Dec-20: European Duathlon Championships date change

After the failure to have a European championships in 2000 after the Bath event sank it now looks as though the ETU event (as opposed to anything the TCfE might put together) will take place, slightly later than originally scheduled, in Oporto between the 5th and 8th of July 2001. Details, of sorts, on the ETU website.

Dec-19: Tim Don gets Personal Best award

Tim Don picked up one of the Kellogs Personal Best awards, along with 97 other athletes selected by the BOA. Each gets a share of the £100,000 prize fund and an equivalent amount goes to their nominated school or club. We believe that Tim donated his to the Sigma Sport club in West London. Top man, perhaps he can afford to get that perm straightened out now!

Here's the Reuters piece

This is the original, unedited version of the Reuters piece that we referred to yesterday. Anyone who saw the Teletext version yesterday will realise that this has just a bit more substance to it.

Triathlon - World champion leads rebellion over breakaway
By Steven Downes LONDON, Dec 18 (Reuters)

Britain's leading triathletes, led by three-time world champion Simon Lessing, have called for the resignation of their national governing body's chairman because of fears that they will be barred from lucrative races in Europe in 2001 in the sport's first post-Olympic season. French triathletes are also considering their action after they were informed that they would be barred from competing in the lucrative European Cup race series next summer. Britain and France were among eight nations who earlier this month announced the formation of a breakaway Triathlon Councilin Europe (TCE), as a rival to the long-established European Triathlon Union (ETU), which organises annual continental championship and European Cup races in the burgeoning professional sport, which made its Olympic debut at the Sydney Games and was recently confirmed as being on the programme of sports in at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

A petition signed by more than 20 of Britain's top performers, including Lessing, reigning European champion Andrew Johns and double world junior champion Annelise Heard, was handed in to a meeting of the ruling executive board of the British Triathlon Association (BTA) on Saturday. The petition called for a vote of no confidence in the BTA chairman, Mick English, on five points including his "provocative involvement in the newly formed Triathlon Council in Europe without at any time consulting the athletes". English was announced as the Triathlon Council in Europe's founder president. Despite the vote of no confidence from British triathletes, English did not resign as BTA chairman immediately. None of the petition's signatories, contacted by Reuters, wanted to speak on the record, but one said, "It's ridiculous. The European races are our livelihood, and now that's under threat. The BTA board did not consult us about this move. It's just a political powerplay, and we are being used as the pawns."

The BTA declined to comment to Reuters, but is believed to be preparing a statement for release later on Monday. In France, elite triathletes havebeen told that they will be barred from competing in ETU races in 2001. This looks certain to cause a clash between the athletes and officials, sincemost of France's top triathletes are sponsored by equipment manufacturers Arena - who also sponsor the ETU's European Cup series. In a recent interview, Olivier Marceau, the Frenchman who won the world championship last April, spoke of how he intends to race in the 2001 European Cup series: "I want to do the European Cup because the events are varied and the atmosphere is always is very good."

Dec-18: BTA may be reconsidering its position

Having been away for a week and watching the rumblings over the BTA/ETU/TCfE issue it was not too surprising to get an email this morning that included a reference to a Reuters piece on Simon Lessing making representations to the BTA at the weekend about their position vis a vis the new Council, the ITU and the ETU. This follows on from at least one member looking to get an Extraordinary General Meeting convened. We can't give a reference for the Reuters piece as it isn't on their website.

An email to the BTA asking for clarification resulted in the following statement (note that nobody seems to know if it's the Council in, for or of Europe...):

Executive Board of the British Triathlon Association states their position on European Triathlon Union and Triathlon Council in Europe

The Executive Board of the British Triathlon Association (BTA) met on the 16 December 2000. The meeting instructed the Chief Executive and Chairman to enter into dialogue with the European Triathlon Union (ETU) and to seek a resolution of the issues, which have lead to the creation of the Triathlon Council of Europe (TCE).

The BTA confirms its intention to remain affiliated to the ETU until such time as its membership decides otherwise.

The BTA will continue to support the broad aims of the TCE and hope that through discussion the issues which gave rise to the creation of the council can be resolved in the interests of all European athletes.

The British Triathlon Association welcomes and seeks to confirm assurances from both the ETU and the International Triathlon Union (ITU) that athletes from all European nations will continue to be able to participate in Championships and other events sanctioned by either body.

The BTA notes that both the ETU and ITU intend to call meetings of all the European Triathlon Federations in January 2001. We call for one meeting to be held involving the representatives of all European Federations, the ETU, ITU and TCE. We further recommend that this meeting be chaired by an independent person of some standing in international sport.

There are a couple of really interesting points here: the BTA is staying affiliated to the ETU, even though the ETU claim that the BTA haven't paid their fees for 2000 or settled the Bath issue, and the BTA are obviously worried that athletes will be barred from ETU events. The French have taken the other tack and barred their own athletes from the ETU's events! Signs that the TCfE is already following diverse policies. There's more to come!!

Dec-09: BTA downsizes HQ staff

We heard a rumour that two of the staff positions at BTA HQ were being declared redundant so we asked Norman Brooks for an official comment:

Following the appointment of the new Chief Executive, Norman Brook, the British Triathlon Association is restructuring its business operation to ensure that the association can deliver its objectives whilst remaining financially viable. As part of this re-structuring two salaried positions within the British Triathlon Association are being made redundant, those of Events Co-ordinator and Young Peoples Officer. The British Triathlon Association has had to offer redundancy terms in respect of one of these positions. The other post had become vacant and will not be replaced.

Norman Brook, Chief Executive of the British Triathlon Association stated "If the association is to prosper and implement programmes of best practice, it will need to have a sound financial base, an appropriate structure and a clear and agreed strategy. Some difficult decisions have had to be made to ensure that we place the association in a position from which it can move forward. Hopefully as the sport develops we will increase both salaried and non-salaried positions. In the short term however we need to become a leaner more efficient organisation."

From the perspective of a race organiser it has been clear that since Stuart Coulson took on the position of Events Co-ordinator things have been better at HQ. That's not to say that the staff up there don't do a great job, just that there is so much to do that having a dedicated events co-ordinator makes things much easier. Now that the position has gone, and just at the point where all the events (and affiliated clubs) are being registered, it remains to be seen how the situation will develop. On a personal level, his enthusiasm will be missed and I hope he can find time to race again.

Dec-08: ETU responds to TCfE formation

The ETU have responded to the breakaway with a press release on their website. It's also been pointed out that only NGBs can be affiliated to the ITU, the ETU exists as an association of member countries, so I've corrected yesterday's news item. I'm sure this will run and run!

Dec-07: BTA press release on formation of Triathlon Council for Europe

Now that the weekend's events in Paris have been ratified by the ITU and the IOC, the BTA have issued the following press release. Politics, don't you just love it...

The British Triathlon Association today welcomed the formation of the Triathlon Council in Europe in Paris last weekend (2-3 December 2000) by the National Triathlon Federations of Denmark France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Switzerland.

The Council was immediately given recognition by the Executive Board of the International Triathlon Union and other European nations are now expected to affiliate. The newly formed body was also empowered to establish an event in 2001 as a qualifying competition for European athletes to participate in the 2001 World Championships.

The decision to form the Triathlon Council for Europe, a body which will be directly affiliated to the International Triathlon Union, follows a decision by the European Triathlon Union's Executive that it is not in any way affiliated to the international body. Those National Federations, which were in attendance at meeting in Paris, were unhappy with this position.

A pro-term executive was formed at the Paris meeting to steer the formation of the new body and full elections are to be held during the World Triathlon Championships which take place in Edmonton, Canada.

Chairman of the British Triathlon Association, Mick English, was elected as the pro-term President of the Council. He stated "the aim of the new body will be to support the principles, constitution, policies, rules and regulations of International Triathlon Union. To work towards the qualification of European triathletes through ITU events in Europe for major championships, and to continue the ITU's strong commitment to Olympic programme status and Olympic ideals."

Other pro-term office bearers are Marisol Casado, Vice President, Spain; Andreas Arvanitis, Vice President, Greece; Carsten Ditlefsen, Secretary General, Denmark; Angelo Bonizi, Treasurer, Italy; Anne-Marie Gschwend, ITU Representative, Switzerland; Event Coordinator, Michel Gignoux, France; and Board Members, Enrique Quesada, Spain; Marco Sbernadori, Italy; Jacques LaParade, France ; Ioannis Psarellis, Greece; Christian Giovannini, Monaco.

Nov-24: Llanberis update

The Llanberis half Ironman website (nice site, Rob!) has now changed from being a placeholder to a full information service for the event. They confirm the 30 slots for Hawaii 2002 and you can pick up an entry form online for the event. There are course descriptions and a course profile is due soon -- the lake swim is flat, though...

There are 1,400 places available on a first come basis and the cost is £110. Interestingly they quote £115 for non-BTA members, citing the extra £5 is for a "BTA Day Licence" -- has someone been listening? The entry form also has a section for the "British Middle Distance Championship" -- the BTA haven't announced their championship races yet so somebody may have jumped the gun here.

So, what are you all waiting for? Three IM events are already sold out and we've been whinging about not having Hawaii slots for UK races -- at least not since the early 90s at Ironbridge.

Nov-21: Winter training programme

David Dunn and Ian Gummery have set up a new racing team called Team Viper sms and have put together winter training camps for the team and those who wish to come along and get the benefit of a programmed training camp. Details from David on or by mail (enclose an SAE) to 25 Rosemary Close, Peacehaven, East Sussex BN10 8BY.

BTA appoints Team Manager for the Commonwealth Games

The BTA have appointed Ian Pettitt as Team Manager for the Commonwealth Games in 2002. The appointment follows a selection panel which met on Saturday 18th and interviewed the three candidates; Dave Bellingham, Peter Coulson and Ian Pettitt.

Ian is well known and highly respected for his work with the age group teams and as a race organiser, referee and sanctioning officer. Whether this appointment will have an effect on his comeback as an active triathlete is not yet clear... Those with long memories will recall that Ian was also the BTA's first professional officer, effectively running the sport single-handedly out of an office in, I think, Brighton and driving the country in a car sponsored by Citroën. The times, they have changed!

Nov-19: Triathlete dies while training

John Lunt sent this report in just after the AGM:

"Mark Pearce, a West London triathlete, collapsed and died on Tuesday evening while out for a run. Mark was involved/trained/cycled with Thames Turbo, Kingfisher and Twickenham clubs. His first love was cycling and he raced for Twickenham CC (Spencer Smith's, Tim Don's, and Stuart Hayes's club). He raced all triathlon distances; 2 Tuffman, 3 times at Windsor, 2 Ballbusters and the Roth Ironman. He was only 39 and leaves a wife and 2 small children. He will be sadly missed."

I knew Mark while I was a member of Thames Turbo in the early 90s and the last time I spoke to him was when I stopped at Windsor a couple of years back to see if an athlete who had crashed in the Great Park needed help. That was Mark, more annoyed at the fact that he might miss Roth than anything else. He did indeed miss Roth that year but the powers that be still managed to get his name and a very decent time into the results, which puzzled a lot of us for a few days! On behalf of all triathletes, our thoughts are of him and with his family.

Updates from the BTA AGM

This is (possibly) the first time that an AGM has been held in the London area and the attendance of around 60 people, including several non-members, was significantly up on previous years. Highlight of the meeting were the presentation by new CEO Norman Brook on his vision for the next four years -- not policy yet, but at least we now have someone at the helm who has a vision! Other news:

• Paul Buxton is confirmed as the Potential Manager, £125k new funding for the Start programme
• BTA HQ will move to Loughborough
• Consultation programme with members under way
• New kit contract to be signed within the month
• BTA taking technology on board and will re-launch the website and start new electronic contact system (probably a closed egroup-type service)
• Tim Don and Steph Forrester confirmed as athletes of the year
• Windsor confirmed as event of the year

Nov-13: BTA appoints new Performance Director

The BTA have appointed Graeme Maw as the new Performance Director to replace Gregoire Millet who left earlier this Autumn to return to France. Graeme is 36, and has been working at the Queensland Academy of Sport for the past two years. He is expected to take up the post in the New Year as soon as he has settled the move from Australia and will be based at Bath. Details on the new Performance Manager, who will be based at Loughborough, are expected soon.

