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:09,760
doing my best. You do your best to improve, you do your best to get better. And if that's enough,
254
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:17,520
then great. And if it's not, then you've done all you can do. So I think it's just, I think
255
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:23,520
I was pushing as hard as I could. So if you get out of the off season and you're making finals,
256
00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:29,520
then great. And if you're not, then you've done everything you can.
257
00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:34,560
How long did those usually last for you? Like you're just back at it the next day?
258
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:44,720
Sometimes I'll be back at it. I think, I think I was pushing as hard as I could. So I think I was
259
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:52,400
back at it. I think some of them, it's just, if you have a terrible session, then you're not going
260
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:58,960
to want to do it. I think the problem was that in the off season, there was quite a long period of
261
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:07,200
time when I was just having bad session after bad session. But I think after this season,
262
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:12,640
it's going to be easier because like last time I went to Innsbruck, I was flashing eight B pluses,
263
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:19,280
but back in the off season, there were sessions where I was falling off seven A's. It's hard to
264
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:26,320
believe when you're falling off something that my brother was getting up and he's not really that
265
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:32,880
into climbing back then. And he was getting up stuff and I was falling off. I think it's
266
00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:40,880
hard not to lose it when that's happening. Yeah, fair. So he also goes with you to like train?
267
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:46,480
Yeah. Only sometimes if he's around. He was climbing with me when I was
268
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:53,360
younger, like we went, we were in the same club. So he saw a bit of a natural, I guess.
269
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:56,800
Okay. But he doesn't like compete or anything.
270
00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,440
Nah, just, just, just for fun. He enjoys it, I guess.
271
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:05,200
And I guess he enjoys beating you if you're having an off day.
272
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:12,800
Right. Yes. He found it very amusing whilst I was questioning my life choices.
273
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:18,160
Oh my God. Yeah, I would totally, I totally get that. That would send me into a spiral for sure.
274
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:25,680
But I guess it's just like one year training and you're not recovered ever because you're doing
275
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:31,680
seven to nine hour days, six days a week. That'll, that'll change what you're able to
276
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:37,920
accomplish on the wall. Yeah. I don't know. I guess when you say it like that, it's so obvious that
277
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:44,880
it's going to affect you, but I did not think that way when I was falling off so nice.
278
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:49,760
Please excuse this brief intermission, but I would just like to remind you that if you are enjoying
279
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:54,320
this podcast, please follow and rate it on your preferred listening platform. If you're watching
280
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:59,760
on YouTube, I would love to hear your discussion and thoughts in the comments below. Anything helps
281
00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:06,960
to push this podcast out to more people and get even more amazing guests on. Back to the show.
282
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:15,600
Yeah. And on the discord, someone had mentioned that they know Toby had like a four year plan
283
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:22,400
aimed specifically for the Olympics in terms of training. Did you also have like this Olympic
284
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:29,760
training plan in mind or were you kind of just training to get better and see where it takes you?
285
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:35,200
I definitely didn't have a four year Olympic plan. I don't think I would have ever thought that I'd
286
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:45,200
be in this position four years ago, but I definitely had goals, competition goals, like training for
287
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:53,040
specific comps. And I remember I was training for getting onto the senior GB team for a while,
288
00:34:54,480 --> 00:35:01,440
but I was always just sort of training within like a year. So I was training for next year's
289
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:07,120
competitions or next year's selections. I didn't really ever have a, I didn't ever have a four year
290
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:13,120
plan, but now I'll probably try and implement something that I think it would be helpful.
291
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:19,760
Yeah. I mean, I guess it depends. I mean, I think doing just a year out makes a lot of sense. Like
292
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:27,360
who knows what's going to happen in four years. Personally, I feel like if I put together a four
293
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:33,680
year plan and the goal was the Olympics, I would just get really stressed about not getting anywhere
294
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:39,920
near that goal because that is quite lofty. So, but yeah, depends on, depends on the person and the
295
00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:47,840
mindset. Also, I think I heard in an interview, you mentioned that it was hard for you to keep
296
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:53,280
up with friends who didn't climb due to your training schedule. And I think this will actually
297
00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:59,040
be pretty relevant because there was recently a discussion in the discord as well about being
298
00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:04,400
afraid of ending up alone because of like schedule and compatibility with training.
