When Inside Triathlon magazine recently picked its "15 Greatest Male Triathletes of All Time," it saturated the list with statistic-filled bios for all but one of those deemed idol-worthy.

The exception was Dave Scott. Here was all that the editors, revved up with reverence, wrote:

He's Dave "The Man" Scott. Enough said.

It was taken as a given that readers knew all about Scott and the lore surrounding his dominance during triathlon's infancy and adolescence. The Davis native won six Hawaii Ironman World Championships in the 1980s, but perhaps is best known for placing second to Mark Allen in an epic 1989 tussle that remains the closest Ironman finish in history.

Triathlon, essentially, grew up along with Scott. He may not have made much money in those early days – his prize for winning the third-ever Hawaii Ironman was a T-shirt – but he gained lasting fame. Even now, with nearly a million people yearly competing in races of varying lengths and with top pros earning $110,000 for a Hawaii Ironman title, Scott's accomplishments grow more storied to those immersed in the sport.

But Scott, who will be at the Swimstitute in Rancho Cordova on April 30 for an intensive, two-day triathlon clinic, is hardly one to wallow in past glory.

Now living in Boulder, Colo., Scott, 57, has become one of the sport's top coaches – guiding such pros at Ironman champ Chrissie Wellington of Great Britain and U.S. Olympian Matty Reed. He also travels the globe giving speeches and clinics about a sport he took up on a whim back in 1976 after graduating from the University of California, Davis.

We recently talked with Scott by phone from Boulder, where he said "I'm just about to crack the whip on 35 (triathletes) in the pool."

You've been called the Babe Ruth of the triathlon. Does that give you pride or just make you feel old?

I am old. When I started this sport, I really had no idea it'd become a bona fide sport and that it'd grow to the extent it has. It reached 72 countries now.

Given all the advancements in triathlon in 30 years since you won your first Ironman, do you ever look at some of training, fueling and race preparation you did and kind of cringe and say, "How did I ever survive that?" Or were you pretty advanced back in the day?

I thought I was advanced based on my background. But we were all naive back then. I do kind of cringe and wonder how I survived on only eight bananas and water during the bike (leg of the Ironman). My initial thought on training was, more is better. If I could put in more volume, I could be the best athlete. That's really not the case. We know that now.

What we're seeing now is that a lot of the best athletes, like Craig Alexander and Chris McCormack, come up from doing Olympic distance racing. We, Mark Allen and I, did as well. Maybe it's going full circle back to building up to the Ironman.

But training? We were experimenting in training and going into the race. I'd eat 20 figs during the bike ride because they were calorically dense and had a high water content. But they are loaded with fiber and are dreadful for you. I was able to survive, but …

Do you ever think how fast you could've gone had you had all the advancements triathletes have today?

Time doesn't lie. (The Hawaii Ironman in Kona) kept the same course and I think my time and Mark's in the '89 race are still the second- and third-fastest times all-time in Kona. But the difference between '89 and now is the bike technology. The bikes are rockets now.

Did you even have aero bars and carbon fiber frames when you first started?

No, no, no. By '89, we did have (aero bars) but they were on a steel bike and they were heavy. We thought we were riding the latest and greatest, but it's nowhere close to what they're on now.

When it comes to training, has the philosophy changed since the early days? Now, are coaches saying that you really can't train for each discipline separately, that it has to be triathlon specific?

You still have to look at each three independently in developing the skill. But once you've got the skill set, that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a good triathlete. I've seen this a lot in the sport. We could have the most accomplished world-class runner who says, "Just wait until I get off the bike and watch me blitz the run," and there's many who've been humbled on the run and relegated to a walk on the run leg.

You have to look at the energy demands put together with the fueling demands. That's a science in doing that, making sure you're economical in all three (disciplines). You can't get away with training once or twice a week on the bike and rely on great riding skills to win the day. That'll never happen.

Listening to you say that, I was thinking about Lance Armstrong, who has hired (famed marathoner) Alberto Salazar to be his running coach. Lance will obviously smoke everybody on the bike, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be a great age-group triathlete, right?

I think Lance, for one, would never want to be categorized as an "age-group" guy.

Fair enough. But he's not going to beat (top triathletes) McCormack or Alexander, right? He's not going to win in Kona?

No, he's not. I think a lot of people are pretty presumptuous that he can step into the sport after being out of it for 20 years. He's no spring stallion right now, as far as age. … To me, it's absolutely impossible for him (to win), even though he has the skill set and was a darn good age-group young teenage triathlete phenom. All the people within the sport are saying, "I hope he can do well," but the reality is the clock doesn't lie. He's going to have to not only ride his bike (112) miles darn fast but also run faster than he has in a solo marathon recently.

I guess that doesn't bode well for Lance.

No, it doesn't. He is a phenomenal athlete. No one would ever question that. I think if he had a bigger ramp-up time, if he decides to do Hawaii Ironman … well, he's got his work cut out. He (first) needs to be confident doing a half-Ironman and then step it up to a full.

With the phenomenal growth in triathlon, has it lost some its purity? Has it become too corporate? It certainly is an expensive sport. Does that price some people out?

I think it's lost a lot of people. It's become a huge, gigantic business. It's a large segment of all those industries, from sunglasses to wheels and also the (benefits to the) economies of communities. I still like the little guy and I enjoy going to some of the smaller races. I'm going to one in Maryland called the Savage Man and the Silverman outside Las Vegas.

Why has the rest of the world not only caught up with the United States when it comes to producing top triathletes, but surpassed it?

The growth of triathlon here limits the opportunity in this country for our youths to develop because the requirements to stay up with your peers and be on some club can be limiting. We don't have the big upsurge in young talent because we aren't developing it. You go across Europe and New Zealand and Australia, and their club programs are tremendous. Look (now) at where the top athletes are coming from.

I saw that you're going to give a weeklong bike clinic in the Spanish countryside this summer. Life must be pretty good if you get paid to hang out in Spain, right?

Let's just say the sport's evolved. In my first four Ironman races, I just got a T-shirt to where it is now where they get a lot of zeroes on their paycheck. Even my sixth win in '86 I got $10,000 and now it's $200,000, counting sponsorship money. But I've created a lot of different avenues for myself.

Do you like traveling to clinics?

It'll be fun to come out in Sacramento and see folks I know. A lot of times, I get people who say, "Oh, my dad knew you."

Are you still getting as much satisfaction coaching as you did when you ran the Davis Aquatic Masters just out of college?

Well, I do have a group here (in Boulder) right now. I've got a good mixture. I coach elites, Olympic athletes and age-groupers. I have beginners who are just getting started. So, yes, it gives me as much satisfaction as back in Davis.

DAVE SCOTT TRIATHLON CLINIC

Hall of Famer Dave Scott will hold a two-day triathlon clinic April 30-May 1 at the Swimstitute, 11335 Folsom Blvd., Unit B, Rancho Cordova. Cost is $299 and is limited to 40 participants. The clinic includes eight hours of technical and biomechanical support and lectures, as well as promotional triathlon items. Call (916) 851-0840 or go to www.swimstitute.com.

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