McSWEYN Stewart

General
KIPCHOGE PACEMAKER
In October 2019 he was part of the pacemaking team when Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge ran a marathon in Vienna, Austria in 1:59:40 to become the first athlete to run a sub two-hour marathon. However, the result did not count as an official record because it was not run under race conditions. "It was an amazing experience being involved in something like that. The only thing that made you a little bit nervous was that you didn't want to trip him over, or you didn't want to make a big mistake. So it was more mental nerves than actually knowing that you could do it. When we were warming up, just before we started, he came over and wished me good luck. I was like, 'Man, I've gotta run five kilometres, you've gotta run 42. I should be saying good luck to you, mate'. That's just the kind of guy he is. He went out of his way to wish his pacers luck. After seeing him breaking that barrier, you start thinking you can break barriers in your own running too." (ineos159challenge.com, 12 Oct 2019; sportingnews.com, 05 Feb 2020)

FARM UPBRINGING
He grew up alongside his twin brother on their family's farm on King Island, an island off the northern coast of Tasmania, Australia. "I don't think there is a better place for kids to grow up. I certainly miss the easygoing nature of the island, but it's always great when I get to go home and train on my family farm for a few weeks over Christmas. It's also nice to catch up with my mates from the island. I don't get to see as much of them now that I spend a lot of time travelling. I remember as a kid dreaming of representing Australia at major championships, so to continue to make Australian teams each year is extremely motivating." (runnerstribe.com, 05 Jan 2018; runnerstribe.com, 20 Nov 2018; abc.net.au, 08 Jul 2018)