Congratulations to Dan Edwards for being selected as Red Dog's Athlete of the month for April 2024.

Dan wins in this month's award for his performance in finishing second in his age group at The Cooly Classic Open Water Swim. Well done!!!  A big thank you to our sponsors for donating this month’s prizes.

1.Red Dog AOTM, how do you feel about that?

Honestly, I thought this day would never come. Not only do I harass Trent every training session because I do a swim 1 second faster than the month before, or place in a OWS event or even show commitment to turning up even after a couple of beers. All of these I believed good enough reasons to be selected into this esteemed club however it took coming second to an Australian All Time Great (Andrew Mewing) who got a silver medal behind Michael Phelps in some back yard event called the world championships ????

2. When did you join the club?

Joined roughly 48 months ago and if i didn't get it this month, i thought i was going to take down Hendo's record for longest serving member without joining the AOTM club. I joined the club as i came back from a stint in the Northern Territory and was a 112kg beer drinking, vape smoking, no clothes fitting type of guy. Now i am 20kg lighter, drink more beers and I am more committed to the vape than ever however due to this great club i am fitter than i have been since my early 20's.

3. How much training do you do at the moment?

I try to get 4-5 swims per week in. Can't ride as have two torn discs in the back and can't run due to knee surgery. 

4. What’s your favourite session and why?

The Monday lunch squads when Trent comes back from the Noosa Tri or Gundy where he is treated like a celebrity and has a hangover for the ages so throws out a long set with no rest so no one will talk to him. Friday lunch is always good also to get the lungs burning like hell!

5. Who’s your ideal training partner and why?

Kirk Purchase because he can run like the wind....... so i don't run, Jack Morton cause he can ride like a tour de france biker but my favourite is PC just in case i can hold onto his feet so he can pull me through a little faster. I would say Shane Mulquiney but hey no one is catching him. Mark Johnson is always good to train with also as its fun beating him, breaking him and seeing him get out early saying he has to get back to work ????.

6. Favourite motivational quote?

Nobody cares what you did yesterday. What have you done today to better yourself? "David Goggins"

7. The one bit of advice I’d give to a newbie is…

Get involved in the great club as you can learn a lot from the experienced athletes, training programs and techniques. Also listen to Trent when he has advice for you as he knows what he is doing and can fine tune the little things which make a huge difference.

8. What’s your next event?

Noosa swim..... But till then training hard as Scotty Milson and Alex Sullivan are chasing me down like crazy. Still guttered Trent didn't post my 1km time trial which I beat Alex by a whole 3 seconds..... Trent claimed it's cheating when you use paddles, pull buoy and a snorkel  ????

9. What do you do outside of training?

Commercial Printer Sales & Solutions for Fuji Film. If anyone needs to look at their print managment & scanning requirements in their business, please always feel free to reach out to me and i will make sure to take care of you and maybe let you sit on my feet for a few sessions as a thank you (providing you are slower)

10. What’s your one guilty pleasure?

Last two swims i have managed to get caught up at a party on the Friday night usually ending up at about 4am. The Cooly Classic was a classic one of these with my sister getting engaged that week so dinner escalated quickly only to find myself trying to keep hydralyte down the next day before getting my head ready to compete. The Noosa Marathon swim i have another 40^th the night before to the wife of Place Ascot director which i am sure will be a big one. Fingers crossed i can find a driver to get me up there for this swim.

  
A list of all AOTM recipients can be found here