Charlotte McShane
Charm McShane was born in Scotland and represents Australia. She got the triathlon bug watching her father compete in the Kona Ironman when she was 11.
- ITU U23 World Championships
- 2 x competitor at Commonwealth Games
- European Cup Silver medal winner
Growing up she would follow her older sisters and father to triathlons and cross-country running events around the UK. It was no surprise when Charlotte entered her first kid’s triathlon when she was seven years old and she found something that she loved.
Charm was competing in long distance events by age 15.
In 2008, aged 18, she became U20 Xterra World Triathlon Champion, and was competing against full professionals.
By next year she was winning the gold medals at the Elite Female Victorian Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships. She repeated this at the Elite Female Murrayman South Australian Long Distance Championships, and at the Elite Female Northern Territory Long Distance Championships.
In 2010 she won the European Cup silver medal and at the Grand Final of the World Championship Series in Budapest.
In 2013, Charm finished 20th overall in the ITU World Series rankings. She also won the ITU U23 World Championships in London, her second world title.
She competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games where she came 11th in the women’s event. This matched her 2018 result.
In an unusual progression she’s moved from long course racing to become one of the best short course athletes around. Her small frame makes her quick on the bike, and she is a great runner, using strong tactics to position herself well in events. Charlotte says if she’s given six hours to chop down a tree she’d use the first four to sharpen the axe.
Turning Vegan
Charm is known as an enthusiastic animal lover and loves spending time with her dogs. As a vegan Charlotte enjoys experimenting with new cooking ideas whenever her schedule allows some downtime. “I’ve been a vegan for a very long time and I believe it’s the right diet for me, it’s the right way of living for me, so if others are inspired than an athlete can be a vegan, I think that’s great.”
Training for the win
“Every day is a little bit different. I wake up around seven thirty. Most mornings I go for a run around eight o’clock. I run eight to ten kilometres in the morning. And then I go back to the apartment, have breakfast, and then we swim at 10:30, I swim around four kilometres. In the afternoon I normally go for a cycle and ride around 60 kilometres.
“My coach sets up my training and I follow that so I don’t have to think about numbers or stats –I’m not obsessed with them, but I do know some athletes that are.I like running the most because you can do it anywhere and it’s so easy and to me running feels really natural. I don’t enjoy swimming as much, swimming is my weakness. I enjoy pushing myself and seeing how far I can go and I enjoy setting goals and trying to reach them. It feels addictive.”
“When you’re not racing you’re training, and when you are not training you are resting so you can then train again. So your whole life revolves around it. Although it’s important to once you’ve stopped your training session to then go and do something a little bit more normal. Maybe just going for a coffee or not talking about training. That’s important.”
She also has plans, which are mainly to continue competing.
“The Olympics is the pinnacle of this sport that I do and my sponsors know that’s where I wanted to go to and want to go to in the future.”