Nov-03: Edinburgh NYD Tri is on

Several people have now confirmed that the seminal Edindurgh New Years Day triathlon will take place and more information can be found on the Edinburgh Triathlete's Homepage.

Nov-02: Race calendar updates

Two updates from the BTA: London is tentatively scheduled for the 26th of August and Clumber Park is on the 7th of July and not the 8th as previously listed. Until the BTA calendar is officially published all the dates should be verified with the organisers...

Oct-26: Brits win AG at Xterra

Louise Williams has reported that the Duathlon.com website lists Eliot Challifour as first place 15-19 age group at last Sunday's Hawaii Xterra. The Xterra website lists him as being from Bath, UK and he came 48th overall which is a pretty solid achievement. As if that wasn't enough, Andy Blow, also listed as Bath, UK, won the 24-29 age group and came 33rd overall!

Oct-22: Free VO2 test

We received the following request from Mark Hamer, anyone interested in contributing to his research should contact him directly.

You should be male, aged 18-30yrs, with a parental history of high blood pressure, and be an endurance trained athlete (have at least 2 years experience of endurance training). Subjects will be required for a single two hour session where they will undergo a full cardiovascular assessment and VO2 max fitness test. For further information, or to arrange a testing date, please contact Mark Hamer () or telephone on (daytime): 01234-793465

Oct-15: News from the Big One

Here are the top ten male and female and all the GB finishers as of 11:00 on Sunday morning. I think that Sue Stockley must have missed the cut-off for the bike or dropped out for some reason.

Despite almost no coverage by the online media Spencer managed a very creditable 8th place so that's two top ten Hawaii places in two attempts -- not bad by anyone's standards.

Full splits including average pace and T1/T2 times at the official Ironman website.

Oct-13: Total Fitness closes in Swindon

We still don't really know what happened, or why, but it looks like Total Fitness has closed its doors in Swindon for the last time. I saw Dave Haskins (who took over the shop from Trevor Gunning in 1998) at both Spelthorne and London events and chatted with him with no hint that there was any problem. However, according to reports on the eGroup it now looks as though the shop has been closed since the weekend of London.

The Bath and Nottingham stores are, I believe, independently operated and should not be adversely affected by any problems at the Swindon store.

Oct-10: More on duathlon World Champs

There is now a full set of results available at the duathlon.com website -- the ITU website is still stuck in an Olympic timewarp... We will try to extract all the GB data in the next day or so.

Oct-09: Brits do well at duathlon

In the elite races at Calais Steph Forrester was first (2:02:02), Fiona Lothian fourth, 19 seconds behind. In the junior women Lesley Paterson was second (2:06:53) and Catherine Hare sixth (2:11:06). We also got this report from Jasmine Flatters, the GB Team Manager:

With a 200 strong age group team invading French soil at the weekend, it was the young women who set the stage for the rest of the day. Bella Comerford led from start to finish to take the World title in the 20-24 age category, and she was superbly followed by Jo Hinde in silver medal position, with Erica Fogg pulling back two places to finish with the bronze to complete the set. What a fantastic start to the day for the Great Britain team!

The scene was set for the most successful medal haul for Great Britain at any World Championships. The rest of the age groupers' medal winning performances resulted in five gold, six silver and two bronze medals in total.

Age group medal winners as follows:

Gold medal: Bella Comerford (20-24); Tom Davies (40-44); Joyce Mark (40-44); Josie Heffernan (45-49); Cyril Leigh (60-64)

Silver medal: Joanna Hinde (20-24); Diane Otley-Doe (30-34); Nicola Bedwell (35-39); Norman Butler (45-49); Keith Green (55-59); Elaine Statham (55-59)

Bronze medal: Erica Fogg (20-24); Chris Mawer (45-49)

Great Britain went on to further glory on Sunday, with Lesley Paterson taking the silver medal in the Junior race and Steph Forrester being crowned World Duathlon Champion.

All in all, a very good day at the office!

Stolen from London Triathlon

The following message came in about a wetsuit stolen from the London Triathlon.

"Could you all keep your eyes and ears open on behalf of Nick Able of the Hythe Tri Team, who had 3 day old Snugg made to measure wet suit 'borrowed' from transition at the London Triathlon and has not had it back yet. If anyone does get hold of it, could they please email or ring 01303 863574."

Oct-08: World Duathlon Championships

No news at all out of Calais (apart from a rumour about the organiser being so annoyed at the ITU that he took his team off site and left them to run the event...) and nothing yet on either the ITU website or duathlon.com.

Oct-05: Sigma Sport repeats hill climb challenge

Sigma Sport, the professional cyclist cum triathlete shop in Hampton Wick are running their annual Ranmore Hill Climb on Sunday 22nd October. The race HQ is at Rykas Cafe in the shadow of Box Hill and the climb itself goes up the other side of the valley. I've not done the event but I have climbed the hill many times and it's not as tough as, say, Coombe Bottom but that does mean that they go up it faster.

The event starts at 10.30, Rykas opens at 8am, it costs £4.50 to enter and there's a £200 cash first prize and a pair of Rolf wheels if you break the course record. Forms are available from either Sigma Sport or the RTTC and must be in by Oct-17. Details from Sigma Sport on (020) 8943 4443.

Oct-04: NZ triathlete coming to the UK?

According to a story posted to the eGroup by Howard Baker there's an article in today's New Zealand Herald stating that Paul Amey is about to make the change from New Zealand to GB status. We await comment from the BTA...

London in decline?

As one of the BTA technical team at London it always seemed that the numbers were slightly thinner on the ground than the 3,000 that they had been claiming but it's never easy to tell until you get the results. We now have those from their website and so here's the running total of finishers:

One point to note is that a relay team counts as THREE finishers which distorts the total finishers number (as it always has).

Oct-02: UK to get WTC Ironman

To anyone who reads a newspaper in North Wales this is probably old hat, but even the BTA seems to think that the fact that UK is going to get a WTC-approved event complete with Hawaii slots is a major secret.

Following an exchange of emails with the organisers it transpires that event planning is well underway and they expect that the final details will be inked in the next two weeks or so -- something to do with a big race out there later this month...

The vital information is that the event will be held under WTC rules on September 9th 2001 in Llanberis, North Wales. Initially a half-Ironman, it will extend to a full Ironman in 2002, it will have Hawaii slots from the start. So, time to get training!

UPDATE: Want to see where Llanberis is, and try to guess the route? Try looking at the area map (from Multimap) and it's pretty obvious where at least some of the bike route will be...

London: improved but still in need of attention

It would be churlish to say that the London Triathlon had not learned from some of the mistakes of last year. It would also be foolish to pretend that it is anything like a polished and professional event. Registration on the Saturday saw queues of over an hour with further waits to rack the bike. Transition was still a vast concrete slab studded with lumps and metallic protrusions. The bike course was significantly improved although the dreadful shortage of marshals (21 of 93 actually turned up!!!) meant that the first sprint waves went seriously awry with the bike course inadequately coned or signed at that stage.

The distances were accurate this year, the finish was better, the swims were better controlled and the BTA sent eight top referees along to assist at a technical level in all areas of the event. Sadly, most of us ended up acting as marshals simply because we were the only people in yellow jackets...

The majority of the competitors (apart from the sprint distance) seemed to have fun and enjoy themselves. It is also true that most of them had no previous experience of triathlon or had only ever done a London Triathlon before. Which is interesting in itself. If they had been inspired to do London, perhaps more than once, why did they not feel inspired to do other events like Ellesmere, Windsor, Bournemouth, Brighton or Salford? I suspect that the simple answer is because they only get to hear about London: they are not the sort of people who read 220, they don't get on the mailing lists for other events and, for all I know, think London is the only triathlon in the UK! The BTA has a job to do here, I think.

Oh, and the elite wave was won by Simon Lessing and Leanda Cave but most people had gone long before they started...

Sep-22: Olympics: done and dusted

By the time I returned home the Olympic debut of triathlon was a fading cloud on the horizon and already the acrimony is spreading about how Britain should have done better. All I can say is that each and every one of us needs to look closely at our own achievements and ask, honestly, could we, as individuals, have done better in their place. The answer is, quite simply, no. Sure, errors were made by athletes of all countries in how they ran their races -- that's what racing is all about! You get it right and you win -- there's only ever one winner.

What we need to do now is simple. Work out, as a nation, how we best prepare for the next Olympics and continue with the fantastic work that Gregoire and the other national coaches started at Bath to enable the next generation of Olympic hopefuls to have the best possible chance. And, part of that effort is the requirement that each and every one of us puts just a little back into the sport once in a while. Support isn't just cheering on the people on the TV -- it's getting involved in the details of the sport: helping out at your local club, marshalling at races, organising events, coaching and even, perhaps, going along to the BTA AGM and letting them know what you think of the way they run the sport for you.

Sep-7: Dillon replaces Dibens

Michelle Dillon is on her way to the Sydney Olympics as a replacement for Julie Dibens. Michelle is the next ranking GB athlete with sufficient ITU points and her inclusion is noted in the IOC newsletter (see also Katherine Williams' coverage). Needless to say we have had no official statement from the BTA, nor is there mention on their website.

Jim Ward dies

Jim Ward, the 83 year-old American triathlon legend suffered a fatal heart attack while on a training ride on Monday. Anyone who followed the Hawaii Ironman over the years cannot fail to have been inspired by his efforts and I had the great pleasure of meeting him in Montreal at the World Championships in 1999. A true ambassador for the sport.

Sep-6: Dorking Duathlon cancelled

The Dorking Duathlon on October 15th has been cancelled as the organisers have been unable to secure a suitable venue

Sep-5: Report from Dutch Long Distance

Chris Flavell did the Almere Ironman at the weekend and kindly sent on the GB times:

Julie Dibens out with injury

Reported in the Times today and on the BBC News website is the news that Julie Dibens will not be racing the Olympics due to injury. Reports from the training camp at Brisbane indicate that she has been troubled with a calf injury for the past ten days and unable to train as a result.

The GB Olympic squad has no named alternates, at least none that have been made public.

Women's training weekend

Biddie Foord has confirmed that her fifth Women's Training Weekend will be held on the 27th and 28th of January 2001 at John Cleveland College, Hinckley, Leicestershire. Chris Kitchen will be in charge of the Training and Biddie will be in charge of the kitchen (literally speaking!)

The aim as always is to keep the costs down and the prices will be posted on her website as soon as they are finalised. Places are limited so book early. The course is for anyone no matter age, size or ability. All are catered for. Four scholarships will be offered, for details on how to qualify please ring Biddie 01455-846505.

Aug-29: Brits abroad

At the ETU Cup race in Geneva, the last for Andrew Johns and Steph Forrester before the Olympics, both scored a third place -- Johns in 1:59:10 and Forrester in 2:13:19. Michelle Dillon was 8th in 2:16:55, Annie Emmerson 9th in 2:17:14, Heather Williams 10th in 2:17:50. Also racing (but mysteriously omitted from the official BTA report) were Bella Comerford, 17th bin 2:22:36, Jess Harrison, 18th in 2:22:42, Kevin Clark, 22nd in 2:09:19 and David Haines who was a DNF.

At Mrs Ts in Chicago, Spencer Smith was 3rd in 1:50:19 with Richard Allen 4th in 1:50:58.

Aug-28: Brits at IM Canada

Thanks to Nick Holmes for the details.

At the National Duathlon Championships:

Aug-22: Another update on Cambridge accident

This tragic news came to us today from the BTA:

It is with a sense of deep sadness that the British Triathlon Association received word that one of its members, Robert McLean (48), died on Saturday night as a result of injuries sustained in an accident which occurred during the Cambridge Triathlon on the 13 August.