299
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:10,640
Is there, was that, was there something you like found to be able to push through that or like
300
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,440
make specific climbing friends or did you ever resolve that issue?
301
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:26,320
And sort of resolve, but I think that it will always be a problem and I'm sure other athletes
302
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:35,440
will agree. Yeah, in school, especially it was more noticeable because I think everybody,
303
00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:42,240
school is like the perfect place to have friends and make friends and everything,
304
00:36:42,240 --> 00:36:48,720
but it was still quite difficult for me, especially like hanging out outside of school. Like
305
00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:55,920
if people wanted to spend the entire day together, then there was no time for me to train or
306
00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:02,480
if they wanted to do go out or something, like I couldn't do that because I needed to train or
307
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:09,360
I was just not in the country because I was competing. So there wasn't really much time
308
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:14,240
for it. And I think a lot of people don't like that. So they weren't really interested in
309
00:37:14,240 --> 00:37:23,520
being my friend because they didn't like that I didn't have time for them. But yeah, I think
310
00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:30,400
the thing that resolved it was just finding people who did understand. I know I had like
311
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:37,600
a really good, I still do and she isn't a climber and she isn't an athlete, but she really understands
312
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:46,320
and having people like that is basically made my school life durable. I guess now that you're no
313
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:54,240
longer in school, do you feel like it's easier for you since you have a little bit more time,
314
00:37:54,240 --> 00:38:00,240
I think, since like kind of before school is like your full day and then you also have to do climbing,
315
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:04,640
but now climbing is your full day and then maybe after climbing, you're like,
316
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,640
now climbing is your full day and then maybe after climbing, you have some time.
317
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:15,680
Yeah, it's definitely easier. Even in winter when I was doing massive hours, it was,
318
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:22,240
I still had way more time than I did at school because unfortunately I did care about school
319
00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:29,520
and I couldn't sort of just go through it and not really mind how it went. I was
320
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:38,640
really focused. So yeah, I basically didn't have any extra time and now I can spend time with my
321
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:47,600
friends. So I would say, yeah, it's easier now. And I also just think that I've met more people
322
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:54,160
through climbing since doing it full time who I would consider friends. So yeah, definitely easier.
323
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:59,760
Yeah, that makes sense. Would you say like most of your friends are climbing friends?
324
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:06,560
Because also now that you're not in school, you're kind of dealing with the adult issue,
325
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:10,560
the perpetual issue of not really knowing where else to meet friends.
326
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:19,920
Yeah, I think most of my friends are probably climbing friends. I think I have maybe three
327
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:25,680
friends who I still talk to from school and the rest are all climbing. And yeah, I don't
328
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:32,800
really know where else I'd meet people outside of climbing who I would be friends with.
329
00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:37,040
So yeah, mostly climbing friends.
330
00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,040
Don't worry, it's a perpetual issue.
331
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:42,160
Yeah.
332
00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:47,040
Okay. And yeah, you're also like one of the younger climbers that I've interviewed so far.
333
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:54,000
What is it like? I guess like who are your idols and what is it like climbing and competing against
334
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:55,680
them?
335
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:59,920
I think it's, I mean, it's an elite sport. So obviously, there are going to be so many
336
00:39:59,920 --> 00:40:14,080
inspirational people around you. I know as a kid, I always used to look up to like Molly,
337
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:20,880
Molly Thompson Smith and Shawna just because they're, well, they're amazing. But also they're
338
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:28,720
from Great Britain. So it's just inspiring to see someone, I guess, like you who is
339
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:39,360
being so successful in something. But every international climber has, I think every
340
00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:47,360
international climber has something unique about them that makes them inspiring and gives
341
00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:55,360
something that you can learn from. I know I've learned something from the majority of the top
342
00:40:55,360 --> 00:41:02,080
competitors, whether it's before I competed directly with them or afterwards.
343
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:11,360
Do you feel intimidated when you compete against them? Or in the case where you maybe get a better
344
00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:16,720
result, do you feel like bad? Or do you feel great about that?
