A small but dedicated team of GE Great Britain Age Group Team duathletes delivered two gold medals from the 2011 Zofingen ITU Powerman Long Distance Duathlon World Championships last weekend on 3 and 4 September 2011.

Julia Matheson finished over 14 minutes ahead of her nearest rival to claim the female 45-49 age group title. Julia from Stoke-on-Trent was also the fifth fastest female overall with a finishing time of 08:01.41.

In the men’s race, Daniel Bailey won gold in the male 20-24 age group finishing in 07:23.14. Fellow Briton, Mike Page won gold in the Powerman event finishing time of 07:10.33 to win the 25-29 age group.

There was also a GE Great Britain Team of three elite duathletes racing with Michelle Parsons finishing ninth, Matt Moorhouse in sixth and Oliver Mott in 12th position.

Malcolm Westwood, British Triathlon Director for Age Group, added: “It’s great to see the ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships reinstated into the ITU schedule this year and the Swiss scenery certainly provided a world class setting for the event. Although we only had a small GE Great Britain Age Group Team making the trip this year, to leave with two gold medals from just seven athletes is a real achievement and will hopefully inspire more duathletes to take part next year.”

The 2011 British Triathlon Inter Regional Championships take place on Sunday 4 September at Hetton Lyons Country Park in Tyne and Wear.

The event will see young triathletes from triathlonscotland, Welsh Triathlon and each of the Triathlon England regions compete not only for individual honours but also for the coveted team title, which was won by the Yorkshire and Humberside region in 2010.

Young triathletes from each Home Nation have been battling throughout the year to qualify for their team and take part in an event that is hosted by the North East and Yorkshire and Humberside regions of Triathlon England in conjunction with British Triathlon.

Josh Murchie will make his third consecutive appearance for the triathlonscotland team and believes the current Scotland squad has what it takes to return home triumphant.

“It has always been an aim of mine every season, to qualify for the IRC squad and to represent Scotland is a great honour.

“Being part of a team spurs you on to do well. We always have a chance of winning and this year is no different as we have a strong squad with lots of talented young triathletes coming through, which is good for the future of Scottish triathlon.”

Successful triathletes race in their age groups across varying distances, with the youngest triathletes completing a 200m open water swim, 5.5km bike and 1.8km run while the older racers tackle a 400m open water swim, 10.9km bike and 3km run. Team points are awarded to each triathlete depending on their finishing positions.

The event will also host the Grand Final of the 2011 British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series, with the youth race and additional junior elite event counting towards the overall ranking positions.

Sophie Coldwell fresh from a silver medal team winning performance at the 2011 ETU Youth Triathlon European Championships in Tours last weekend will be racing and as long as she finishes in the top two places, will claim the title in the Youth Super Series. Miles Burton faces a similar predicament, needing to finish in the top two to win in the boy’s event.

Gordon Benson (first overall) and Marc Austin (second overall) are both not racing in the male Junior Super Series event taking a break before Beijing after winning team gold in Tours. Their absence provides an opportunity for Cameron Milne, Grant Sheldon, Peter Anderson and Andrew Christy to overtake them both at the top of the leader board.

The current leader of the female Junior Super Series, Lucy Hall is also racing in Beijing. Lucy’s absence will open the door for George Schwiening, Alex McKibben, Emily McLoughlin, Victoria Johnston and Zoe Thomas all in with a chance of winning gold.
 

A small but dedicated team of seven GE Great Britain Age Group Team duathletes travel to Switzerland this weekend as they look to bring home gold at the 2011 Zofingen ITU Powerman Long Distance Duathlon World Championships on 3 and 4 September 2011.

The GE Great Britain Age Group Team will consist of:

•    Sue Stockley - F40-44
•    Julia Matheson - F45-49
•    Daniel Bailey - M20-24
•    David Cookson  - M30-34
•    David Robinson - M35-39
•    Nigel Stevens - M50-54
•    Paul Brennan - M50-54  

There is also a GE Great Britain Team of three elite duathletes racing, including Michelle Parsons, Matt Moorhouse and Oliver Mott.

