Met police detective chief inspector Matt Hogg wins bronze medal for Team GB at Aquabike World Championships in Torremolinos
Matt Hogg is celebrating winning a bronze medal in his age group at the Aquabike World Championships in Spain.
The Thorley-based athlete, who was representing Team GB at a world championship for the first time, clinched third place in the men’s 35-39 category in Torremolinos.
He clocked 22min 44sec for the 1,500m swim in the Mediterranean Sea and 1hr 1min 11sec for the 40km bike ride for an overall time, including transition, of 1:28.04.
Hogg, 36, kept Irishman Ross Hamilton at bay to beat him to the line and the bronze medal by two seconds.
The Metropolitan police detective chief inspector was 15 seconds behind runner-up Juan Antonio Alarcon Rodriguez and almost three minutes adrift of American winner Brendan Mueller.
Hogg, who is married to Nat and has two young children, Seb and Lottie, also finished ninth overall.
It was another impressive achievement for the athlete who has had to work his way back to fitness over the last three years having suffered from osteitis pubis. The inflammation of the joint between the left and right pubic bones is extremely difficult to overcome. Hogg, who sustained the injury when qualifying for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii in 2021, had to focus on swimming and cycling as running was out of the question.
He took part in an aquabike race in St Neots in September 2023 where a third-place finish earned him qualification for the world championship.
He also returned to Ironman action this summer after finally being fit enough to run again and won the Odyssey Triathlon, again in St Neots, with a 50-minute margin of victory.
And Hogg was thrilled to win a bronze medal in Spain - although he admits his mind was on how he could improve to challenge the champion during the medal ceremony.
“Never having competed at a world champs before or for Team GB, I really did not know what to expect and went out there looking forward to strutting around in my sweet Team GB kit, but with absolutely no expectations for the race itself,” said Hogg.
“On race day I was nervous. I am a pretty strong diesel engine, but not a natural threshold monster so I knew the race was going to hurt. The male aquabike age groups from 18 to 40 were also the last wave to go which meant the course was going to be very congested. I also don’t particularly like the sea and knew the swim was going to be like a washing machine.
“The bike course consisted of a three-lane dual carriageway, out and back three times, with a number of U-turns. In the briefing they warned us that by the time we got onto it it would be very congested.
“Cycling used to be my outright weakness, but I have worked hard to bring it up to par. I maintain that nothing hurts more than holding threshold on a turbo trainer, something I had been doing a lot of in preparation for this event, so this felt easy in comparison.
“When the results came out on the timing website I was in third place. Unbelievable scenes. Third best in the world for my age group. That still hasn’t quite sunk in.
“Whilst waiting for the presentation I was talking to the two other age-group athletes who beat me and I learnt three things.
“They both found the swim hard work – good, I was worried and thought there was something I was doing wrong. The winner is a monster - he beat me by three minutes, a huge margin in this event. And the winner also put out around 20 more watts than me on the bike.
“Standing on the podium, wrapped in the Union flag, is a surreal feeling. My coach told me I should enjoy the moment. Much to my annoyance, all I could think about was where I am going to find 20 more watts from!”
