Leighton Wells, PhD

30+ years in endurance sport

I was nine when I watched my fifteen-year-old cousin Dave finish the 1986 Geelong Endurathon — 2km swim, 80km bike, 20km run. That race lit something in me, and it hasn't gone out. I bought my first Centurion steel frame because Dave Scott rode one. I idolised Tim Bentley through high school. Seven Ironman finishes later, the DNA of triathlon — the smell of neoprene, the quiet fatigue of 6am swim sessions, the reverence for legacy names talked about in racing war stories — is still in me.

My coaching didn't start in a lecture hall. It started on the start line, in the transition area, and during the long conversations that happen on recovery rides — where athletes tell you what's really going on in their lives, and you start to realise that the training plan is only half the equation.

The irony wasn't lost on me: researching how life load affects training while feeling the squeeze of that exact tension every day. Between parenting, teaching, coaching, and writing, I didn't have the bandwidth for Ironman preparation. Then I realised — this is the research. Age-group triathletes live in the grey zone. They wrestle with conflicting priorities. Great coaching isn't just about metrics; it's about helping athletes navigate that balance without guilt or shame. This PhD was my Ironman. And like any long-course event, it left me transformed on the other side.

Summit Triathlon Coaching was born from that realisation. That the best coaching decisions don't come from metrics alone — they come from understanding the person behind the data.

Research that changes coaching practice

My PhD research at Deakin University investigated a question that most coaching systems ignore: how do experienced triathlon coaches actually make training load decisions in practice?

The research revealed a significant gap between what sports science literature recommends and what coaches actually do. Out of that work came the frameworks that now underpin Summit: Life Load, ACIP, and the Measurement + Meaning = Decision structural equation.

This isn't academic theory applied to coaching. It's coaching reality studied with academic rigor — then built back into a better system.

Coaching

Direct, personalised coaching for age-group triathletes and endurance athletes. From sprint distance to Ironman. Every athlete gets the frameworks, not a template.

Consulting

Commercial sport science consulting with organisations including Augo Training AG (Zurich), Australian Triathlon, Catapult Sports, and university sport science programs.

Teaching

Teaching Fellow at Deakin University and Victoria University. Sport science, coaching science, and applied performance units for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Speaking & Media

Conference presentations (ECSS, AusTriathlon), podcast appearances, and published Substack articles on endurance training science and coach practice.