The event will see competitors complete a 10km run, 150km bike and 30km run. The first run consists of two 5km laps on what is a demanding course with half the route taking duathletes along undulating paths through the Swiss forests.

The bike course will be a scenic and hilly route, as competitors complete three 50km laps. Duathletes will then embark on a challenging second run course, again through hilly terrain. There will be turning points at 7.5km and 22.5km on the 30km course.

Malcolm Westwood, British Triathlon Director for Age Group, added: “The ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships has been missing from the ITU schedule for the past few years, so it’s great to see the event reinstated. Although we only have a small team making the trip this year, we really hope to see it grow and re-establish the race as a fully supported event on our age group calendar. I am thrilled that we will have a team of duathletes, who can continue our medal winning performances at major championships this year.”
 

British Triathlon is delighted to congratulate our Director for Major Events, Ian Braid and Chief Executive, Zara Hyde Peters OBE, who have been selected by UK Sport onto their International Leadership Programme for 2012.

The International Leadership Programme, launched in 2006 is part of UK Sport’s commitment to continuous improvement of world class personnel, who are contributing towards British influence in the international sporting environment. National Governing Bodies nominate excellent candidates, who are either active or have potential to be highly effective in this arena, by helping them to increase their own presence, credibility and influence.

Ian Braid, Director for Major Events was delighted to be selected, commenting: “I am delighted to have been accepted on UK Sport's International Leadership Programme as I believe that it will help me in my Chairmanship of the ITU Sustainability Commission and enable me to learn and develop from the course, the other delegates and the ILP alumni. This is a great opportunity and I very much look forward to the start of the programme in September."

Chief Executive of British Triathlon, Zara Hyde Peters OBE added: “To be accepted onto the UK Sport International Leadership Programme is a great opportunity to work with so many talented individuals from across the sporting community.  Triathlon has already benefited hugely from the programme and with two of our senior Directors in the latest recruitment, our fast growing, dynamic and modern Olympic sport will have even more people working to increase our influence and succeed our current leaders in the forum of international triathlon.”

British Triathlon has already celebrated three successful graduates from the programme. Jem Lawson, British Triathlon Director for Triathlon England, Tom Chambers, British Triathlon Director for triathlonscotland and earlier this year Chris Kitchen, Director for Performance have all graduated from the UK Sport initiative.

In celebrating UK Sport’s announcement, Sarah Springman, President of British Triathlon and Vice President of International Triathlon Union, commented:

“On behalf of our organisation, I wish them both success over the coming year and congratulate them for being considered world class delegates by UK Sport. With three successful graduates already, we can expect even greater things from our new nominees.

“British Triathlon is hugely impressed with the International Leadership Programme and has taken every advantage of this valuable opportunity to improve our ability to contribute at all levels of governance internationally. In the future, I hope that many more nominees from British Triathlon can participate in, contribute to and learn from the UK Sport programme and achieve their personal triathlon challenges.”

To find out more about the programme, visit: www.uksport.gov.uk
 

Triathlon England is pleased to offer places on a free Level 1 Officials workshop  on 9 October. This is a chance to get qualified with the expert guidance of a Level 4 National Technical Official and the regional Officials Coordinator. The Level 1 qualification is a home study pack, but this workshop will assist you in completing the award with support and the opportunity to ask questions.


Cost: £Free

Workshop venue:
Sir John Beckwith Building
Loughborough University
Loughborough
LE11 3TU

The course will commence at 10am.

For further information and an application form please contact Gavin Passmore

gavinpassmore@triathlonengland.org
07739526561

Further information on officials can be found online
 

The 20th Anniversary British Triathlon Club Relay Championships took place on 27 to 28 August with over 2,000 competitors racing to win a coveted British Championships at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham.

Fastest team of the weekend and top senior male honours went to Loughborough Triathlon (Josh Cardwell, Matt Sharp, Bradley Hales and David Bishop) finishing in an impressive 3:00.21 in tough windy conditions. Blue Seventy TFN took Silver position by over five minutes from RedVenom.co.uk in bronze. 