345
00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:26,720
I definitely think there's like imposter syndrome sometimes. But I don't think that any of the,
346
00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:33,600
I would hope that none of them, the competitors think that, or like embarrassed that you've
347
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:41,600
beaten them. I think when you're at that top level, it, any time someone beats you, it's,
348
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:49,200
they just feel sort of, because they're at that top level as well and they're working as hard as you.
349
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:56,400
So they just understand that you've worked really hard to get to that point. Yeah, like none of the
350
00:41:56,960 --> 00:42:04,640
people who I've met through finals have like disappointed me by how they are. They've all
351
00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:15,440
been wonderful and really supportive. So I don't feel bad when I beat them and I, and how they've
352
00:42:15,440 --> 00:42:23,040
beaten them and I'm happy to get the result. And I hope that I always want to beat people
353
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:29,200
when they're at their best. I don't want people to mess up so that I can get there. So yeah,
354
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:35,440
I just, I want to beat people when they're at their best. And if I do, then that's going to,
355
00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:45,280
that's nice. Okay. No, yeah, good way of putting it. Okay. Going back to UK climbing real
356
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:52,240
quick. I think people are always kind of interested in knowing how federations support their athletes.
357
00:42:53,600 --> 00:43:00,800
Do you get any stipend from like the GB climbing team or do you have to pay your own way?
358
00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:12,560
We have to pay for our travel and accommodation to comps. And that's it's a big comp like World
359
00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:18,560
Champs and stuff, which is sort of partially funded, but we do get obviously training weekends and
360
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:28,560
we also get free, like we can use the in-house GB coaches for free whenever we want. We can
361
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:36,160
have sessions with them, which is really vital for, well, was really helpful for me this off season.
362
00:43:36,160 --> 00:43:43,280
And also I think you can get like a training plan basically written for you for free,
363
00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:49,520
which is also pretty, like a pretty big thing to be given. So I think they help us in lots of other
364
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:55,840
ways, but yeah, we have to fund ourselves. Okay. So I guess you kind of feel like
365
00:43:56,640 --> 00:44:03,440
there's, you were getting enough like resources from the GB team for your competition journey.
366
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:09,360
Yeah, obviously it would be nice to be funded for competitions, especially if,
367
00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:16,240
I mean, I've gone to Shanghai twice already this year, so that's a bit of a, it's not cheap,
368
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:30,480
but I think there are other ways of support that are always more vital for success. Like having
369
00:44:30,480 --> 00:44:36,640
in-house coaching is really important and having to fund yourself is annoying, but
370
00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,680
it doesn't necessarily help your performance like the coaching does.
371
00:44:41,680 --> 00:44:50,560
Yeah. Cause a lot of, or I wouldn't say a lot, a few federations do provide like stipends or funding
372
00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:58,960
for their athletes, which is really nice. How do you go about supporting yourself? Do you like work
373
00:44:58,960 --> 00:45:05,360
another job or I guess you are pretty young, so it would also make sense if your parents are just
374
00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:11,760
supporting you through this time, but yeah, do you have like plans on getting funding in the future?
375
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:21,920
I'm trying to sort of get help from sponsors and I have started getting help from sponsors,
376
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:30,000
which has been, well, it's looking good for future travel and my parents do obviously help me a lot.
377
00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:36,640
I would not be going to comps without them, so that's very grateful for that, but also
378
00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:46,720
local competitions in the UK. So like Battle of Britain and Ploughed Masters and Kwiff and stuff,
379
00:45:46,720 --> 00:45:53,680
I think that last year I got about £10,000 from doing those to sort of fund the comp season.
380
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:59,680
So yeah, I think that's how most of the UK scene do it, other than working jobs, they
381
00:46:00,240 --> 00:46:02,960
try and win money from those types of comps.
382
00:46:03,520 --> 00:46:10,160
Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I just had another discussion previous interview about funding for
383
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:17,840
athletes and how prize money is just not really there, especially at the World Cups. It actually
384
00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:26,160
seems like a little better at local comps depending on where you're going, but yeah, that's always a
385
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:32,000
difficult part. So if there are any sponsors listening, I hope they could reach out.
