Dorian Coninx smiled as he reflected on his first race of the year. A 5th place finish was a good way to open his account for the season.
“It went very well for me,” he said. “It was smooth from the beginning to the end and I was very happy with my race. It was nice to start the season like that as Abu Dhabi has not always been great for me.”
His past five races at Abu Dhabi included three DNFs and a highest finish of 37th. Relief was therefore as much a feeling as satisfaction with his performance to have broken that trend.
In Abu Dhabi, Coninx had a strong start and was second out of the water behind his countryman Vincent Luis.
“I have worked on the swim a lot this year,” explained Coninx. “I have added a lot of volume.”
“On the bike we tried to push but we were not very well organised. It was a bit too soon for everybody so it was a bit messy.”
As a Sprint distance, there was also only a small gap after the swim so Coninx did not get the breakaway he hoped. Even without it, he was still able to produce a consummate all-round display on his way to his first WTCS top-5 since August 2021.
“My last good WTCS race was Yokohama last year,” (where he finished 6th), he added.
In 2022, Coninx was a little inconsistent but, as two WTCS gold medals show, on his day he is lethal.
In addition to his increased swim volume, he has added to his running miles over the winter. His winter running has also included some good results in cross country races in France.
In the past few years, “my main problem wasn’t the running speed, it was running off the bike”. His challenge has been to address that.
Coninx noted that he has a lot of natural speed. The Mixed Team Relay distance therefore slots well into his repertoire. At the same time, he doesn’t have a preference between the distances.
Even with making the French relay on his mind, he is not adjusting his training. Instead, he has found training with a focus on the Olympic distance has brought the best rewards across both events.
Over the course of this year and next year, however, competition will be fierce for the French Olympic slots and for the spaces on the relay.
Coninx was sandwiched between Vincent Luis and Leo Bergere at the finish in Abu Dhabi as France locked out 4th, 5th and 6th. For the team as well as personally, then, it was a good start to the year.
For Coninx, though, there is no great difference in racing team mates once the race begins.
Nevertheless, there is still a degree to which French are hoping to pull together as a team. It was telling that Coninx was on Luis’ feet in the swim. While they could not manufacture the breakaway they wanted, the intent was there. Expect them to try the strategy again at the upcoming races in Yokohama and Cagliari.
For now, though, Coninx could sit back, satisfied. At the end of the day, he knew he had started the season well.
Still, one thing is clear. It seems there is a lot more yet to come.