Robert, a member of the Cambridge Triathlon Club, was involved in a collision with a parked vehicle. As a result of the collision he was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge where he was cared for in the intensive care unit. No other person was involved in the accident.

Robert was an active and valued member of the Cambridge Triathlon Club involved in the organisation of events as well as being a competitor.

The Officers, Staff and Members of the British Triathlon Association offer their heartfelt condolences to his wife, Lia, his sons, David (17) and Mark (14), and to his friends and colleagues from the Cambridge Triathlon Club.

The British Triathlon Association has been in daily contact with the Cambridge Triathlon Club since the accident to provide support and advice.

Norman Brook, Chief Executive of the British Triathlon Association confirmed that the Association would review the circumstances surrounding the accident with the organisers. "Thankfully the number of serious accidents that have taken place during triathlon competitions in Great Britain is very small. A tragedy such as this naturally forces us to consider what steps can be taken to provide higher levels of safety at sanctioned events. If there are any lessons to be learned from this tragic accident, the Association will want to take these on board and to ensure that event organisers do the same. This would be the least we could do for Robert's family and friends."

Aug-15: Update on Cambridge accident

Following the accident involving a triathlete on Sunday we've received the following update:

Rob McLean, an experienced Ironman, GB long distance age-grouper and member of the promoting Club (a committee member in fact), crashed into the back of parked car on an otherwise open piece of road. There don't appear to have been any witnesses though three other competitors, a marshall and a draftbuster were soon on the scene to call for help and administer first aid. Their prompt action (two of them are nurses) probably saved Rob's life.

Rob is now critically ill in Addenbrookes Hospital though his condition is 'stable'. The initial scans indicated that there was no damage to his brain, his spine or his internal organs. He does have damage to his face, his ribs and his lungs and is still under heavy sedation, unconscious and breathing through a ventilator.

Unfortunately there is no more news to report. The rest of the Club has been hit very hard as Rob is one of our most active members - racing, training and organising. The report from the local paper is on line here.

Our thoughts are with him, his family and the club.

Aug-14: BTA Jobs

The British Triathlon Association is seeking to appoint a Performance Director responsible for delivery of the World Class Performance, Potential and Start programmes for the next four years. Reporting to the Chief Executive, the successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring a steady and measurable increase in international success for Great Britain's triathletes.

Candidates will be expected to show an in-depth understanding of the performance process, as it relates to triathlon, from initial talent identification through to competition at the highest level.

An attractive package is offered for this lottery funded post including salary up to £42,000 depending on qualifications and experience, a company car, pension scheme and medical insurance. The post is based in Bath and assistance with relocation expenses will be given if necessary.

Following the successful submission of a World Class Potential and Start Plan to be funded by Sport England, the British Triathlon Association wishes to appoint a Potential Manager. The successful candidate will report to the Performance Director and will be responsible for delivery of the World Class Potential/Start Plan. Candidates will be expected to show an in-depth understanding of the performance process, as it relates to triathlon, from initial talent identification through to junior competition at World and European level.

An attractive package is offered for this lottery funded post including salary up to £25,000 depending on qualifications and experience, a company car, pension scheme and medical insurance. The post is based in Loughborough and assistance with relocation expenses will be given if necessary.

If you wish to be considered for either of these positions please send your curriculum vitae and a cover letter outlining your suitability to:

Norman Brook, Chief Executive, British Triathlon Association, PO Box 26, Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire LE65 2ZR or email:

Brits abroad

In the ITU Cup race at Lausanne on Saturday Andrew Johns won with Richard Stannard 23rd and Stuart Hayes 27th. Simon Lessing, and all the GB ladies DNFd in what appear to have been very hot conditions.

At the Scottish Championships at a jellyfish infested Gullane Kevin Clark won the mens and Steph Forrester the womens. Apparently the water was so cold the swim was made into a 2-lapper so that people could drop out and the jellyfish reference isn't a joke as we understand that two swimmers were hospitalised.

At Powerman Emmental Helen Purdy was 4th lady Andy Peace placed 15th man.

Aug-13: Jenkinson and Ramsey win at Longest Day

Julian Jenkinson romped home to win this year's Longest Day while the women's lead was taken by Ashley Ramsey. Full results should be going up on the Black Country website at some point.

Congratulations to all those who finished -- first time we've been to watch and it's an impressive site watching so many Iron people crossing the line for the first time. We didn't get waved at by anyone claiming to be an eGrouper, despite the logos all over the car, but we did hear that the Jaffa cakes were going down well at the outer run turn!

Aug-12: TV schedule update

The current schedule for the National Relays is Sky Sports 3 on Friday 22nd September 2000 for one and a half hours with repeats to be confirmed on Sky 2 & 3.

Windsor will be on TV on the following dates: 27th August on Sky Sports 2 at 08:00 and Sky Sports 3 at 15:00 and 18:00. Repeats are on the 28th of August at 06:00 on Sky Sports 1 and on the 29th on Sky Sports 2 at 11:30.

Aug-11: Qualification for European and World Duathlons

Jasmine Flatters, among other things, is GB Team Manager for the ITU World Duathlon Championships and she has sent out this note for potential competitors:

Just a quick reminder that if you haven't already done so, you have less than three weeks to send in your application for a place on the GB age group teams for the ITU World Duathlon Championships in Calais on October 7 and the ETU European Duathlon Championships in Bath on October 22. The closing date for applications is August 28 (which is a Bank Holiday (!), so we will accept entries received on Aug 29).

Even if you 'qualified' at Swindon or Hereford, you still need to apply for your place. Likewise, if you hope to qualify at Tadcaster, you will need to send in your application to the team manager before the race, or you will miss the deadline.

To be eligible for a place on the team, you must be a member of the BTA and hold a British passport. The application form has been printed in TriNews twice, but if necessary, I can email you a form. For Calais, we can take up to 18 in each five year age category. For Bath, the team size is 12 per age category. This discrepancy in team size highlights one of the differences between the ITU and the ETU rules.

Pre-qualifiers for the Worlds (ie those who finished in the top ten in their age category at last year's Worlds) are reminded that they too must send in an application to secure their place.

Aug-8: Asics support BTA's Tri 2000

Asics are now working in partnership with the BTA to ensure that opportunities are in place to cater for these individuals. Carole Billington-Ray, BTA Development Manager commented "People cannot be expected to wait until the next season to get involved. TRI 2000 is all about giving people the chance to have a go straight away. It is fantastic to be working with Asics to provide a series of co-ordinated introductory activities around the country during September and October 2000".

Aug-7: More funding for potential athletes

The British Triathlon Association and Sport England have announced the launch of two new programmes to support England's most talented youth and junior triathletes, Called the World Class Start and Potential Programmes they are intended to provide the elite triathletes of the future.

The aims of the programme include: increasing the number of juniors reaching a standard of excellence both in swimming and running; changing the competition structure offered to the triathletes between 14 and 18 years olds, proposing aquathlon and triple super sprints; establishing a centralised database to record the data of all young multisports athletes and development of a regional network of training support and competitions.

The Lottery Sports Fund award of £454,120 for the period of 1 Oct 2000 to 31 March 2002 will enable the BTA to employ a Potential Manager, strengthen the current coaching support including a National Junior coach and a part time Sports Scientist and officially launch the Junior High Performance Centre at Loughborough in September 2000.

U23 team announced

The BTA have confirmed the teams for the U23 Triathlon Championships that is being held in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland on Sunday 24 September.

Men: Rob Joy, Stuart Hayes, Nigel Leighton, Paul Newsome

Women: Jessica Harrison, Jo Hinde, Beth Thomson

The Team Managers are Dan Salcedo and Richard Hobson.

Brits abroad

Thumbnail results from the weekend:

In the ITU Cup race at Tiszajvaros, Hungary Steph Forrester was 3rd, Heather Williams 13th, Anneleise Heard 17th and Michelle Dillon 18th. Richard Stannard was 12th. Full results at the ITU website.

At the IM Switzerland Shirley Yarde placed 17th.

Aug-5: Flashman is full

The Flashman Triathlon at Lutterworth on 17 September is now fully subscribed. There are still some places in the Duathlon (1mile run, 10 mile cycle, 3.5 mile run). Details from .

Aug-3: Lomond Triathlon to host Celtic Challenge

Tony Gallagher, organiser of the Lomond Triathlon has advised us that the event is now hosting the Scottish leg of the Celtic Challenge and that a team relay event is also being incorporated. They are still taking entries and are most keen to increase the entry numbers. His address has recently changed to 2 Glenfield Avenue, Paisley PA2 8JH.

Jul-31: Brits racing abroad

Back to the land of work today, and hopefully a decent internet connection... Meantime, over the weekend the international scene has been busy.

Michelle Dillon placed 7th, Marc Jenkins 12th and Craig Ball 17th at the ITU Corner Brook race -- details through the ITU's new PR people as the ITU website seems to be somewhat erratic these days.

In the World University Championships at Tiszaujvaros Jodie Swallow continued her meteroric rise to stardom with a win; Jess Harrison was 12th, Paul Newsome was 11th and Nigel Leighton 30th. Full results at www.trisuisse.ch.

At the ETU Cup event at Carlsbad Annie Emmerson placed 2nd, details at the ETU website.

In the Ironman USA at Lake Placid the following Brits were uncovered by John Levison

Jul-25: Brits around the world

With an internet connection that currently rivals a piece of damp string and two baked bean tins (come on BT, where's my ADSL?) getting updates on who's been doing what is not as regular as I'd like. Thanks to Katherine Williams' ever helpful Triathlon Digest for the following:

Andrew Johns won the Triathlon de Dijon, a 2.5k, 78k, 20k event, in 3:58:43 with Matthew White finishing 8th in 4:11:03

Spencer Smith, on schedule for his return to Hawaii, placed 3rd in the Pacific Coast Triathlon/USAT National Sprint Championships.

Julie Dibens was first female at the Christus Schumpert Tinman Triathlon in 2:04:28 (which placed her 5th overall).

Jul-24: Home Nations

Scotland win both Home Nations Duathlon and Triathlon, again... Results off the eGroup, thanks to Philip Barlow for the early results. The full version is available here.

Jul-22: Dover Duathlon reminder

This just in from Paul Groves:

Sunny Dover sees the third Dover Regatta Open Water Duathlon on Sunday August 6th. The main event 750m swim / 4.5k run is run alongside the novice event of 250m / 2k and takes place in the calm confines of Dover Harbour. There are CASH, yes CASH prizes for the overall winner (Male and Female) for both events and for the main event there are cash prizes for the male and female winner of the following age group categories 14 - 18, 19 - 29, 30 - 39, 40 - 49, 50 - 59 and 60+. But there must be two competitors in each age group for the winner to take the money. If not then that cash goes up the line to the gender winner. Overall winners get £25. The same cash prize goes to Age Group Winners and a little bit of maths means that there is tremendous potential to make more than enough to cover the modest entry fee of £10 for the main event and £6 for the Novice. Commemorative t-shirt to all competitors and super efficient results service from Stuart Mullage. Contact Paul Groves () for electronic entry form.

Jul-17: Brits around the World

Various snippets from Triathlon Live and the ITU/ETU websites:

Simon Lessing won at Edmonton in 1:47:12.

In the ETU Duathlon at Beersel Gary Gerard was 5th and Fiona Lothian won the ladies section.

At the ETU cup race in Schlierse Annie Emmerson was 6th.

Homestay wanted

The following came via Mick English at the BTA. Anyone able to help please contact either Mick or Lars directly.

My name is Lars Gehre. First of all I want to indroduce myself. I am a 20 year-old engineering student at Technical University of Dresden and I am looking for a guest family where I'll be able to improve my English to have a real chance in passing the entry exams for the job (air traffic controller) I am appplying for. I would like to stay in England for 3 months - from the middle of August (after German Triathlon Championships on August 18th 2000) till the middle/end of November. Additionally, I want to take an English course during that time. It would be great, if there were young people my age to integrate myself more easily. Furthermore it would be helpful to contact a family interested in sports (maybe somebody to practise with) because I want to prepare for the Duathlon European and World Championships in October 2000. So a triathlon or swimming club in town would be fantastic. Your support in the case to get the higher output possible in language and sport is of high importance for me. If you need more information contact me please.

