Core Merino Field Tester Rob Tweddle

Avid Surfer and Trail Runner Rob Tweddle puts Core Merino to the test

We recently caught up with avid surfer and trail runner, Rob Tweddle. He is from Cape Town and recently came on board as a Core Merino brand ambassador. Check out our interview here.

So far, what has been your most memorable moment as an athlete?

Winning the B final for Board Rescue at lifesaving World Champs in Adelaide, 2018.

What keeps your soul refreshed? Do you have any hobbies outside of sports that you latch onto when you have downtime?

I’m super passionate about gardening and have a little veggie patch that keeps me pretty busy in between everything else.

You’ve gone on some pretty epic adventures, any favourites in particular?

Hiking up and spending the night in the Hoare Hut in the Hex River Mountains has to be up there. It’s a pretty grueling hike to get up there and you really feel like you are on top of the world with no one around when you are there. It’s a pretty amazing place.

Another favorite is a dream surfing trip where a few friends and myself drove through Namibia to surf the best wave in the world. It took us 23 hours to get there so it was pretty epic to arrive to incredible waves.

You are an avid surfer and heavily involved with surf lifesaving but have recently gotten into trail running. What sparked your interest in trail running?

I’ve always enjoyed hiking and did a bit of cross country running in school but running was never that enjoyable for me (although I wasn’t too bad at it). It was only in the last 2 or so years that I really got into running (more specifically trail running). A few of my friends were getting quite into it but I struggled to get into it until I started dating Bianca Tarboton (Salomon Athlete). She helped me to get into running and now I’m hooked, haha.

What’s ahead for you? Do you have any exciting projects or events on the horizon?

With Corona and all that’s going on, all my big events and plans for the year have kind of been messed around. A group of us from Llandudno lifesaving club were meant to compete at Lifesaving World Champs in Italy in September but that subsequently got canceled. At the moment everything is really uncertain but I just plan to go with the flow and hopefully do a couple of trail races as things ease up.

What does a typical week of training look like for you?

Summer is all about lifesaving and surfing which means that I spend most of my time training on the beach. In peak season we are training 5 to 6 days a week doing a lot of beach running, ocean swimming, paddling and a bit of gym in between (plus squeezing in surfs wherever I can). I also probably run in the trails about once a week with Bianca.

In winter it’s all about surfing and trail running. I usually run about 2 to 3 times a week and then surf most days that allow and then have a gym session with a trainer once a week.

Give us a peek into your bucket list. What are a few places you want to visit or personal goals you’re striving for?

I feel like I still have a lot to achieve on the surfing front and I’d love to spend some time (somewhere down the line) exploring places like Ireland, Portugal, Indonesia and Tahiti in search of waves. I’d also really like to spend more time exploring South Africa both in search of waves and new trails. I do most of the things I do out of passion so my main goal a lot of the time is to just make sure I’m having fun and still enjoying everything. That being said I’m always trying to push the boundaries of my comfort zone so that’s also a bit of a motivator for me.

What is your impression of your Core Merino products?

Core Merino is a perfect fit for my lifestyle. What I really like is that there are products that cater for pretty much all of my training and adventuring needs. Plus they are so nice to wear!

Rob Tweddle tested our Core Merino Short Sleeve Crew T-Shirt Men