386
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:33,120
Yes, please.
387
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:40,560
Okay, so for the future, if you qualify for the Olympics, you only get six-ish weeks before the
388
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:44,080
Olympics happens, I think? Yeah, six weeks.
389
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:49,200
Yeah. So what would be the plan in that quick turnaround time?
390
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:55,760
I guess it depends how, like if any weaknesses are highlighted in the Budapest, but
391
00:46:55,760 --> 00:47:07,280
if I got selected for the Olympics, I would probably focus on skills. So like certain,
392
00:47:08,720 --> 00:47:13,760
there are certain dinos that I don't really get on because they aren't set in the UK. So I'd focus on
393
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:20,720
getting them set for me. And then I'd probably also go back to Innsbruck because I just, I think
394
00:47:20,720 --> 00:47:26,080
it's good practice just getting on the routes. I don't think I'd go to the Innsbruck World Cup,
395
00:47:26,080 --> 00:47:33,600
but definitely afterwards I'd go and get on some hard routes. And then, yeah, I think I'd
396
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:44,080
not necessarily go into like intense training, but focused sessions would be the main thing I'd do.
397
00:47:44,080 --> 00:47:48,560
What are some of those dinos that you don't really feel like you get practice in the UK?
398
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:57,120
Anything that's complex basically. So in the World Cup in Shanghai, the paddle dino from finals,
399
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:02,080
like I just, I don't understand the movement of those types of things because I don't really get
400
00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:12,480
on them. And then finals again in OQS, the last boulder didn't really, I don't, my body just
401
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:19,280
isn't intuitive to understanding them because I haven't necessarily worked the intuition for
402
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:26,240
those types of moves. So having them set for me to actually learn how to do them is really important.
403
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:31,600
Yeah, it's really hard to just learn that on the spot while you're in front of an audience.
404
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:39,280
Yeah, I'll try to find videos of those and so people can be reminded of what those are.
405
00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:44,880
Do you feel like there are any advantages to qualifying later for the Olympics or is it all
406
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:51,040
just you wish that you could have qualified sooner? I think it's nicer mentally obviously
407
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:57,920
to have already qualified. I know Trish, Toby's dad was really happy, obviously happy because he
408
00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:01,440
qualified for the Olympics, but also just so that they have time to plan everything.
409
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:09,680
But I also think it's quite good timing really. You finish Budapest and you have six weeks, maybe
410
00:49:10,480 --> 00:49:15,680
one of them is like a D-load and then you have four hard training weeks and then one of them is a
411
00:49:15,680 --> 00:49:20,640
D-load again before the Olympics. Actually works quite well as a training phase. So
412
00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:24,880
I don't think it's too much of a disadvantage to qualify later.
413
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:31,040
Well, that's a good mindset going into it. And in terms of the future, have you created
414
00:49:31,040 --> 00:49:37,920
like more future climbing goals? Not necessarily. I think it's all the usual stuff really like
415
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:45,520
podiuming at a World Cup and stuff like that. I think of my main climbing goals,
416
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:53,120
I think obviously LA as well. Maybe the four-year plan can kick in now. You can get going on ahead.
417
00:49:53,840 --> 00:49:59,280
Do you have any goals in terms of the Olympics that you've created at this point?
418
00:50:00,160 --> 00:50:09,200
I'm being careful not to jinx things. So I don't want to say like, oh for the Paris Games or
419
00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:16,000
for the LA Games, but in general, should I knock on wood? I don't know.
420
00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:24,240
Obviously, if I do go to the Paris Games, I want to be competitive. I don't just want to go,
421
00:50:24,240 --> 00:50:30,080
I want to go and be at my strongest and have a proper chance at competing at the level.
422
00:50:30,080 --> 00:50:38,480
But I guess I don't have like a, I want to make finals, I want to make podium. I just want to
423
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:43,920
climb my best and be at my strongest. If I do, hopefully go to the Paris Games.
424
00:50:44,720 --> 00:50:49,440
That makes sense. And we can leave it there in terms of Olympics in the future.
