Noosa To Kick Start The Next Chapter For Rejuvenated Charlotte McShane

It’s been quite the career with the 32-year-old just named on her 11th Australian World Championship team for next month’s Abu Dhabi World Triathlon Championship Series Grand Final.

And to say that Charlotte is a new woman is quite the understatement, with a back injury that threatened her career from 2019 through 2021 now well and truly under control after a rehab to end all rehabs.

“My focus this year has been about doing the things that will make me the best possible athlete in the lead up to Paris in 2024,” said Charlotte after arriving into Noosa amongst the thousands of multi-sport enthusiasts that clamour to the Sunshine Coast every year.

“It’s the first time I’ve been injury free for more than a 12-month stint in a long time, so it’s been great to start focusing on training for performance rather than rehabbing.

“I’ve made some big changes and commitments as I go into the last few years of my career but I’m confident that I’m in the right place with a team of incredibly supportive people and environment behind me.

“I’m still really looking forward to challenging myself, especially in this Noosa race.

“Simply, the change in race style is a shift to focus on some performance gaps and having some fun at the same time!”

McShane recently relocated to the Gold Coast to train in Triathlon Australia’s QLD Performance Centre with coach Dan Atkins, admitting it will be a real welcome change from the past few years and as a bonus she’ll be preparing for the heat of Abu Dhabi on the Gold Coast.

She is no stranger to the Noosa format, finishing second in 2015 and third in 2016 to eight-time champion, Australia’s two-time Olympian Ashleigh Gentle who will again headline a strong women’s field in this year’s race.

“I haven’t been able to race Noosa since 2016 because it clashed with other things and I was injured for many of those years,” said McShane.

“So this has been the first time it has fitted into the calendar well and four weeks out from World’s it’s good to have that really high hit out and in warm conditions which is what it is going to be like in Abu Dhabi too.

“It’s nice to be in a position where I can challenge myself to do that – after such a long period with my back injury that I had, I didn’t think it would be possible for me to ever time trial for 40 kilometres.

“Noosa will be really good for me although the non-draft format is not my strength at the moment just with what I have come through with the injury.

“But putting myself out there and challenging myself…with some of those other females that are super strong on the bike, I think I’ll take a lot away from that.

“It will be really good to get Noosa under my belt, a really hard race from start to finish with some tough competition.

“And then going into Abu Dhabi there’s still a lot of opportunity with Olympic points up for grabs; it’s a grand final and it’s a pretty special race to be at and you never know what happens in a grand final.

“Especially on a course like Abu Dhabi where it’s going to be really hot so it’s not going to be a simple straight forward race, with other things coming into it there will be some big opportunities…and hopefully I can make the most if it…

“In some ways it feels like I’m almost re-starting my career from scratch but at the same time I have the confidence that I know I’ve done it before.

“If you’ve done something once you have the ability to do it again…right?

“Sometimes it’s a little bit harder than before but good results just don’t happen by chance…”