Post on 24-Jun-2020
British Triathlon Federation Annual Report 2008
This year, we have celebrated 25 years of Triathlon competition in our country, encouraging us to reflect on where we have come from and, more particularly, in which direction we should be heading in the future, both as a sport and as the governing body for Triathlon in Great Britain. I remember when we were al‐ways described as ‘that gruelling sport, Triathlon’, whereas now, hopefully, our profile has evolved with the sport be‐coming more accessible to people of all ages, and inclusive to all racial and social backgrounds as well as being a sport that welcomes disabled athletes of all abilities. We will make time to recognise our past heroes through crea‐tion of a prestigious Gold Pin award giving lifetime membership to acknowl‐edge their sport changing contribution. The unique sporting circumstances as‐sociated with hosting both Olympic and Commonwealth Games in quick succes‐sion make it imperative that we seize the opportunity to plan for the next two four year cycles at least, to ensure that Triathlon in Britain merges from this exciting yet challenging period in excel‐lent health! To that end, we have en‐gaged in a process to deliver a strategy that can be embraced throughout the Home Nations that is integrated fully with those of our members, the individ‐ual home countries. ‘Joined up’ thinking and action is essential and can be en‐compassed within a wide ranging and stimulating purpose for the British Tri‐athlon Federation: “to promote excellence in our sport, and create opportunities for everyone to achieve their personal Triathlon challenges.” This must be supported fully by a way of doing our daily business, represented by clear values of fair play, respect, consis‐tency and transparency, readiness to embrace change, encouraging high aspi‐rations, recognising success and being environmentally conscious. Future focus will be entirely on the three p’s of building profile, delivering performance and growing participation, all within an ethical background and backed up with clear, transparent gov‐ernance and by a world class support system. We will aim to be ‘doing the
Introduction from Dr Sarah Springman OBE
right things’ in the sense of the big pic‐ture, whilst taking care of the more process‐oriented requirements de‐manded by our members, and their members, of ’doing things right’. Sport is about amazing deeds and sto‐ries, incredible ‘on the edge of your seat’ excitement, raw competition, he‐roic achievements, all related strongly to people. These are people who strive daily with their training in pursuit of reaching their potential, whatever it may be and those who support, be they from a commercial perspective as race director, supplier of equipment or ser‐vices as a volunteer (coach, official, board member, team manager, admin‐istrator, support team member, event helper etc.) or as a member of staff. On the latter front, recruiting the best peo‐ple is essential. Thereafter, training, motivating, empowering and retaining excellent staff is indispensable. To that end, the appointment of Zara Hyde Pe‐ters, who joined us early in 2008 as Chief Executive, has set the scene, building a talented senior management group to contribute to development of the new strategy and then to ensure the operational delivery. Corus have continued to be excellent and most supportive premier sponsors, as well as our British Olympic Associa‐tion FTSE100 partners, to help us reach the necessary next stage in our develop‐ment as a sport and governing body. We are most grateful to them and are working to progress to a higher level partnership over the next six years, in conjunction with their new owners, Tata Steel. The Corus Kids of Steel Series grew dramatically this year with double the number of children taking part, in‐cluding an impressive cohort of children from entirely new geographical areas and backgrounds, previously un‐penetrated by the sport of Triathlon. The ‘Corus Disability Project’ witnessed similar striking growth too, with a highly successful, and hugely inspirational, Disabled British Championships. The Corus Elite Series evolved this year as well, with some excellent racing in all three of our Home Nations, offering our talented youngsters an opportunity to go head to head against Olympians from home and abroad. The senior ath‐letes enjoyed the chance to compete in
Great Britain in front of friends, family and sponsors, as well as Dreamteam’s TV cameras too, with avid Sunday morning viewing on offer on Channel 4 as part of our new British Grand Prix Series with partners IMG and Human
Race. We celebrated another successful year of elite competition with ITU World and ETU European Champions at all levels in Triathlon and Duathlon, and World Cup medallists galore. Many congratulations to those who have made a break‐through at the highest levels this year, with four triathletes finishing in the top ten men and women’s annual ITU point tables, and further brilliant winning per‐formances in both ITU and other com‐mercially branded world competitions. However, the premier shop window event for us as a sport, for which we are supported by considerable Lottery fund‐ing through UK Sport, were the two Olympic triathlons in Beijing. Our Olym‐pians were unable to bring back the Olympic medals they were aiming to win, and for various reasons. Lessons must be learnt from this experience, so that the medal mission in 2012 is achieved on home ground, when we are the Olympic hosts. There can be no bet‐ter time, place and location for our fu‐ture Olympians to win a first Olympic Triathlon medal for Great Britain.