425
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:58,000
Don't want to say anything more about it. Okay, so I think that's a good way to go.
426
00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:07,120
Okay, so in terms of a little bit more of your personal life, you had mentioned that you postpone
427
00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:13,520
university to focus on pro climbing. What do you think you would have chosen to do if climbing
428
00:51:13,520 --> 00:51:23,600
hadn't been in your life? I had a scholarship for sport and exercise science at Sheffield Hallam
429
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:33,120
University. But then I had a gap year and then I sort of wanted to do space science or planetology,
430
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:38,800
which is a bit of a change, a massive change. How did you, why?
431
00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:47,040
I was always interested in it and I really enjoyed science. And I sort of,
432
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:55,120
in my gap year, because I wasn't studying, I sort of used my free time to look into it.
433
00:51:55,840 --> 00:52:04,160
And I learned loads of art space and suddenly became a bit obsessed with it. So that was my,
434
00:52:04,160 --> 00:52:09,680
I sort of changed my mind. But then obviously that's a very intense degree and I would not
435
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:15,680
have the time to do that and train. Yeah, that makes sense. You,
436
00:52:15,680 --> 00:52:23,920
I guess at this point, you're kind of going to keep postponing it until the climbing stuff is,
437
00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:27,600
well, that's going to be a while from now, until the climbing stuff is done, I guess.
438
00:52:28,240 --> 00:52:36,080
Yeah, I think you can go to uni at any point in your life. And I was never going to be able
439
00:52:36,080 --> 00:52:43,840
to have the sort of like uni social life. So it's not necessarily going to be any different.
440
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:49,360
It's not really going to be any different to me going there when I'm a bit older. And I,
441
00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:55,040
with the amount that I have to train at the moment to get to the level and to stay at the level,
442
00:52:55,760 --> 00:53:00,400
maybe in a couple of years, I'll be able to do four or five hour days in the off-season.
443
00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:07,200
But at the moment, I don't have the fitness to do that. So I have to carry on with the longer days
444
00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:15,440
and I just wouldn't be able to do uni or I would, but my climbing would take a hit definitely.
445
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:21,600
Okay. And so switching gears, this is kind of just like a grab bag of personal questions.
446
00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:27,200
Sure. I also heard that you had lived in Malaysia at some point.
447
00:53:28,480 --> 00:53:34,160
Yeah. So what was the reason for that? And what was it like there?
448
00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:42,480
My dad got a job in Malaysia. So we moved there. We sort of moved around a lot when I was a kid.
449
00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:48,400
I moved around a lot. So we lived in like Hong Kong and then England and Malaysia.
450
00:53:48,400 --> 00:53:56,720
And it was always because of his job, but that's probably didn't help with friends either.
451
00:53:57,600 --> 00:53:59,200
Yeah, that definitely makes it hard.
452
00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:02,320
I was always in trouble with friends really.
453
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:03,600
Oh God.
454
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:08,080
It was surprisingly good for the training really.
455
00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:17,920
Really? It didn't like make it difficult. Well, I guess it was good to get like different styles of
456
00:54:17,920 --> 00:54:22,720
training in or different styles of climbing in based on how they set in different countries.
457
00:54:22,720 --> 00:54:27,040
Yeah, it's definitely different. And the lead wall was absolutely massive,
458
00:54:27,040 --> 00:54:29,280
bigger than really anything in the UK.
459
00:54:29,840 --> 00:54:30,560
In Malaysia?
460
00:54:30,560 --> 00:54:34,400
Yeah. Oh, really? I had no idea about that.
461
00:54:36,720 --> 00:54:37,520
Pretty big, yeah.
462
00:54:38,160 --> 00:54:48,000
Yeah, I guess I've never been to Malaysia or Hong Kong, but based on like representation
463
00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:53,920
within like World Cup athletes, I would have thought that maybe they don't have as much
464
00:54:53,920 --> 00:54:57,920
in terms of climbing in those countries. Is that not the case?
465
00:54:57,920 --> 00:55:04,560
They probably don't have that many places where I climbed most of the times campfires.
