Top age-grouper Dr Dan Plews chose PURPOSE for the Ironman World Championship

For the Ironman World Championship last
year, Dr Dan Plews was doing his research online for a ‘cool’ race suit for hot
conditions.

“I found out about PURPOSE because I was
looking for a suit for Kona. I love the suit because it’s comfortable and most
of all, cool. It dissipates the heat really well and keeping cool during hot
endurance races is really important,” the 36-year-old British-born New
Zealand-based father of one said.

Dr Plews impressively finished as the top age-grouper with a course record of 8:24:36 and we are so proud to be part of this victory.

His dad was a keen triathlete so it rubbed off on him and at the age of nine, Dr Plews did his first swim. He became the British Youth and Junior Triathlon Champion, British Grand Prix Champion and also medalled in the British Elite Men’s Sprint Championships.

He relocated to New Zealand after,
completing a sports science degree in Auckland University. From there, he
earned a scholarship at the Leeds Performance Centre, where brothers Alistair
and Jonny Brownlee were juniors at that time. Dr Plews took a masters degree in
sports science there, as well as became an assistant coach.

For the years to follow, Dr Plews focused
on his career. He only did his first ever Ironman race in New Zealand in 2013 (9:22:22)
and he qualified for the Ironman World Championship but he didn’t take the
slot.

The next time he qualified – he was the
fastest age grouper in the 2015 Ironman New Zealand (9:08:24) – he went to Kona
and came in 6^th in his 30-34 age group at the 2015 Ironman World
Championship with a time of 9:12:00.

That was when he decided to give this sport “a good crack” as he felt that he could win.

At the 2017 Ironman New Zealand, Dr Plews
went under nine hours with a time of 8:54:10 and in 2018, he bettered that time
at the same race to 8:35:02. Then it was on to the 2018 Ironman World
Championship where he triumphed as the top age grouper.

And in case you are wondering, no, Dr Plews
is not a full-time athlete. Far from it in fact! He is an applied sports
scientist with a PhD in exercise physiology. His PhD was in applied heart rate
variability (HRV), focusing on implementing and validating methods regarding
the application of HRV to track training adaptation in elite athletes. To date,
he has over 21 peer-reviewed publications in applied sports science.

Now he is a post-graduate PhD, MSc supervisor for AUT University, and contracted to Performance Lab which works in the area of AI coaching. He also has his own startup EndureIQ and he coaches top Ironman professional athletes like Terenzo Bozzone, Jan Van Berkel and Tim Van Berkel.

He was formerly the head physiologist for
New Zealand’s rowing team and currently he is the head physiologist for New
Zealand’s women canoe racing team. These teams have medalled at the Olympic
Games.

It is amazing how he balanced all of those
commitment and responsibilities, with Ironman training and his duties as a
husband and father. Being on the cutting edge of applied sports science
probably does give him an advantage, as he explore the depths of new science
and trying out firsthand the effects these have on training adaptation.

From someone who has so much knowledge and
expertise, we are very honoured that Dr Plews chose PURPOSE for the race in
Kona last year. We pride ourselves on making suits that are meant to battle the
heat and humidity!