Lars Gehre, Bernhardstraße 138, D-01187 Dresden
+49 (351) 401 0698 or email

Jul-16: Do London for the dogs

Anyone who's read the webmaster pages will know that Jen and I have a rescued EBT so we could hardly refuse the following news item from the National Canine Defence League.

The NCDL is the Uk's largest dog welfare charity and our mission is to work towards the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life free from the threat of unnecessary destruction. We have 16 Rehoming Centres around the country where we care for lost and abandoned dogs. We try our utmost to find them loving new homes and no matter how long a dog stays with us, we never destroy a healthy dog. We are trying to get as many people to take part in this year's (and next year's!) London Triathlon and raise sponsorship money for the NCDL. We are funded entirely by the generosity of our supporters, therefore the money raised by our triathletes, marathon runners and overseas challenge event participants is invaluable in enabling us to continue to help lost and abandoned dogs.

Please contact Suzanne Grant on (020) 7833 7669 or email if you would like to receive a Triathlete pack or information about taking part in the London Marathon, overseas challenge events or a parachute jump.

Jul-15: BTA announces Olympic squad

The BTA have confirmed that the following athletes will represent Great Britain at the Olympics.

Male: Simon Lessing, Andrew Johns, Tim Don

Female: Sian Brice, Stephanie Forrester, Julie Dibens

Greg Millet, Performance Director,BTA said: "The British Triathlon Association is delighted to announce these six Triathletes into Team GB for the Sydney Olympic Games. I am confident that Great Britain is taking the best team for our first appearance on the Olympic scene. All of the six are capable of an outstanding achievement."

Jul-13: Update to BTA procedure for Edmonton 2001

The following update came in from Ian Pettitt:

1. Declare your intention to go to Edmonton by submitting an application form with £5 fee to Ian Pettit or with the the BTA at Gullane registration before you race. (You must be a fully paid up member of the BTA at this time)
2. Finish in the top five times in your World Qualifying age category. (Those who have previously qualified will not be counted in the Top 5 positions)
3. From those first five, the first two (only) who have applied before the race will be guaranteed a place for Edmonton.
4. If you are successful, you will be sent an official letter as soon after the race as possible when you will be required to send the official entry fee to Ian Pettitt / BTA within 14 days of receipt of date on this official letter, or you will lose your place.
5. If you are not successful, your application will be carried forward to the next selection race at Brighton, where criteria 2, 3 and 4 will again apply.

Other selection races are Brighton and an early season race in 2001. Please note that any spare places from the first 2 qualifying races will be awarded at Brighton. The number of available spaces in each age group for this race will be publicised on the BTA web site and at race registration.

The number of available spaces will again be circulated as above before the final qualifying race to be held at an early June event in 2001. To assist with those age groups that do not have more than 12 applicants the closing will be May 14th. Any applications after this date will only be accepted if space is available in a category.

Jul-11: White Cliffs cancelled

The bad news is that White Cliffs is cancelled, fingers crossed for next year The good news is that the Brighton Marina Tri is on same day. Mark Hedger is the event organiser, contact him on 01273-887331 or email

Jul-09: Lessing wins in Toronto

Simon Lessing chose to race the ITU event in Toronto and proved he's still in top form with a win (1:46:41) over Gilberto Gonzalez (VEN) in 1:46:56 and Dimitry Gaag (KAZ) in 1:47:02.

Edinburgh Duathlon event

On Saturday the 5th of August the Edinburgh Road Club will be holding a closed road duathlon in the centre of Edinburgh to help promote cycling and multi discipline sport among young people. With the help of Scotland Against Drugs, Historic Scotland, Tiso, and other local groups the Edinburgh Road Club have managed to get Holyrood Park closed to traffic to enable several races to take place.

The races taking place this year are: 11-13years 1.5k run, 5k bike, 1.5k run; 14-16 years: 2.5k run, 10k bike, 2.5k run; adults: 5k run, 20k bike, 4k run. The entry fee for adults is £6 pounds (children £3). For entry forms phone Bruce Kidd 0131 229 5718 or .

Jul-08: Brits do great at Europeans

The GB elite squad seems to have done pretty well for itself in the European Championships. Jodie Swallow's junior win is stunning given that this is only her second major event (Windsor being her first) and Anneliese Heard's 14th place in a senior field is also noteworthy. Full details, videos, etc on the official website but the synopsis is:

Male elite: Andrew Johns 1st, Tim Don 6th, Richard Allen 8th, Marc Jenkins 22nd, Richard Stannard 24th
Male juniors: Daniel Hayes 15th, Daniel Plews 32nd, Eliot Challifour 34th, Richard Haines DNF

Female elite: Julie Dibens 3rd, Sian Brice 5th, Michelle Dillon 9th, Anneliese Heard 14th, Annie Emmerson 22nd, Heather Williams 30th
Female juniors: Jodie Swallow 1st, Henrietta Freeman 2nd, Catherine Hare 13th, Kerrie Cloke 25th

The GB age group results are now online as well -- they are somewhat oddly formatted for times and categories...

Jul-01: Triathlon Sourcebook plans for 2001

Katherine Williams, compiler of the Triathlon Sourcebook, has joined forces with SportsBooks Limited to publish the sport's leading triathlon reference book. The book will now be published every November to include details of the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Hawaii, will continue to be edited by Williams. SportsBooks publish the International Athletics Annual, track and field's major statistical book. "I found it difficult to compile and publish the book at the same time," Williams said of its two previous editions, 1997 and 1999. "This collaboration frees me to concentrate on the editorial side. It means we can ensure the book comes out every November."

The next edition will be published in November 2000 and will carry information on all the world's triathlon federations and organisations, elite and age-group athletes, coaches, camps and travel, clubs and sponsored teams, trade companies and distributors, retail shops and media. Additionally, the book will feature a full list of 1,500 of the most sought-after e-mail addresses in the sport.

For further details, please e-mail Williams at or SportsBooks at .

Jun-26: From the weekend

Brits racing abroad this weekend included Leanda Cave (9th in the Bardolino Triathlon, Italy), Rachel Talbot (8th in the Nuenen Triathlon, Holland).

Results of the GB Age Group Championships at Ellesmere should be on Stuart Mullage's website.

Jun-22: BTA appoints new Chief Executive

The British Triathlon Association (BTA) today announced the appointment of Norman Brook as their new Chief Executive. The following is their press release in full.

Norman, aged 45, has been involved in the management and development of sport, both in the UK and overseas, for over 25 years, working at all levels from the grassroots through to high performance. In 1982, he joined the British Athletics Federation, as their National Coach with responsibility for athletics development in Northern Ireland. He moved to work for the Sports Council for Northern Ireland in 1992 and in 1993 established his own consultancy and worked on sports development and management projects both in the UK and overseas. In 1997, he joined UK Athletics (UKA) as Technical Director for Endurance Events, a post he currently holds.

In announcing the appointment, Mick English, BTA Chairman said: "We are delighted that Norman will be our Chief Executive. He brings to the BTA a clear understanding of endurance sport and has a strong background in sports management and development." Brook said: "I am pleased to accept the role of Chief Executive at such an important time in the development of triathlon within Great Britain. Triathlon is now a well-established sport with a broad base of participation and a pool of outstanding talent poised for major games success. The challenges over the next few years will include attracting more young people to triathlon, developing services for our members and ensuring that we remain a world class sport." Through an agreement reached between the BTA and UK Athletics, Norman will begin his post on a part-time basis from the 1 July 2000 and will move to the BTA full time immediately after the Olympics. David Moorcroft, Chief Executive of UK Athletics said: "Norman has strong management skills and can articulate a clear vision for sport. We are disappointed to be losing him from our team at UKA but congratulate him on his appointment to this important leadership role within British Triathlon."

Jun-20: Purdy at Nice

Helen Purdy came home in 7th place at Nice in 7:23:03 but so far there's nothing other than the top 10 placings on either the ITU or the French Federation websites -- despite promises that all the results would be up on Monday.

Information in from Ian Pettitt: Gold for Chris Volley in M20-24, Silver for Shirley Yarde in F40-44, Nick Kinsey in M40-44 and Sue Allen in F50-54. There is some confusion over total number of GB medallists as Daphne Belt finished and did not appear on the results - possibly outside official finish time - but still had her time taken, given a shirt and a medal. Also there is the possibility of a F20-24 medal...

Jun-18: Tim wins at Windsor

In a sunstroke inducing 30° the PepsiMAX Royal Windsor Triathlon played out to a cast of 1,600 athletes and an assembled host of supporters and bemused tourists. With places for both men and women in the GB Olympic squad still to be decided the racing was certain to be competitive among the elite while the Clydesdale invasion could also hardly pass un-noticed. I mean, you just don't pass Darryl Haley and not notice him!

In the end the elite mens was won by Tim Don in a virtual re-run of last year's tussle with Spencer Smith except that here it was Andrew Johns playing the supporting role and Tim taking the pace and an assured lead into the finishing straight and Richard Allen placing third. For the women, Sian Brice came in ahead of Leanda Cave and Heather Williams.

In the World Clydesdale category Levin Kelley took first place while the GB Clydesdale championships eclipsed the world with local Spelthorne Triathlete John Tims pulling out over seven minutes against the World Championship field.

Full results on the Human Race website.

Jun-15: Best of luck at Windsor and Nice

Upcoming major events this weekend include Windsor and Nice. John Lunt's expecting around 1,600 for Windsor and there's a major squad gone off to Nice. Elite athletes doing Nice for GB are Helen Purdy, Ryan James and Lawrence Oldershaw.

Jun-13: BTA procedure for Edmonton 2001

The BTA has published a revised version of its selection criteria for the ITU World Championships in Edmonton 2001.

1. Declare your intention to go to Edmonton by submitting an application form with £5 fee to the BTA at Windsor registration before you race.
2. Finish in the top five times in your World Qualifying age category.
3. From those first five, the first two (only) who have applied before the race will be guaranteed a place for Edmonton.
4. If you are successful, you will be required to pay the official entry fee to Ian Pettitt / BTA within 14 days or you will lose your place.
5. If you are not successful, your application will be carried forward to the next selection race at Gullane, where criteria 2, 3 and 4 will again apply.

Other selection races are Gullane, Brighton and Bournemouth 2001. See Stuart Coulson on the BTA stand for more information and to fill in an application form.

Jun-12: Brits Abroad

At the half Ironman race in Cairns, Australia: Chris Lee placed 7th in 4:11:10. (Info from TriDigest)

Jun-09: New book from Ken

Ken Maclaren's KinEli Publishing has just produced The Beginners Triathlon Guide - details on their website or at your local triathlon retailer. The man himself will be in the UK commentating at various events including Windsor.

Jun-05: Brits Abroad

At the Zundert Triathlon Tim Don placed second and Heather Williams 4th: looking good for a serious result at Windsor...

At the European Duathlon Cup in Glocow, Poland Gary Gerrard placed 10th.

At the Marseille Triathlon Simon Lessing won ahead of the current World Champion, Olivier Marceau. (Thanks to TriDigest for this one.)

Three Lochs Cancelled

Three Lochs Triathlon and Quadrathlon due to be held on June 11th are cancelled due to excess blue-green algae in the loch, making it unsafe to swim.

A training event duathlon WILL be held at NO CHARGE - contact Harry Waugh on 01581 600350 for details and accommodation info. This will include training advice, nutritional tips and so on from this former GB coach.

Jun-03: 220 Sold to New Publisher

220, the UK's last remaining multisport title, has been sold to Bristol-based Origin Publishing. If you've never heard of them don't be too suprised as with titles like Cross Stitch Crazy and contract magazines for HMV and Roland it's hardly suprising. The closest they come to triathlon is a magazine they produce for Sustrans. However, the whole 220 team goes with the title so we should get the same quality content, a better distribution, and a more certain future.