466
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:09,920
And their ballroom wasn't that extensive, I don't think, but they had a lot of top rope
467
00:55:09,920 --> 00:55:17,840
and a lot of lead and they're really quite tall walls. And I don't know about the grading because
468
00:55:17,840 --> 00:55:25,600
I was quite young. I wasn't doing anything hard at that point, but yeah, the walls were quite big.
469
00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:30,640
And the walls in the UK are probably not, definitely not as tall.
470
00:55:31,520 --> 00:55:35,760
Interesting. And so at that point, were you still just like climbing for fun or were you
471
00:55:36,640 --> 00:55:38,000
actually doing training as well?
472
00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:45,680
I think we were in Malaysia when I was about nine to 12. So I was still just doing it for fun. But
473
00:55:45,680 --> 00:55:52,880
that's when I started getting more interested in it. I had a coach in Malaysia, Francis, who
474
00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:59,680
I still talk to now. And he was one of the main reasons that I got really interested in that,
475
00:55:59,680 --> 00:56:02,480
or maybe one of the main reasons that I really started enjoying it.
476
00:56:03,200 --> 00:56:05,520
Okay, that's nice. Does he know that?
477
00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:07,520
He knows it now, I'm sure.
478
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:14,960
Okay. Yeah. Awesome. Okay. And switching gears again,
479
00:56:16,480 --> 00:56:21,200
Matt Groom has mentioned your Instagram handle a bit during the live stream. I think he really
480
00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:24,560
wants to know where the Aaron McBeath nickname came from.
481
00:56:27,040 --> 00:56:35,280
It came from Liam Briden. He's a GV coach and he'll be very happy that I'm giving him credit.
482
00:56:36,240 --> 00:56:45,120
It came from 2022 Youth Worlds in Dallas. It was originally McBeath because apparently I'd like
483
00:56:45,120 --> 00:56:49,520
to fight with everybody. I don't really know what, that's completely untrue.
484
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:52,560
That's completely untrue. And then it changed to McBeath.
485
00:56:53,200 --> 00:56:58,720
Okay. So you liked fighting with people in like a competitive aspect?
486
00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:11,600
Honestly, I don't know. He doesn't make much sense a lot of the time. He just does his own
487
00:57:11,600 --> 00:57:17,040
narrative and everybody else has to deal with it. Every time I say that I'm going to change it,
488
00:57:17,040 --> 00:57:20,080
he's like, no, you can't change it. So I kept it.
489
00:57:20,720 --> 00:57:26,320
Yeah. I mean, now you definitely can't because Matt's talked about it. The whole live stream has
490
00:57:26,320 --> 00:57:31,840
seen it. Everyone knows about it. So I think it's going to stick, but it's good to know that that's
491
00:57:31,840 --> 00:57:37,360
where it came from. Another thing that I think people always just generally want to know,
492
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:44,560
Matt always wants to know, what do you do when you're an ISO? Do you listen to music or do you
493
00:57:44,560 --> 00:57:50,560
have a specific routine? I guess other than the obvious of warming up, I definitely have to have
494
00:57:51,440 --> 00:57:57,680
things that entertain me because my world ranking is quite low at the moment. So I come out quite
495
00:57:57,680 --> 00:58:03,680
late because obviously the highest ranked athletes go up first. But mostly it's just
496
00:58:05,600 --> 00:58:11,520
hanging out with the GV coaches. They're quite entertaining on their own, like playing card games
497
00:58:11,520 --> 00:58:20,320
with athletes or the coaches. Just keeping the mood really light because you don't want to be an
498
00:58:20,320 --> 00:58:29,920
ISO for ages, like stressing out. So yeah, anything that keeps the conversation light and just fun.
499
00:58:29,920 --> 00:58:35,680
How long do you have to stay in ISO right now, given the world ranking?
500
00:58:35,680 --> 00:58:47,600
In OQS, I was bib number 36, so I was ranked 36. So probably whatever five times 35 is,
501
00:58:47,600 --> 00:58:52,640
that's how long I was in there for Boulder. Hopefully in the future it'll improve. Does
502
00:58:52,640 --> 00:59:02,720
that improve year to year or comp to comp? Year to year. I think, or maybe not. I'm not sure.
