New son, new sponsorship and extended coaching services in parallel with the second year of the NKL. To say Dan Sweeney has had a busy off-season is a crazy understatement! We caught up with the man in a rare spare moment to find out all about his latest news and plans for the season.
Plenty happening but Dan has still found time to ride and get used to his new RRD gear, he will be a huge threat in this season’s NKL!
FKM: Hey Dan, seems like a lot happening for you over winter, want to update us on your latest news and plans for the coming summer?
DS: Hey! Yes, what a full on, full power winter! Well, I’m a Daddy! That’s pretty big news on its own! My son, Leo is now 10 months old I’m loving it, in the mean time my partner is finishing her Neuroscience PhD. So you can imagine what our days look like…
Alongside that I’ve just released some exiting news! I recently became RRD’s new International Team Rider and Australian Sales Agent. So this Summer is going to be packed managing family life, blowing up RRD in the country alongside my coaching with the NKL and independently in addition to completing.
One of, if not the most rounded riders in Aus. No matter what you’re looking to learn the chances are Dan can help teach you. With the full RRD range at his fingertips he’s also the man to see if you’re looking to demo something different coming into the new season.
FKM: Does the coaching allow you to still compete on the NKL? If so, how is your preparation going? Who do you see being the big threats for this year’s series? Any new upcoming threats?
DS: Yes, totally! At each event, the day before the contest I run a dedicated competition training day. But I will certainly compete at the Melbourne tour stop and hopefully in the finals! Preparation for Coaching has been going great, I’m learning a ton from my clients and I’m also developing new ways to deliver fresh coaching topics. In terms of my training to complete, that’s on the back burner with whats going on. But I would say that I’m riding the best I’ve ever been. So given the circumstances I’d say that’s not bad going!
Threat wise, I’m not overly bothered who completes, I just like to win and I’m there to do that. If my performance or ability to do certain tricks doesn’t do it then that’s fine with me, but for now I’m doing the best I can and when I enter a contest, I enter to win and be competitive. But, if someone like Ewan Jaspan or Marc Jacobs is on the scene then that would be something different to work towards for sure as those guys are up there in terms of some of the world’s top quality freestyle riders.
It doesn’t matter who shows up, Dan will be a threat in any event he enters. Claims he’s riding better than ever mean that competitors should be wary should they come up against him in a heat this season.
FKM: With your coaching available at each stop, how do people get involved and what can they expect? What level would I need to be at to get most out of it?
DS: Getting involved is easy, head on over to my website www.dscoaching.com.au and check out the events page for event specifics. In terms of expectations, that’s the magic because you can bring whatever your goals to the table. If they are development and contest specific. We’ll be covering every aspect of getting into riding in comps from preparation/training to specific trick coaching and break downs. To really maximise the experience of riding your first event I’d say that you’ll need a level of mastery in that discipline. For example, if you are aiming to ride in the Freestyle category you’ll want want a good foundational level of unhooking for example. Otherwise you may be too focused on your specific level as the area of training. I think it’ll be great to come with a level of confidence and develop from there.
FKM: Now, gear, going from a part of one of (if not the) biggest brands in Oz to the face of an emerging and establishing brand locally what can we expect from the RRD gear? what are you riding and how’s it going? How can people interested in RRD find out more?
DS: Yes! Its been such a great opportunity to re-connect with one of the original brands I had a chance to work with when I was a youngster in the UK. You can expect pure Italian designs and products really showcasing the brands philosophy of “non stop research and development” – Lets face it, there is a lot of brands out there. And RRD really represents unique qualities for a high tier brand that has been on the scene since day one, its the details that count and its a massive and strong product line all the way from the clothing to the performance specialised gear. I actually get to ride all the products and I’m loving it! – If your interested in finding out more you are more then welcome to connect with me and very soon there will be a retailer in each state representing the products. You can also demo the RRD line at any event I’m attending, I have the whole collection ready for testing and having people see what the products are all about!
The RRD brand now has one of the best known guys in the industry on their side. Expect to see more Italian influenced kite gear at your local this season.