Jun-02: Research Study Published

Chris Eversfield, Chairman of Team Volcano International, management academic, and an active triathlete has published the results of a comprehensive research study into the optimisation of human performance.

The work, compiled as part of a Masters programme with Wolverhampton University Business School, combines the experiences of many leading International triathletes and sports administrators including; Hurdles Olympic Gold Medallist David Hemery, London Marathon Winner Mike Gratton, World Performance coach Chris Jones and top athletics coaching authority Frank Dick plus over 10 other leading sporting administrators. More than 20 prominent GB Elite and Age Group triathletes including Julian Jenkinson, Peter Younghusband, Clive Middleton and Iain Parsons also contributed to the study.

It builds upon a variety of academic research from all over the world with the aim of identifying core coaching and personal development elements that are transferable between the sporting and business worlds. Primary aspects covered include; Leadership, Analysis of top coaching techniques, Athletes' individuality, What appears to 'work' what doesn't work, Role of a governing body in development, Motivation and demotivation and the complex subject of Team dynamics.

A full copy of the study is available from Chris Eversfield, 49 Obelisk Way, Congleton, Cheshire enclosing a cheque payable to Chris Eversfield for £45 including P&P.

May-31: More Brit News

At the Milan Triathlon, an ITU Points race, Andrew Johns came in first with Richard Allen second. Sian Brice was second lady home.

May-30: Brit News

At the US Olympic Trials on Saturday and Sunday Julie Ricketts Dibens placed 18th and Tim Don DNFd.

It's now confirmed that Spencer Smith has an entry for Hawaii this year, his slot for 1999 has been rolled forward to this year so he won't have to qualify again. Other races in his programme include Mrs T's Chicgo Triathlon, San Diego and Los Angeles.

May-23: Brits racing the world

Congratulations to Anne Fuller on her 14th place in Lanzarote at the weekend (12:56:12) where she was the highest placed Brit.

Good luck to Tim Don and Julie Ricketts (or Dibens, her new married name) who are racing the US Olympic Trials at the weekend. Tim should now be recovered from the wrist and foot injuries he received training in South Africa - he looked pretty comfortable with the wrist when I saw him a couple of weeks ago but said that he lacked power in that hand.

May-21: We've been quiet...

Without wishing to go into detail, I'm currently searching for new employment and that's why the site has been a bit erratic of late. To compound the issue we used an updated piece of software on Friday and it decided to write half the links with UPPER case filenames and half with lower case... Now Windows can't tell the difference but Unix can and we are hosted on a Unix system so an awful lot of internal links have been broken since Friday evening. In order to fix the problem once and for all we've re-named everything to lower case so the site should now work OK but some bookmarks might fail. Apologies.

May-08: Triathlon on TV

Looks like Saturday's Grandstand may well feature preparations for triathlon at the Olympics. This has been scheduled before but always seems to get bumped by some other item so it might be worth setting the VCR for 1:15pm and seeing what you get. Darts, probably!

May-05: Xterra website open

We've had email from the UK organisers of the Xterra event that will be held on Exmoor on September 2nd to say that you can now register online using their new website. Apparently there are already in excess of 50 enquiries received from US athletes committed to this event.

Apr-30: News and results from the Worlds in Perth

For updated results and full timings see the official website. The age group results are all up and we are extracting the GB age groupers.

So far we have Anneliese Heard retaining her Junior Championship in 2:10:06 from Melanie Mitchell and Nicola Spirig. Catherine Hare was 12th, Kerrie Cloke 13th and Lesley Patterson 15th.

In the Junior Men: Eliot Challifour placed 32nd.

In the Elite Women: Sian Brice was 30th.

In the Elite Men: Olivier Marceau of France won with Peter Robertson second and Craig Walton third. No sign of any Brits in the top 10.

Apr-27: McDonald re-elected as ITU President

It was bound to be close and at 36 votes for Les McDonald and 20 for Erika Koenig-Zenz, the ETU candidate, it was closer than ever before. What's even more amazing is that there are reports that nine delegates were physically barred from the Congress in Perth and they were all apparently votes against him...

Given all the current anti-McDonald feeling (to judge from Katherine William's TriathlonLive and TriDigest reports and other sources) it's not at all suprising that the vote went close but whether that will place any pressure on the current ITU leadership to sort out the issues is unclear. Les has managed to hang onto the role since the foundation of the ITU and Erika has been his only effective challenger to date. We can but hope that he gets the message but past performance may well be the best indicator of future expectations!

Apr-24: Brits earn more points

In a bid to secure more ITU points and so get into the top 100 of the ITU rankings and be eligible to race for the final GB Olympic slot you'll see lots of GB names doing the ITU events. Thanks to the Lottery funding and the WCPP this is a reality that we simply would never have seen in the sport hadn't been allowed into the support programme.

At the ITU points race in Noumea, New Caledonia: Leanda Cave was 4th and Chris Lee 9th in their respective events.

At the ITU points race at Terceira in the Azores: Marc Jenkins got a career best with a win, Craig Ball was 4th and Richard Stannard 6th. Pierre Yurow was a DNF. Great result and pretty much certain top 100 for Jenkins and Ball -- should make for an interesting Windsor Triathlon... No ladies results at this time.

Apr-22: Spencer coming back to triathlon!

Spencer Smith is going for the Hawaii Ironman, and that's official! According to a press release from the Linda McCartney Team Spencer will be cutting back on his road racing programme and training up for Hawaii -- although it doesn't say whether that's for 2000 or 2001. All this will still be under the Linda McCartney banner, giving them two sports opportunities. It even opens the possibility, as previously reported, that Spencer could (and we stress could) be a contender for an Olympic slot. He states that this isn't his first goal but you've got to wonder whether anyone would actually refuse a slot if offered.

Apr-19: Coaching Apprenticeship at Bath

The World Class Performance Programme is allocating a Coaching Apprenticeship to support the professional development of a Assistant coach based in Bath. The policy of the BTA is to support the involvement of women in coaching. The position will run from 1st September 2000 to 1st September 2001 and a grant of £6000 will be paid in three installments.

Any interested applicant should provide a CV, a motivation letter indicating why this scholarship would interest him/her and his/her main contact numbers to: Lisa Ashcroft, Triathlon Performance Unit, Department of Sports, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY before 26th May 2000.

GB Elite for Perth

The elite squad for the Triathlon World Championship in Perth on Sunday 30 April 2000 has been announced:

The World Championship event in Perth on Sunday 30 April 2000 will be the last competition allocating ITU World ranking points, prior to the deadline of 1 May 2000. For Great Britain it is not such an important target as in previous years due to a couple of factors:

1. The change of date in the calendar year due to the Olympics in September. Obviously such an early date for the competition, is not so convenient for all the European athletes.
2. The 2000 season is "everything for Sydney season" which means that for the athletes to peak so early, could be detrimental to their Olympic preparation.

However, the Women's squad are almost at their best, with the exceptions of Beth Thomson and Julie Dibens, who are injured and are not competing. Sian Brice and Stephanie Forrester have showed in their first World Cup this season, that they have the potential to give the favourites, the Australians a hard time. The Men's squad consists of just Andrew Johns and Richard Allen. Richard Stannard, Marc Jenkins and Craig Ball will be competing in Portugal and the USA in points races, to increase their personal rankings. The Junior girls squad is confident and includes Anneliese Heard, who will be hoping to keep her World title for the second year. In the week following the World Championship, after the publication of the official ITU ranking and approval of the BOA, the BTA will be in a situation to officially release the names of their first Olympians.

Rise of the Super Sprint

Long a feature of the Australian triathlon scene but almost never done overe here (Ian Pettitt's event being a notable exception), it looks like this year is the year to give one a go. Iain Hamilton is organising one on the Sunday after the National Club Relay Championships at Nottingham and there will also be one at John Lunt's Salford event at the end of August. If you don't know what a Super Sprint is then just think swim, bike, run, swim, bike run with a total distance of around 750m, 20k and 5k. Fast, furious and fun.

New swim coaching courses

David Parker and Ben Pollard have got together and set up Water Works. Like the well established Robin Brew courses, these will offer one-day packages for all levels at around £55 per person. Courses have already been run in Winchester with the next one on April 29th. For details contact them on 01453-810058.

Apr-18: City of Chester full

Janine White, the race organiser for the City of Chester Triathlon, has asked us to let people know that the Chester Triathlon (Olympic) on 9th July is now full. There's still space in the sprint event.

Apr-17: Brits around the world

At the ITU World Cup in Sydney -- sort of a practice run for the Olympics and with a pretty stellar field: Andrew Johns 29th in 1:52:25 and Richard Allen 44th in 1:55:12. For the women: Leanda Cave 30th in 2:09:47 while Beth Thomson was a DNS.

Apr-11: Partial results from Powerman Jersey

Funny, after bombarding us with pre-race info we get nothing on the results...

Julian Jenkinson was first Brit home in 7th place (Benny Van Steelandt was the winner, as predicted) with Richard Hobson 10th, Rob Joy 11th. Fiona Lothian was first Brit in the ladies with 3rd place, Alena Peterkova was the winner.

Brits around the world

Apologies that it's a day later than usual but the results have been a bit slow in coming through the new prettified ITU website...

At the World Cup in Ishigaki: Steph Forrester 4th, Craig Ball 7th, Richard Allen 19th, and Richard Stannard 25th.

Hereford Duathlon is full

The organiser of the Hereford Duathlon has asked us to let you all know that the event next Sunday is now full.

At the Minolta Ironman Australia Matt Stephens was 3rd in 8:41:08 -- they say he's Australian but we think he's a recent passport swap and may count as GB. We are still waiting for confirmation on this one...

Apr-2: They're at it again!!

Deal Tri have again thrown down the gauntlet and are still looking for some tough competition for the second running of the Cross Channel London to Paris Triathlon -- scheduled to take place during late July/early August. The format is seven man/woman relay teams, who run from Central London, swim the Channel, and cycle to Paris. Each person in the team works for 1 hour periods.

The event last year set the target of 29 hours door to door, achieved by Cycleforce Durham Team, as the time to beat. If your Club wants to take part and needs further info please contact either Ian Pettitt on [email protected] or Gary Holmes on [email protected]. Alternatively, see a medical specialist immediately!

Brits around the world

At the ITU World Cup race in Kona: Andrew Johns took 10th slot and Heather Williams 26th.

Mar-31: Credit Suisse Powerman Jersey

Update information from Bob Welsh. The elite field has been confirmed as;

Men

The favourite for the men's race has to be Van Steelandt but he must not relax with Van Hoenacker, Le Brun and Dereere chasing him down.

Benny Van Steelandt, Belgium

Current European Champion. Fresh from his victory in Powerman Alabama, Benny will be the man to beat.

Olivier Bernard, Switzerland, (awaiting written confirmation)

World Champion at Long Distance Duathlon. Racing for the first time in the Channel Islands the tough course may suit his reserves of Ironman strength.

Nicholas Le Brun, France

World Champion at Winter Triathlon and 4th in the final 1999 World Rankings.

Juergen Dereere, Belgium

European Champion in 1998 and 2nd in the 99 World Championships.

Huub Maas, Holland

5th in the World Championships and 9th in the 99 World Rankings.

Mario Van Hoenacker, Belgium

Mario will be looking to beat Van Steelandt after chasing him close in Alabama to finish in 2nd place.

Jean Luc Besse, France

5th in the 99 European Championships.

Henrik Svarre, Denmark

19th in the 99 World Rankings.

Phillip Braems, Belgium

4th place in the World Long Distance Duathlon Championships.

Marc Pschebizin, Germany

Previously a top 10 finisher in Zofingen.

Andy Peace, UK

Andy is leading the British charge. The last two years has seen him finish second in Powerman Guernsey.

Julian Jenkinson, UK

British elite team captain and Ironman Champion. Also the highest British finisher in Zofingen.