503
00:59:02,720 --> 00:59:08,800
I think it's comp to comp actually. Oh, okay. I kind of thought that's something you would know
504
00:59:08,800 --> 00:59:17,040
about, but okay. We'll see. We'll see next time. Yeah, I don't actually know that. Okay. Well,
505
00:59:18,000 --> 00:59:27,440
good luck for next time. Maybe it'll go faster. I hope so. Yeah. Okay. And so last section,
506
00:59:27,440 --> 00:59:33,440
just a few discord questions that came in. The first one being you more recently made the
507
00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:42,320
transition from youth to the elite circuit. Was it, or I guess like, yeah, from youth to elite
508
00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:48,720
circuit and youth to like being a pro climber. Was it easy for you to make the decision to
509
00:59:49,280 --> 00:59:56,720
go all in or was there a lot of doubt involved? I think it was relatively easy.
510
00:59:56,720 --> 01:00:04,480
I've been doing senior comps or I did my first senior comp when I was
511
01:00:07,440 --> 01:00:15,040
18, 17 or 18 in 2022. I did my first European cup. So I've been doing them for quite a long time,
512
01:00:15,040 --> 01:00:22,880
but I think the hardest decision was whether to start doing them or whether to carry on focusing
513
01:00:22,880 --> 01:00:30,320
on youth comps because I could have focused more on youth comps and maybe gotten a medal in like
514
01:00:31,200 --> 01:00:36,160
some youth comp or I could have gotten the experience I needed in senior competitions.
515
01:00:36,960 --> 01:00:43,520
So that was probably the hardest thing. There was never a struggle with deciding whether I wanted to
516
01:00:44,560 --> 01:00:52,400
go all in. I think sort of after I got onto the GME team, I was all in.
517
01:00:52,400 --> 01:00:55,600
Do you win like prize money for youth comps as well?
518
01:00:56,320 --> 01:01:00,080
I have absolutely no idea. I've never got a medal in youth.
519
01:01:00,880 --> 01:01:03,840
Oh, okay. But I would hope so,
520
01:01:03,840 --> 01:01:09,120
and I'm not sure. Yeah, I mean, I'm just, I'm never sure with these things, you would assume,
521
01:01:09,120 --> 01:01:16,080
but then you kind of like learn stuff and it's like, oh, yeah, maybe not. Okay. Yeah. So then
522
01:01:16,080 --> 01:01:23,520
how did you decide to just get experience from the, I guess, elite circuit instead of continuing
523
01:01:23,520 --> 01:01:29,760
and trying to like medal in it in the youth comps? I guess just looking to the future.
524
01:01:32,480 --> 01:01:41,280
I was sort of not lucky, but when I tried out for the senior team, I got onto the senior team and
525
01:01:41,280 --> 01:01:47,600
then was immediately given comps because of how I did in selection. So it wasn't a case of being on
526
01:01:47,600 --> 01:01:55,360
the senior team and not given comps. So I guess I got a little bit excited and I went for those comps.
527
01:01:55,360 --> 01:02:02,640
But I made, like I said, the European Cup in 2022 was my first one and I made semis.
528
01:02:02,640 --> 01:02:12,720
And then my first European League Cup was that same year and I made finals. So I sort of wanted
529
01:02:12,720 --> 01:02:18,080
to carry on getting that experience. And I knew I sort of wasn't at the level to be podiuming, but
530
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:25,360
I thought that that experience was more beneficial for the long term than going to youth cups.
531
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:31,520
Yeah, I think that makes sense. Probably a good decision. Okay. So next question,
532
01:02:31,520 --> 01:02:37,840
do you prefer to train at your home gym? Like, does it feel more comfortable for you or do you
533
01:02:37,840 --> 01:02:47,920
prefer to travel and get that different experience? I think both have their positives. I think
534
01:02:48,560 --> 01:02:53,600
training at home is really nice because you're surrounded by family and friends and it's a
535
01:02:53,600 --> 01:03:00,160
comfortable environment and you know the venue and you know what your facilities are, which is
536
01:03:00,160 --> 01:03:08,960
helpful. But training abroad is really great. If you go to places that are more well known for
537
01:03:08,960 --> 01:03:15,360
having good facilities, then you'll often be up to train with other national teams, which is really,
538
01:03:16,640 --> 01:03:28,080
really important. Well, not important, but it's nice. And also, abroad is just different too at
539
01:03:28,080 --> 01:03:36,240
home, so it's useful to get on different things. So both definitely have their place. I guess in
540
01:03:36,240 --> 01:03:43,760
general, do you like traveling or is it kind of a nuisance for you? I'd say I quite like it.
