One of triathlon's most successful competitors, Dave Scott, will be in Bermuda in just over two weeks' time to share his vast experience with a local audience during a weekend clinic at Sonesta Beach.

Covering each of the three disciplines -- swimming, cycling and running -- as well as nutrition and training principles, Scott has plenty to offer in advice, having spent nearly 20 years in the sport.

Scott is recognised as one of the greats of triathlon but at 41 (42 in January) he acknowledges that his days as a competitor are numbered.

"I'm focusing my energy on instruction and teaching, doing different clinics and longer camps and coaching athletes and starting a club programme here in Boulder as well as doing some promotion with some companies,'' said Scott from his Colorado office.

"I have a clothing line which is doing quite well so I'm actively involved with that.'' Scott, who competed in a Bermuda triathlon in the 1980s, hasn't been in action at all this year, but he did turn back the clock, with success, last October when he came out of retirement to compete in his first Ironman in five years and finished a creditable second in Hawaii in pursuit of a seventh title.

Scott completed the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile marathon run in eight hours, 24 minutes and 32 seconds which broke the 40-44 age group course record by 46 minutes. Scott had the 18th fastest swim and fourth fastest bike and run splits, accomplishments which left his opponents in awe.

The lesson learned was never underestimate the individual who put the `man' in Ironman, even after a lay-off.

"I stopped competing in the Ironman for five years and stopped racing entirely for three between '91-94,'' Scott explained. "I then turned 40 in early '94 and said well I was kind of motivated to defy some of the principles of deterioration when you get older so I selected a few races and went to the Ironman in '94.'' After proving he can compete with those several years younger, Scott vanished from the scene again, returning only to compete with those in his age group, he says.

"I raced four times in '94 and haven't raced since,'' said Scott, who is kept busy with his other interests. He remains close to the sport which made him famous not too long after his first triathlon in 1976.

"I was motivated to race (this year) but had a couple of mishaps. I broke my toe in December and that laid me up for a few weeks -- I wasn't able to run or ride for about seven weeks -- and then I got run off the road in Florida in May and banged up my elbow pretty badly, and my hip, and by then I started losing some of my psychological momentum.

"I recognised the necessity to be consistent and I'm no 23-year-old.'' At the clinic, which is being organised by local athlete Dyrone Minors, Scott will speak about the biomechanics of all three principles as well as monitoring heart rates and how to incorporate that into training. Tickets go on sale next week.

"Most of the athletes get a lot of mixed messages on training and I hope this will clarify some of the training trends and fads and give a little more concrete information on how they can put their schedules together,'' Scott said.

Nutrition and diet will also be covered during the clinics.

"Probably the more years you have been doing something the more concerned you are about tweaking your programme a little bit and diet is one component of not only being healthy but training consistently and racing optimally. I've always felt it's been pretty vital but a lot of people think `well I can burn 5,000 calories a day and eat as much junk food as I want'.

"I stepped into the sport in 1976 and there wasn't any information on the sport because it was on the ground floor. My background was I used to coach before I was competing and I have a background in exercise physiology so I have always been pretty keen on how your body responds and how far you can push it in certain degrees and what the recovery rate is.'' Added Scott: "Triathlon takes a heck of a lot of work, there is no other sport that takes as much as time as this sport. I came from a swimming background but swimming has been the weakest of my three over the last 12 years, even though I spent a lot of years in the water and swam in college.

"I picked up the cycling and running a lot faster. In the last eight or 10 years probably the best event has been my running, certainly the longer distance. I don't run very smoothly but I seem to have the perseverence at the end.

"In the Ironman last year my cycling was very, very good and my running let me down by one place.'' Scott's last Ironman triumph was in 1987, having won it in 1980, '82, '83, '84 and '86. He was second in '89 before taking the five-year break and returning in '94 to finish four minutes and five seconds behind winner Greg Welch, whom he described as "one tough Aussie''.

"The biggest thing in competition for any older athlete is you've got to be hungry and motivated and your heart's got to tell you you're going to do it,'' Scott added.

"This sport is completely different, you have to have your heart in training because the magnitude of training for Ironman is just tremendous.''