Peter Younghusband, UK

2nd British National Middle Distance Triathlon Championships.

Rob Joy, UK

6th Powerman Guernsey in 1999.

Richard Hobson, UK

For many years Richard has been at the top of British Triathlon/Duathlon.

Peter Dymoke, Scotland

Leading Scottish Duathlete and a member of the GB team.

Crispin Ormondi, Kenya

First time in the Islands, Crispin has cycled for Kenya in the Commenwealth games.

Ladies

The ladies race will be a fantastic struggle between the top three, Petrokova, Lothian and Pitel. They all appear evenly matched.

Alena Petrokova, Czech Republic

3rd in the 99 World Rankings, 2nd in the World Long Distance Championships, 2nd in the European Championships.

Fiona Lothian, Scotland

4th in the 99 World Rankings, 3rd World Duathlon Championships, 5th in the Long Distance World Duathlon Championships, Fiona will be fighting Petrokova all the way to the line.

Edwige Pitel, France

6th 99Worlds Rankings, 4th in the European Championships, 1st Powerman Guernsey. Edwige will be trying to repeat the 99 Powerman Guernsey victory over Fiona.

Claire La Pouble, France

10th World Long Distance Duathlon Championships.

Hildi Symons, Belgium

7th World Long Distance Duathlon Championships.

Anne Paul, Northern Ireland

Irelands leading Duathlete and cross country runner.

Helen Purdy, England

British Ironman Champion.

Selection criteria for ETU Under 23

These are the selection criteria for the U23 European Championship to be held on the 13th August in Enniskillen (Northern Ireland) as received from the BTA:

Selection for the Great Britain Team will be based on the following criteria:

1. Performances in any ETU or ITU Races.
2. In addition, performance at Pembrokeshire (Great Britain Triathlon Series) on 8th July 2000 will be monitored for athletes not selected by their international results.
3. Any outstanding performances from other races may be taken into account

Selection announced between the 10th and the 14th July.

All athletes must be born in 1977, 1978 or 1979.

Max team of 4 men and 4 women will be selected with athletes expected to attain a top-10 position.

For further information, please contact Greg or Lisa at the Triathlon Performance Unit, Department of Sports Development and Recreation, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY or ring (+44) 1225 323 548. Lisa's new email:

Mar-30: Elite Duathlon is Tadcaster, not Swindon

Apparently there's a mistake in the upcoming issue of TriNews that states that Swindon is the Elite Duathlon Championships. Tadcaster, on the 27th August, is the Elite Duathlon Championships and has 5 places for Age Group slots for the World Duathlon Championships and 5 slots for the European Duathlon Championships. It will also be the Junior Championships, race distance 5k 20k 2.5k.

Mar-29: Spencer for the Olympics?

There's an interesting article in the Times today in which David Powell suggests the possibility that Spencer might now try for inclusion in the GB Olympic squad... ...the triathlon squad, that is! He's currently ranked 89th according to the TriathlonLive listings -- which means that he needs to race at least once to ensure that he holds onto the slot and then race off against the other GB hopefuls to get a place. Mmmm, what are the odds on a 1, 2, 3?

Quantas signs with ITU

The 2000 ITU Triathlon World Championships in Perth are now officially the Qantas 2000 ITU Triathlon World Championships.

Mar-28: Spencer cleared (again)

It looks as though Spencer Smith's nandrolone nightmare is finally over. After being cleared by the BTA and the ITU the third hearing, brought by USAT and the ITU and heard by the Court of Arbitrarion in Sport, has come to a snap 2 to 1 decision that there is no case. There are few details yet - Katherine Williams' TriathlonLive site has much the best detail so far. The ITU website - currently being re-built by Worldsport - has nothing at all.

This is the official release from Spencer's lawyer:

SPENCER SMITH CLEARED OF NANDROLONE SMEAR

Spencer Smith (Britain's former World Champion triathlete) has been finally cleared of doping allegations (involving the banned steroid nandrolone) by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, following a hearing last week in New York. This is the culmination of a 17 month battle to clear his name following a routine test at the October 1998 Hawaii Ironman race.

Speaking from his training base in Spain, Smith reacted to the news

"It's a fantastic feeling to have proved my innocence. But I've had to do that now at three separate hearings so it's been a difficult time for me and my family. Now I can get on with my life without carrying this huge burden on my shoulders. It's difficult to shake off the stigma of such an allegation but I've won all three rounds of my fight so I feel totally vindicated."

Smith had been placed 5th at the Hawaii event. Then in November 1998 he was told by his own federation the British Triathlon Association (BTA) that tests carried out at the IOC accredited laboratory in Los Angeles had shown up traces of the prohibited substance nandrolone. There has been a dramatic increase in reported nandrolone positive results in a number of sports, particularly athletics. An independent BTA disciplinary panel cleared Smith in March 1999, saying that there was no case for him to answer due to lack of evidence. The USAT, the body which had sanctioned the 1999 Hawaii race, appealed to the appeals board of the sport's world governing body, the International Triathlon Union (ITU), but the appeal was rejected in September 1999, due to the lack of key scientific evidence from the lab. The ITU and USAT took the case on appeal again, this time to the ultimate appeals court, the CAS, based in Switzerland. After a lengthy hearing last Tuesday (March 21) in New York the CAS Panel rejected the latest USAT appeal. The panel's reasons for its decision have not yet been published.

The panel comprised US attorney Carolyn Witherspoon, German lawyer Dr Christian Krahe and was chaired by Canadian judge, the Hon. Hugh Fraser. Smith was accompanied by his manager, Robert Burnell, and was represented by his London based lawyer, Tony Morton-Hooper of Mishcon de Reya. Morton-Hooper worked closely with Burnell on Smith's defence strategy and had successfully argued the case for Smith at the previous two hearings.

Burnell added

"The ITU and USAT kept saying they wanted all the evidence to be heard and they were confident it seemed of victory. But when all the evidence was produced it just underlined all the errors and mistakes in the whole testing process. At the hearing before the CAS it was revealed by the lab director Dr Don Catlin that a mistake had been made in some vital calculations, a mistake apparently not noticed until the last minute. Spencer has had a rough time of it. It's always difficult to find the proof when you maintain your innocence because you're up against powerful and politically motivated bodies who run the sport. It was very clear to me that ITU Secretary General Mark Sisson, in the face of the evidence, was pushing hard for Spencer to be banned but he's been shown to be wrong. The way he's handled things I think he should be now be considering his own position. Steve Locke, USAT's Executive Director, didn't even turn up at the hearing which tells me he was Sisson's puppet in all this - so he needs to think again about the USAT's hounding of Spencer. The sport needs to be run by people who are above personal grudges. The rules are tough (and rightly so) but every man and woman is entitled to a fair treatment when accused of something as serious as this. They shouldn't become the subject of a witch-hunt by powerful governing bodies. However Spencer can hold his head up now and get on with his career. There's no good reason to keep him out of the Olympics - and that's been part of the problem because he's a real contender and I'm sure there were plenty of people who wanted him out of the way."

Spencer acknowledged the support he had received from Burnell (who he nicknames the Boltman), Morton-Hooper, from his mother Barbara, wife Melissa, all his UK and US based family, Jenny Burnell, sponsors*, also Stuart Fish, Paula-Newby Frazer, Paul Huddle, the Linda McCartney team and the many people who wrote in with their encouragement.

*Sponsors: Met-Rx, Saucony, Speedo Europe, Speedo US, Speclized, Zipp Wheels.

For further information please contact Tony Morton-Hooper of Mishcon de Reya, 21 Southampton Row, London WC1B 5HS, Tel: 0171 440 7000, Fax: 0171 404 2376

Mar-27: Brits abroad

Lots of Brits out there in ITU Points and World Cup races this weekend.

In the Australian Championships at Mooloolaba: Chris Lee was 15th, Matthew White was 22nd. For the ladies: Leanda Cave was 11th and Michelle Dillon 13th.

In the African Championships Mark Marabini (not really a Brit but familiar to many of us) finished 3rd.

At the ITU opener in Rio: Steph Forrester was 2nd behind Carol Montgomery and Sian Brice was 4th. Also collecting points for the ladies was Heather Williams in 19th. In the mens race: Marc Jenkins was 20th, Richard Allen 25th and Richard Stannard 26th -- all should have got points.

At the ITU points race in Valle de Bravo, Mexico: Pierre Yurow placed 18th. Can someone tell us who he is?

Mar-24: BTA advertises for a new CEO

This is the verbatim text of the BTA's release.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (CEO)

Attractive package circa £45K

Triathlon makes its first appearance at the Olympic Games this year, and has enjoyed substantial membership growth in the UK over the last few years. In addition to private sector sponsors the sport enjoys substantial support from UK Sport, the British Olympic Association and the National Lottery.

The BTA now wishes to recruit a dynamic CEO to continue the development of the sport. The CEO will need to build on existing relationships with external partners, maintain links with existing sponsors and implement new initiatives. Support will come from a small team based at offices in Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The CEO will join the Board, which otherwise consists of elected non-executive Directors.

The CEO will need to have successful business experience at a senior level, excellent communication skills and be an accomplished team leader.

Interested applicants should send a detailed CV and salary details to Judith Brand at BTA Ltd., P O Box 26, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 2ZR. Closing date is 30 April.

Mar-22: Venue change for Boundary Breeze

Manchester Triathlon Club organized this event last year in the Salford Quays Area. However, due some logistical problems the organizing committee have decided to change venue for this years race.

The Boundary Water Park in Holmes Chapel will be the venue for the 2000 Boundary Breeze hosted by Manchester Tri. The date will be unchanged, Sunday 16th July 2000, first wave off at 11:00. The organiser's details are P Huizer, 30 Thurlwood Avenue, Withington, Manchester. Telephone 0161-434 4704 or e-mail

Pools on the Park cancelled

Unfortunately the Kingfisher club have had to cancel the race at Richmond pool on the 2nd of April. Despite the race being even better publicised than last year we have only had 20 entrants. (For a similar time last year they had 50-60 competitors). They felt that it would be unwise to run a race that wouldn't break even and would have more marshalls than participants.

Cycling performance seminar

The Medical and Research Committee of the European Triathlon Union are supporting a seminar on "Performance in Cycling -- Guidelines for optimal performance" on Saturday 6th May 2000 at the Avon Room, University Centre, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Details from Veronica Vleck () or from Shona Halson at the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, West Midlands B15 2TT.

Mar-18: Graham Schuil-Brewer leaves BTA

Graham Schuil-Brewer has decided that, for personal reasons, he will be unable to continue in his current role as Acting Chief Executive with the BTA after the end of March 2000. Graham joined the BTA in January 1999 as Treasurer and Accountant and took on the responsibility of Acting Chief Executive Officer when Elaine Shaw left in July of that year. He will be retiring to the South of France with his wife Kate at the beginning of May.

The position of Chief Executive Officer has now been agreed with UK Sport and will be advertised shortly. Until the new appointment arrives, members of the Executive Board will share the responsibility for managing the sport until the new Chief Executive is in place.

Mar-17: Jersey Powerman news

This information from Bob Welsh:

Guernsey has hosted the UK Powerman for the last three years. For the new millenium Guernsey was no longer able to organise the event so the sister Island of Jersey stepped in and on April the 9th Credit Suisse Private Banking will sponsor the first Credit Suisse Powerman Jersey Duathlon.

This race will be rich in prize money, £20,000 is at stake with equal spread for men and women, 1st prize £1500, 2nd £1300 going down to 10th at £300. The age groupers are not forgotten with £65, £55, £50 down to £40 for 5th place depending on how many entrants in the age group.

Certainly the richest event in the UK and again the field will be the strongest in the UK with the exception of the European Championships later in the year. Places up for grabs for the ledgendary Zofingen and medals in the British Middle Distance Duathlon Championships.

All the major UK and European magazines will be reporting as well as TV coverage.