541
01:03:44,880 --> 01:03:49,520
I quite like it when it's with other people. I think if I'm going on my own, it's a bit boring
542
01:03:49,520 --> 01:03:55,280
and I don't look forward to it as much. But if it's with my family or if it's with the coaches or
543
01:03:55,280 --> 01:04:03,840
the other athletes or something, I quite enjoy it. And then the last question, do you currently
544
01:04:03,840 --> 01:04:11,280
participate in any other sports? I know you had mentioned you've done some before, but I guess
545
01:04:11,280 --> 01:04:17,440
you dropped all the other ones to focus on climbing. I don't do any sports at the moment,
546
01:04:17,440 --> 01:04:25,040
but yeah, I was really into football and I was still doing football when I got onto the GB team,
547
01:04:25,040 --> 01:04:31,360
but I quickly dropped it. Do you feel like there was any cross-training benefit from football?
548
01:04:32,640 --> 01:04:39,840
I'm sure there was some sort of fitness benefit from it, but it was really, I think it was
549
01:04:39,840 --> 01:04:47,760
probably quite damaging for my knees and hips. I always had knee and hip problems, so ever since
550
01:04:47,760 --> 01:04:53,280
dropping that, I don't have them as much. So I think that the benefits probably didn't outweigh
551
01:04:53,280 --> 01:05:02,240
the cost. Nice. Yeah. I mean, you said that you don't have a lot of tweaks or anything from
552
01:05:02,240 --> 01:05:10,800
climbing, but I guess you've had issues from playing football. Yeah. I think because it was
553
01:05:11,760 --> 01:05:18,720
I only played for a small club that did it for fun, so they weren't really into warming up. So
554
01:05:18,720 --> 01:05:23,840
I probably just probably had tweaks from not warming up, but they went away pretty quickly
555
01:05:23,840 --> 01:05:30,080
once I dropped it, so it was okay. Any climbing injuries that you've had that you're dealing with?
556
01:05:30,080 --> 01:05:37,440
I've been really good with injuries. I've never had a serious injury. I just have tweaks. I tweaked
557
01:05:37,440 --> 01:05:43,200
my finger a few months ago, but it was cleared up before the first World Cup. It wasn't anything
558
01:05:43,200 --> 01:05:51,360
major, so I've been pretty lucky with that. Awesome. Well, I hope that continues. Okay,
559
01:05:51,360 --> 01:05:58,000
I think that's all the questions I had. Thanks for joining me. I'm going to go ahead and wrap
560
01:05:58,000 --> 01:06:03,920
it up. Thanks for joining me. Is there anything that you want to shout out or let people know
561
01:06:03,920 --> 01:06:11,440
where they can find you or any closing thoughts that you have? You can find me at Aramatebeast
562
01:06:11,440 --> 01:06:17,600
by Instagram, as he says. Okay, awesome. Well, thank you again. It was amazing to talk to you.
563
01:06:17,600 --> 01:06:26,400
Good luck in Budapest and hopefully the Olympics are in your future. Thank you. I hope so. Thank
564
01:06:26,400 --> 01:06:31,360
you so much for making it to the end of the podcast. Don't forget to like and subscribe if
565
01:06:31,360 --> 01:06:36,880
you enjoyed. Otherwise, you are a super fake climber. If you're listening on a podcasting
566
01:06:36,880 --> 01:06:42,000
platform, I'd appreciate if you rated it five stars and you can continue the discussion on the
567
01:06:42,000 --> 01:06:57,440
free competition climbing discord linked in the description. Thanks again for listening.