TFN and Loughborough continued their successful weekend in the mixed event. Leading the mixed teams was Blue Seventy TFN taking the title from Bike Science by 39 seconds with Loughborough finishing third in what was an exciting race for spectators and competitors alike.

Ellie Walton and her Optima racing team commented: "The fantastic atmosphere spurred us on to try our best and end our season with a high, winning the junior team race."

It was also a successful weekend for COLT and 4LifeTri securing silver and bronze respectively. Optima Racing team dominated the male junior race taking the top spot in style by over four minutes. It was a close race for second and third with Geordie Juniors just having the edge over 4Life Academy.

BRAT tri showed impressive form in the male vet categories winning team gold in both the 40+ and 50+ categories. Hillingdon Triathletes secured silver by 29 seconds from the L Super Stars in Bronze. The Army gave a gutsy performance to take silver in the male 50+ event with Thornbury Running Club in Bronze place.

Winning the senior ladies title for the first time was the Army Tri Team (Lizzy Hill, Hannah Bedford, Becky Hoare and Sarah Thomas) with BRAT Tri taking silver and PoliceSport UK in bronze position. 

One Life Racing continued their winning streak taking the over 40’s title for the third year running. Angela Wylie and Claire Jackson of One Life Racing commented: "This event is always good fun, has great atmosphere and is well organised."

Cambridge Tri took the silver with Ryton Tri securing bronze. Competitive racing continued in the 50+ Female category. Seven Oaks tri took top honours with Esporta Brighton in second and another podium spot for BRAT Tri in third place.

The weekend was a great success with a fantastic atmosphere and competitive racing throughout. It reflected the hard work of the organisers and volunteers as this event continues to grow year on year.

The event was being organised by One Step Beyond with more information available on www.onestepbeyond.org.uk

Provisional results are available on http://www.racetimingsystems.com/public/default.aspx and the One Step Beyond website.
 

The standings for the Welsh Triathlon Grand Prix series after the first two rounds - ISCA Duathlon and Llandudno Standard Distance.

The Final counting event is the Poppit Sands Aquathlon on September 4th, which also incorporates the Welsh Triathlon Aquathlon Championships.

Standings

The GE Great Britain Triathlon Team enjoyed more relay success with gold and silver this weekend at the 2011 ETU Youth Triathlon European Championships in Tours, France.

Competing over a 350m swim, 9km bike and a 2.5km run, each 15-17 year old athlete completed a their own super-sprint triathlon before handing over to their teammate, with the aim being to replicate the senior success enjoyed at the ITU Team World Championships in Lausanne last weekend.

Marc Austin (Glasgow), Miles Burton (Bath) and Gordon Benson (Leeds) combined to win gold after a strong start by Austin.

Burton, who is just 15, extended the lead along with the French, German, Russian and Hungarian teams and handed over to Benson for the final leg.

In an exciting finale, an excellent run by Benson propelled the British team to the front and onto the top of the podium. Russia finished second and France just beat Hungary in a sprint finish for third. However, the French claimed silver and the Hungarians were elevated to bronze following the disqualification of the Russians for not serving a time penalty.

On the women's side Sophie Coldwell (Nottingham) and Ellen McArthur (Yorkshire) joined 15 year old Kate Curran from Dartford to claim the silver medals.

Coldwell led from the start with France and Hungary, and an unassailable lead was established by these three teams over the over the rest of the field during the second leg.

France opened a gap on the final bike leg, and had over a minute lead on to the run. They went on to win comfortably with Curran securing silver over the Hungarians following a close battle.

GE Great Britain Team:
Sophie Coldwell, 16, Nottingham
Kate Curran, 15, Dartford
Ellen McArthur, 16, Wetherby, Yorkshire

Marc Austin, 17, Glasgow
Gordon Benson, 17, Leeds
Miles Burton, 15, Bath