The course is true Powerman, tough and rural. The transition area is in the grounds of the local bowling club. The surface is hard packed gravel and the route in and out is very fair to everyone. Good car parking and toilets.

The first 10k run is predominantly off road, it has two hills -- both there to make you cry, one of them even makes the car cry. The surfaces vary from tarmac to hard packed brown gravel to sand. The scenery is breathtaking with hamlets and sandy beaches around most corners, with the odd harbour thrown in for good measure as you follow the South East coast. I noticed several public houses so if you pop in for a swift one enter and leave by the back door and don't take a glass out with you!

The 60k, 2 loop cycle is on open roads, so as always care must be taken.The cycle course is varied with two hills and a nice coastal flat amongst the sand dunes. I didn't notice the wind being in a car but I am reliably informed it can be, how shall we say, severe. The two downhills are technical but fast, if you are confident (Dr Jenkinson better get some lessons from Biffo the dog to help him stay on that cycle!).

The second 10k run is 3 loops, again mostly off road with only one hill and that is done on the first loop and not again.

So a nice challenging course, so who's going. No American elite but there is time for them to contact the organisers for assisted travel etc. In fact if any elite out there want to apply there is still a little money in the pot, but be quick. Age groupers from anywhere can still enter and rub shoulders with the best in the World.

Contact for further details.

Mar-14: Brits Down Under

At the ITU points race in Canberra we only seem to have had one contender in the male field, Craig Ball and he DNFd. In the ladies field Steph Forrester came 4th (Michellie Jones was the winner), Leanda Cave was 12th and Michelle Dillon DNFd.

Fontgary and Culford Full

The Apr-9 race at Fontygary is full, as is the Culford Novice Triathlon on April 16th. Looks like being a busy year!

Mar-13: Scottish Coach appointed

The Scottish Triathlon Association has apparently appointed Australian coach Darren Smith as its National Coach. The news came via Katherine Williams' Digest -- the STA website has nothing other than the announcement of the search for candidates.

According to the Digest report, there were 19 applicants for the £30,000-a-year position, which is likely to be based at the Scottish Institute for Sport at Stirling University. Applications came from Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, Ukraine and the USA. The three other finalists were Canada's Lance Watson, England's Julian Goater and Scotland's Fiona Lothian.

A former physiologist at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, Smith has been manager of the triathlon program at the Queensland Academy of Sport since 1998.

Mar-7: BTA Roadshow

On Thursday Newcastle Civic Centre will host the first BTA "Tri 2000 Roadshow". The aim of the initiative is to encourage more people to take up the challenge triathlon, regardless of their age or ability. During March and April, the BTA will be running roadshows in the 10 English Regions, Scotland and Wales. The evenings will provide people with the opportunity to meet athletes and discover more about the various activities planned for the year ahead, including a series of short distance pool based events, being organised for the weekends immediately following triathlons debut at the Sydney Olympics.

This first roadshow is in the Pandon Room at Newcastle civic centre. Registration starts at 6:30 and everybody is welcome to come along and meet us. For further information, directions etc call the BTA on 01530 414 234 or

Deal founder dies

This item was sent in by Mike Russell.

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Roger Francis-Darby passed away recently after a relatively short illness. Roger was one of the original members of Deal Tri Squad and has been around triathlon / Duathlons since the late 80's. An excellent runner, even as a supervet, Roger managed some unbelievable performances, over short and long distance.

He will be sadly missed by all who knew him and should be remembered as the super athlete he was, with his long gold locks flowing in the breeze as he often ran past you.

On a personal note, I have known Roger for over 10 years and never once have I heard him say a bad word about anything or anyone. He was a competitor to the last and a great inspiration to all, young and old.

Feb-28: Brits abroad

In the ITU Points race at Devonport, Tasmania at the weekend Andrew Johns placed 10th, Michelle Dillon 3rd and Steph Forrester 7th.

In the ITU Points race at Midmar in South Africa Tim Don won in 1:56:28 with Craig Ball, Richard Allen and Richard Stannard all in the top ten. To round out the day Sian Brice won the ladies in 2:08:10 with Heather Williams 3rd. Full details on the BTA website.

Feb-24: Milton Keynes (revisited...)

Confused? You probably should be! It looks like there will be a Milton Keynes Triathlon this year but it's not the one that John Lunt's Human Race was planning. According to an email sent to the eGroup there will be a race on July 30th with £4,500 in prize money, Tim Don and Andrew Johns already on the start line and a 350 person mass start. (Actually, that may not be legal under the BTA rules...) The email promises a hilly bike course, a traffic-free 10k and a "realistic" entry fee of £30 to £35. Someone having a dig?

For further information contact Mark Booth 01908 615045 or by email at

Feb-22: Milton Keynes Triathlon 2000 cancelled.

It is with great regret that, due to a number of operational issues regarding the Milton Keynes triathlon, it has been decided to abandon the project for this year. It is very disappointing after a large number of meetings, site visits and all the hard work that the Milton Keynes Tri Club and Human Race Events had undertaken to date. John Lunt from Human Race said "We had to be sure the bike course and run routes were above all safe for the competitors. Unfortunately some major safety issues could not be overcome."

The organisers were not happy with the road structure and venue. They decided that it would be far better to cancel the event now, in February, giving the athletes plenty of time to re-organise their season. "We had hoped that this would be the final UK race for our Olympians before they set off for Sydney in search of those Olympic medals." said Jasmine Flatters, Race Director.

It is hoped that the event may be staged in 2001.

The BTA have been informed of the decision. The BTA Executive board will now have to decide where the Junior Championships for 2000 are to be held and also the Worlds Quailifier for Edmonton 2001 which were scheduled to be held at Milton Keynes.

For information on all other Human Race Events including the Pepsi Max Royal Windsor Triathlon (as at 20.2 there were 747 entries) and the Millennium Waterfronts Triathlon, Salford, visit the Human Race website at www.humanrace.co.uk.

Training day with Bill Black

Cambridge Triathletes are organising a Bill Black training day on Saturday the 4th of March. The day includes run, swim, bike (turbo training) sessions, lectures and the opportunity to ask Bill questions about your individual training and racing needs. The coaching day runs from 9-5 and cost £15. The venue is Impington Village College, Impington which is just north of Cambridge. Contact for more details.

Feb-12: Ironbridge in 2000? Probably not...

Despite two earlier positive mailings to the eGroup in response to questions about Ironbridge and whether (or not) it would be staged in 2000 it now looks as though the event is unlikely to happen. The reasons outlined in Liz Taylor's email (see the eGroup message archive if you want the full text) are based around MHR's apparent financial problems. MHR, run by Phil Templar, owns the rights to Ironbridge, having bought the race off 220 a few years back, and so it's unlikely that anyone will be able to pick up the event without his involvement. It seems as though there are interested people (both athletes and volunteers) but until the financial side has been sorted I think we can assume that the race is on hold.

It would be helpful if we could get a statement out of Phil himself as so much of the information that has been passed around is second or third hand. I haven't seen him since I visited the London Triathlon as an observer for the BTA and attempts at telephone and email communication have met with disconnected numbers or no reply. The only person active in making statements about the situation has been Liz, herself previously a director of MHR, and we can only assume that she is getting her information directly from Phil.

Wolverhampton Olympic -- date change

The Wolverhampton Olympic has been re-scheduled for the 4th of June. Details from Black Country Triathletes at PO Box 1123, Wolverhampton WV4 4WL or by email at

Feb-11: Team Volcano teams up with Bucks Fizz Travel

Bucks Fizz Travel and Team Volcano International have created an arrangement where Bucks Fizz will assist Team Volcano members with their travel arrangements. "We are very excited with our new relationship with Team Volcano and we look forward to working with Chris Eversfield and his team" reports Garth Millar, owner of Bucks Fizz Travel and himself an active triathlete.

More information from Garth Millar at Bucks Fizz on 0121 559 4221, Team Volcano () or Team Chairman, Chris Eversfield on 07801 882812 (evenings)

Feb-04: Windsor gets ITU status

The BTA has announced that the Pepsi Max Royal Windsor Triathlon has again been designated as an ITU points race. The race, planned for June 18th, has progressed over the years from its solid foundations to become the premier event in the UK calendar.

Set just two weeks before the next ITU points race in Monaco on July 2nd, the Windsor event provides the perfect opportunity for those elite athletes on the world circuit to come to Europe and race in two of the world's most scenic and historic towns. Loreen Barnett, ITU Technical Director, commented: "This race fits perfectly into the ITU race programme for 2000. Perhaps one day Windsor might seek to be a World Cup event?" Over to you, John?

Feb-03: Leanda Cave now a Brit

This just in from Katherine Williams' TriDigest and confirmed in a BTA press release.

Queensland's Leanda Cave, the Australian who caused a stir by entering and winning the British Triathlon National Championships at Brighton last September, is now a true Brit. The British Triathlon Association announced Thursday that she was being welcomed to compete in British colours after her British passport and other paperwork was finalized. But this "late transfer" -- two years after four other Australians joined the GB ranks -- is not because she is making a run at the 2000 Olympics. The four Aussies-turned-Brits who preceded Cave are Andrew Johns (now ranked No 3); Chris Lee (now ranked No 232); Michelle Dillon (now ranked No 36); and Beth Thomson (now ranked No 79).

"After stewing about joining GB for almost two years now, I have made the ultimate decison," Cave said earlier this week. "Perhaps if I joined when the thought first crossed my mind, I may have been in contention for the Olympics, but this is not the case.

"The reasons for such changes occur not for a start at the Olympics, but rather for securing a start at ITU events, and possibly World Championships in the years to come. I have experienced -- since reaching the professional ranks in Australia (after being one of Australia's top juniors for some years) -- a dramatic downward spiral in support from my ex-association (Triathlon Australia)."

Cave gained the respect of most of the British girls when she turned up to race the National Championships in Brighton last year. She won the race, although she wasn't eligible for the title. She won't be eligible for the 2000 title either, nor can she represent Britain in the European Championships at Stein, Netherlands, in July. But she will be able to race for GB in ITU World Cup events in 2000 -- but not in the 2000 ITU World Championships. The exclusions -- including consideration for the 2000 Olympic team -- are the result of a new BTA policy.

When another international athlete with the 2000 Olympics in mind inquired about joining the GB squad last winter, the BTA decided that any athlete must effectively wait out a year before becoming eligible for team perks. That includes gaining Lottery funding, should they be good enough for being considered for the World Class Performance Plan.

Cave, who raced last season for a German club, was born in Louth, England. She has a British passport, as she migrated with her family to Australia when she was four. She is currently ranked No 66 with the ITU, and had finished seventh in the ITU Junior World Triathlon Championships in 1998. She had three ITU World Cup starts for Australia in 1999, finishing 32nd in Tiszaujvaros, 28th in Lausanne and 12th in Noosa.

Feb-02: Update on Spencer

While Spencer is currently taking part in the Tour of Langkawi down in Malaysia the massed forces of the ITU, USAT and the Court of Arbitration in Sport have been trying to get settled on a date for his next hearing. This is the one that USAT have asked for following the ITU's dismissal of the charges following Ironman Hawaii in 1998... Thought it was all over, did you?

The hearing was set to be held in New York on Feb-14 but will now be sometime in March as Spencer's brief, Tony Morton-Hooper, is unable to make the date owing to other court committments. The panel of three will include an American (who seems to have connections with USAT), a German attorney and a Canadian judge.

Meanwhile, back in Malaysia, Spencer seems to be doing pretty much OK. He missed a major spill at the end of today's stage and is currently 57th overall, just under 19 minutes back. Track the Tour at the Cycling News website.

Jan-30: Steph does the business!

This just in from Down Under courtesy of Katherine Williams.

Don't even have the top-10 to report, but Scotland's Steph Forrester has pulled off an incredible upset in beating Emma Carney in the ITU Points Race on Sunday at Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Apparently she surged with 2.5k left on the run to beat Carney by eight seconds at the finish.

