Grant Giles Newsletter
§ About · Grant ‘Gilesy’ Giles

A coastal kid
who kept showing up.

Thirty-odd years around endurance sport, first as an athlete, then, slowly, as the person on the other end of the phone.

Fig. 02, Grant, 2024.
Photographed near the Kiama headland.

Born in Wollongong, raised on a coast defined by escarpment, sandstone and the Tasman. Surfed first, then found a road bike. Turned professional in 1993, raced long course and IRONMAN through Europe and home, and retired in 2004 after a decade on the start line.


What I do now

I coach athletes, one-on-one, patiently, for as long as it takes. I work with sports coaches in other fields. I write a newsletter, host a podcast, and see clients as a clinical hypnotherapist and strategic psychotherapist for the inner-game work that doesn’t quite fit in a training plan.

§ 01 · A rough timeline

The short version.

1987
First triathlon.
Borrowed bike, surf fitness, no idea what I was doing. Hooked anyway.
1993 – 2004
Professional long-course career.
Consistent podiums and Top 10s across Australia and internationally. Two seasons racing in Europe.
2000
First athletes.
A local bike-shop owner asked me to take on his squad. It quietly kept growing.
2005 →
Full-time coaching.
Retired from racing. Started the real apprenticeship, learning how to coach.
2016 →
Psychology, properly.
Trained as a clinical hypnotherapist and strategic psychotherapist with the Australian Institute of Psychology, after hypnotherapy changed something in me.
Now
Coach, writer, host.
Small squad, a newsletter, a podcast, and the occasional client outside sport who’s interested in the same questions.
§ 02 · Credentials

For the record.

Listed here because I’m asked, not because they’re the reason to work with someone.

Coaching Triathlon Australia, Level 3, High Performance
Practice Clinical Hypnotherapist
Practice Strategic Psychotherapist
Training Australian Institute of Psychology
Years coaching 25, 20 full-time
Racing Pro, 1993 – 2004 · long course & IRONMAN
§ 03 · Some of the athletes

People I’ve had
the privilege of coaching.

A short list, not a wall. The professional names below are the ones people ask about; the bigger, quieter part of my work has always been with age-group athletes building their own version of great.

Tim Reed IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion
Tim Van Berkel Multiple IRONMAN champion · Top 10, Kona
Peter Robertson 3 × ITU World Champion (transition to long course)
Clayton Fettell Pro, short to long course transition
Brad Kahlefeldt Pro, short to long course transition
Squad, 2005 → National titles, Kona podiums, first finishes
“I’m less interested in making people fast, and more interested in making them the kind of athlete who stays, healthy, curious, and in it for the long arc.” A letter to a new athlete

A letter, every couple of weeks.

Slow writing on training, psychology, and the things I’m quietly working on. Five hundred or so kind people read it. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

No tracking. No noise. Read on your own time.