Jake Birtwhistle has urged Triathlon Australia to learn from Canada's winning formula at next year's Olympic Games.
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And he believes a fellow Tasmanian could be ideal for the role.
Birtwhistle's former European training partner Tyler Mislawchuk was a surprise winner at the Olympic test triathlon in August having only podiumed once before at the top level.
However, having two fellow Canadians working for him in Tokyo helped the 25-year-old to victory and Birtwhistle would be keen to see Australia adopt similar tactics for the real deal on the same course next July.
"He had two people working for him and won for the first time," said the Launceston 24-year-old.
"When people have done that in the past it always works.
"It makes a huge difference and is too big a coincidence.
"If you know you have someone there to help if something goes wrong there is a lot less stress.
"The more you have to work on the bike, the more it takes away from the run and if you have someone to work for you, it makes life a lot easier."
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The highest-placed Australian at the test event, Birtwhistle also claimed two World Triathlon Series victories plus Sunday's Noosa Triathlon, is the top-ranked triathlete in Oceania and believes his Olympic chances would be substantially enhanced if he had teammates working for him.
Australia could send as many as three triathletes in each gender to Tokyo and Birtwhistle said Cameron Wurf could come into the frame after following up his fifth place at the ironman world championships by announcing his desire to return to the Olympics.
The Sandy Bay 36-year-old competed in rowing at the 2004 Games in Athens before a decade-long career as a WorldTour cyclist after which he switched to ironman triathlons.
Having been a front-runner at the Hawaii world titles for three years running, Wurf said he would love to return to the Olympic stage to team up with his fellow Tasmanian.
Needing to be among the top 140 in the International Triathlon Union world rankings to be eligible for selection, Wurf plans to start earning ranking points in a world cup race in the Dominican Republic on Sunday, November 10.
"Potentially, Cam could be that support person," Birtwhistle said.
"It would be a big ask. But I talk to him quite a bit and he wants to go to another Olympics.
"He is obviously super strong on the bike which plays more of a role in ironman although his weaknesses in swim and run [over the shorter Olympic distance] may be really exposed.
"But the guy has been an Olympic rower, a WorldTour cyclist and now top-five in world ironman so whatever he does, he's doing something right so you can never rule him out.
"I'll be watching his world cup with interest. It will be interesting to see where he comes out of the water."
Wurf is confirmed on the start list of the elite men's race at the Santo Domingo ITU Triathlon World Cup.
"I've been 100 per cent focused on it since Kona," he told The Examiner.
"I have until mid May to get the qualification points and earn my spot. The goal for Tokyo is obviously to have Jake win two golds and I'd love to be a part of that mixed relay as well."
Wurf is the only Australian among the 65 entrants and the second oldest behind Czech Jan Celustka.
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Rob Shaw
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
Heralding the impact of Tasmanian sport without saying "punching above its weight" is not as easy as it sounds.