She picks up 375 coveted ITU points, raising her ITU ranking from No. 27 to No. 24. Many things will shuffle and change between now and May 2, the day the ITU decides which countries get how many slots in the Olympics. But if Steph can just stay in the top-25, she would be all set for Sydney as an automatic selection (along with Sian Brice, assuming she also holds her place in the top-25).

Here's what I know, courtesy of Nick Munting: St George Triathlon Australia Series/ITU Points Race held January 30 at Geelong, Victoria, Australia. 1.5k S, 40k B, 10k R

Jan-26: Want to be elite?

After several years of tinkering with the way that Elite licenses are allocated the BTA Technical Committee has come up with an improved version for 2000. Stuart Coulson explains:

As you all probably know, the Elite License criteria has changed, so here's the official statement. The changes have been made in response to complaints from athletes, so we're trying to do the best thing for all athletes, race organisers alike.

To qualify for an Elite license, an athlete must have completed three (3) Olympic distance open water triathlons within 7% for men and 9% for women of the current National Olympic Distance Triathlon Champion's time. Richard Allen won the National Championships at Brighton in 1:52:23, so if a male athlete has finished three (3) Olympic distance events in under 2:00:15 (1:52:23 + 7%) then they can upgrade their standard BTA Race License to an Elite one, at no extra cost. Similarly, for women, Heather Williams won at Brighton in 2:06:07, so if a woman has completed three (3) such races in under 2:17:28 (2:06:07 + 9%) then she too can have an Elite License at no extra cost.

The three Olympic distance races should be Grand Prix, Championship, or World Qualifying events, or their international equivalent, within the previous season. A "new to triathlon" athlete cannot get an Elite license straight away, but could get one after three races.

The Elite license used to cost £50, but now it is £30 for non-club members and £24 for club members, the standard membership prices. The reason for the old higher prices was to cover Out-Of-Season Anti-Doping Controls which all Elite athletes were subjected to. The new Elite license means that these athletes are not part of this program, they are simply faster athletes. We have introduced a new level of membership for the top athletes who are part of the Anti-Doping Control Programme. This is called the World Performance License (which costs £50) and is for the World Class Performance Plan Athletes plus selected others.

So now we have the scenario of having more athletes available to compete in the elite waves of races (only the elite waves can take home the prize money in a race, unless there is no elite wave, as per 1999), where these athletes can be considered as elite within Britain, but not all of them can be considered as elite on a global scale. If an Elite athlete wants to race at the World Championships AS AN AGE-GROUPER, then it has up until now been a bit of a moot point. Now there will be a pre-determined race acting as a World Championships Qualifier that does not have an Elite wave, so elites can race against age-groupers and the first 'x' number past the post (whether they are elite or AG) will qualify.

For 2000 (qualifying for the Edmonton 2001 World Champs) this race will be at Gullane in East Lothian. It's the Scottish Championship and the fourth round of the BTA Grand Prix Series 2000. The event for Elites to qualify for AG slots will 'float' around the country so not always being held in one place.

As I said at the top, and pointed out in John Williams's 220 editorial in August, this is the BTA recognising the need to improve the whole Elite situation, both for the athletes and for the race organisers who have sometimes had to put on an Elite field with fewer than five athletes (Bournemouth springs to mind). It's also part of my job to try to improve the attractiveness of the whole Grand Prix and Championship events so, hopefully, this will result in more athletes taking out an Elite license and so making the elite races better without being to the detriment of the AG races / waves. It also means that an athlete can race Elite all year, so improving their performances as they're racing against a higher standard of competition, but they can still go to the World Champs as an Age-grouper (and hopefully perform better because of their inclusion in the Elite wave here) as long as they qualify at the one event where it's "first past the post".

Report on the ITU visit

This report came in from Graeme Kempson.

Les McDonald, the ITU President, accompanied by Loreen Barnett, the ITU Technical Ace, flew to Britain for a rare visit covering several days during January.

Part of their agenda for the visit to Britain was to meet with the hierarchy of the Commonwealth Games Organisation and the cities of Manchester and Salford. This was to ensure that the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games Race matches the standard that the international elite racers have come to expect. Oh, it will also have to be a great live and TV spectacle as well!

During their visit they were pleased to be invited to inspect the progress on the Lowry Centre, which is expected to open in the spring. Hard hats, wellies and fluorescent jackets were the order of they day.

A day of discussions were held, which included officials of the BTA and Human Race (the Race Directors) over a suitable course that will showcase both the cities of Manchester and Salford. So impressive is the Lowry Centre and its surrounds, that the ITU and the BTA expect it to be the focus of the race, including the transition area.

The city of Salford has endorsed its support for the Triathlon family by recently appointing a Triathlon Development Officer. Such is how the gospel is spread. Were it that all our cities were so dynamic. The ITU and the BTA would like to thank all officials for the welcome we received as well as the opportunity to see part of the renaissance of such wonderful British heritage cities.

BTA officials took the opportunity of Les McDonald's stay in Britain to lobby for British interests in the international arena; a major part of which is to bring the World Championships to Britain at an early date, as well as regular World Cups and ITU Points races. The official view is that if appropriate sponsorship is found and the BTA can continue to enjoy the confidence of the city officials, then Manchester and Salford could be the venue of an ITU World Cup annually from 2003 onwards.

Upcoming sports lectures

Scott Forbes (GB Olympic Squad, 1996-1998) will be conducting a lecture this Sunday (Jan-30) near or at Ironmonger Baths, Islington, London, on key swim, bike and run sessions for this stage of the season. Gill Horgan (British Olympic Association Accredited sports dietician) will be lecturing on nutrition for triathlon on Feb-15/16. The cost of the lectures is £10 for those who pay in advance or £12.50 on the door. The venue will be announced tommorow pending number of attendees. Please reply to if you would like to attend.

Jan-26: Has Triathlete magazine died?

Although there's been no formal announcement, Katherine Williams has confirmed that she has been "laid off" as the Editor (Monday). However, she's as much in the dark about the future as anyone else... If I had to hazard a guess I'd say that one of two things will happen: either 220 will buy out the remains and fold it in as a way of expanding their subscriber base and consolidating advertising (a sensible economic move) or that Triathlete will ask for a stupid amount of money and, as a result, we'll have the option of getting the US version to fulfill our outstanding subscriptions.

The market for triathlon magazines in the UK is small -- 220 has never found it easy although their current strategy seems to be paying off. Imports like Triathlete, either with or without UK content, are driven by a mindset that isn't based on the UK market. [Don't confuse the fact that they have an Editor here with the fact that the management isn't!]. Losing two (unrelated) Williams from the UK magazine business in the space of as many months might well be seen as an omen...

Damn, that article I wrote will never get published now...

ITU update

The ITU website now says that the World Cup event that was provisionally slated for October 16 in London will now happen in Hyde Park in October 2001. No official comment from the BTA, of course...

Jan-24: Are you ready for this?

Deal Tri have confirmed that the second running of the London to Paris Relay Triathlon which will take place on either 29th, 30th or 31st July 2000, depending on tides in the English Channel. Ultra Fit Magazine (latest edition) describes the event as the UK's equivalent of the Hawaii Ironman, yes really it is that tough. Other reports on the event have appeared on this website and in Triathlete Magazine, Runners World, local TV and in many newspapers. It's going to be bigger this year as interest is growing.

We are looking for teams of 7 athletes (6 for each discipline) who can run from Central London to Dover, swim the English Channel (under CSA rules which means NO WETSUITS!!) then cycle to Paris. The event is not to be undertaken lightly, you will need support crew and a budget of at least £3000, and a flexible time window to start during the three days as the event start time is governed by the Channel Pilot Boats who will guide the swim teams. Additionally, of course you have to be very fit and excellent swimmer.

Come on you Ironmen/Women can you do the big one in 2000??? Contact either Ian Pettitt on or Gary Holmes on .

Jan-21: Karen Smyers medical news

It looks as though the gods of triathlon just aren't smiling on the professionals at the moment. First we get the news about Greg Welch and now we hear that Karen Smyers has thyroid cancer. Unlike Greg's heart condition, hers is not immediately life threatening if she continues to train and so she's doing just that. Karen is one of the nicest people I've had the good fortune to meet on the professional circuit and to say that she has had a run of bad luck would be a masterful understatement: first the severed hamstring, then the sideswipe by a truck, then the broken collarbone and now this. Much more detail on both these athletes and their situation can be found on TriathlonLive and SlowTwitch.

Jan-19: Windsor gets UK selection status

The PepsiMAX Windsor Triathlon will have more than its tenth anniversary to celebrate this year as it has been selected as one of the selection races from which the British Olympic Triathlon Team will be picked. Confirmation has been received from Kevin Hickey, Technical Director of the British Olympic Association, that the three selection races will comprise Windsor on June 18th, Monaco, an ITU World Cup event on July 2nd and finally Stein, the European Championship on July 9th.

Triathlon will be making its Olympic debut in Sydney this September and the women's event will be the first medal decided. With Simon Lessing, Sian Brice, Andrew Johns and Michelle Dillon all competing for places on the Olympic squad, there's a good chance that Great Britain will be on the podium at the first medal ceremony!

John Lunt, Event Director for the PepsiMAX Royal Windsor Triathlon and Managing Director for event organisers Human Race is delighted with the outcome. "We're honoured to be given the opportunity to welcome our Olympians to the event. Great Britain has some of the finest triathletes in the world and what better place to display their talent than against the stunning backdrop of Windsor Castle and Eton College."

Jan-17: Duathlon WC Qualifiers

It is being reported that the Hereford Duathlon on Apr-16 (5k 30k 5k) is going to be an Age-Group World Duathlon Qualifier (3 slots) as well as Swindon (May-7) which has 4 slots, with the remaining slots being at Team Manager's discretion. Apparently the details will be released in the next issue of Tri-News (due this week). The BTA seems to have removed us from their official Press Release list -- I must have upset someone...

Brits Down Under

In the St George F1 race at Adelaide, Australia Steph Forrester placed 7th and Michelle Dillon 9th. Tim Don was 3rd in the 6th race of the Queensland Tri Series. Results lifted from the Triathlon Digest.

By the way, for those who saw the late night coverage of Brighton on the TV last week a) wasn't that good compared to some of the stuff we had to watch last year? ST was on good form there, and b) Tim didn't deserve that puncture but the man's grace in defeat was exemplary -- definite bonus points!! Great teamwork from the Sigma boys as well.

Jan-14: SeaFrance London to Paris

It looks as though the SeaFrance London to Paris Triathlon Challenge will happen again this year (see the article in the most recent edition of Ultra Fit on page 92 and 93). Anyone interested in putting together a team should contact .

Jan-10: Greg Welch to leave triathlon

It looks as though Greg Welch has run his last race following an announcement made on Sunday night which was picked up in today's Triathlon Digest. The retirement appears to be on medical grounds; Greg has already been diagnosed with a blood disorder and apparently his problems during the 1999 Hawaii Ironman have indicated it may be a wise move to stop altogether. Some details are on active.com and there will be a full press conference on Tuesday (online, of course.) The man will be missed.

New news website from top team

Those who follow Katherine Williams's essential daily Triathlon Digest will already know that today is the day that she and Dan Empfield (he of Quintana Roo and, more recently slowtwitch.com fame) launch their new joint venture TriathlonLive website. The daily Digest will continue as an email service, the new website will act as a news and update service and Dan's Slowtwitch site will carry more in-depth material. Definitely one for the bookmark list...

More from Down Under

At the weekend's St George F1 race in Victoria Michelle Dillon finished 7th (keeping her 7th spot overall in the series) and Steph Forrester missed the main final but came 2nd in the consolation final and is now 11th overall.

Jan-07: Thruxton duathlon cancelled

We've heard that the Thruxton Duathlon, scheduled for May-21 and due to be the National Elite Duathlon Championships, has been "withdrawn". This has now been confirmed by Roger Wakeling at Concept Sport (Jan-10). Quite what the BTA will do to re-arrange the elite championship is not clear but they'll probably tack it onto the Swindon event.