And, what excitement the preparation for the Olympics and Paralympics will bring during the next four years! The London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) is fully aware of the challenges they face in moving the Olympic and Paralympic world on from the amazing Beijing experience. LOCOG have many exciting plans afoot that will offer a fantastic 14 days of Olympic competition in 2012 (alas Tri‐athlon is not yet a Paralympic pro‐gramme sport although we are commit‐ted to support ITU to achieve this) as well as building legacy around both Games too. Watch out for the growing number of massive city centre screens, spread around the country that will of‐fer attractive places to carry out ‘short, sharp and fun’ access for city centre Duathlons, if not Triathlons, for the masses, and then to link these to elite events elsewhere in the country as well! Personally, I hope that the “free to view” events such as the Olympic Tri‐athlons will offer a very special mind‐body‐soul experience to the multitudes of spectators. In consequence, we have been striving to win the right to host a major interna‐tional event in Hyde Park, the Olympic Triathlon venue, every August from 2009 through to the LOCOG test event in 2011. This is essential to train techni‐cal and volunteer teams, develop race systems as well as all the ancillary meas‐ures required to put on a major event. Should London Hyde Park be accepted as an ITU World Championship Series event, it should include an event for disabled athletes as well as being open to increasing numbers of age groupers seeking to race in the future Olympic venue. Once again, we celebrate well over 1,000 international Age Group champi‐onship representatives. The total num‐ber was about 15% down on last year because several championships were further afield than in 2007, but only three fewer medals were won than last year, and there were quite a number of highly successful multi‐medallists to boot.
Many congratulations to all our British representatives on taking their opportu‐nity to achieve their personal Triathlon / Duathlon challenges, notwithstanding a few other difficulties with changing boundary conditions on the way. Our top Age Groupers really do epitomise the participation to performance path‐way that may even allow them to build personal profile locally from which they and our sport in general can profit hugely. Age Group activities are en‐hanced greatly by the Mazda National Ranking Series and Championships; with Mazda aligning their brand and market‐ing closely with our attractive sport and athletes. There have been some positive devel‐opments in our endeavours to achieve international sporting influence. Great Britain will be represented at Table Offi‐cer level in ITU, meaning that we can contribute ideas to international strat‐egy and policy and add viewpoints gleaned from working in the key BTF areas, especially on age group, perform‐ance, events, international relations and governance matters. Hidden to most of our Home Nation members will be the volunteer efforts from all non‐executive Board members, who have engaged with great passion and commitment, together with the senior management group, in our drive to improve our governance and perform more effectively and efficiently and of‐fer an excellent service that is also value for money.
Their readiness to engage in training their own, and our combined, skills with the assistance of our sponsors, First Ascent, says much about our aspira‐tional culture and readiness to embrace change. It has also helped us to take opportunities to contribute to the sporting spectrum at national and inter‐national level too, and to ensure that the voice of Triathlon in Britain is heard. We seek to be an athlete‐centred or‐ganisation, and Annie Emmerson is thanked for her contribution as Director representing the elite athletes. Follow‐ing her resignation and the inability to find a current or very recent elite ath‐lete able to allocate enough time to serve as a Director, we have sought to change the constitution by reducing the load so that the job will be more achiev‐able and less taxing alongside the main focus of achieving maximum perform‐ance. I would like to thank all the staff and members of the Board ‐ Ian P Howard TD (Business), Steve Collins (Finance), Jem Lawson JP (England), Tom Cham‐bers (Scotland), Dr Dean Hardie (Wales), Ian Braid (Events), Chris Kitchen (Performance), Howard Vine (Age Group) and Zara Hyde Peters (CEO) ‐ for their contribution this year. Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Directors, Dr Sarah Springman President
World Class Pathway
World Class Pathway
The British Triathlon Federation re‐ceives funding from UK Sport to support a World Class Pathway for the Olympic sport of triathlon. This is underpinned by Home Nations Sports Council funding for talent development. The pathway consists of three pro‐grammes. The World Class Podium sup‐ports those triathletes who have dem‐onstrated they have realistic medal opportunities at the Olympics. For the 2007‐2008 season members of this squad were Tim Don, Stuart Hayes, Olly Freeman, Will Clarke, Andrea Whitcombe and Liz Blatchford.
World Class Development is the pro‐gramme focussing on the athletes with the potential to achieve senior medal success in the next 4 ‐ 8 years. Mem‐bers of the squad for the 2007‐2008 season were Hollie Avil, Dann Brook, Alistair Brownlee, Jonny Brownlee, Rosie Clarke, Phil Graves, Vicky Holland, Aaron Harris, Adam Hickey, Kirsty McWilliam, Ritchie Nicholls, Vanessa Raw, Jodie Stimpson, Mark Threlfall and Helen Tucker. World Class Talent is an identification and confirmation programme aimed at finding the next generation of medal winning triathletes. This is underpinned by the Regional Academies in each region which are sponsored by Mazda.
Major events in 2008
The major performance focus in 2008 was the Beijing Olympics which took place in August of this year. Great Brit‐ain gained three men’s places and two women’s for the Olympic Triathlon and the athletes representing us were Helen Tucker, Hollie Avil, Tim Don, Will Clarke and Alistair Brownlee. Alistair was the best placed athlete at 12th in the men’s race while Will was 14th and Tim was unable to complete the race due to sick‐ness. Hollie was also unable to finish the women’s race with sickness while Helen finished 21st. Although Britain failed to get a medal, Alistair’s performance especially was very hopeful, and having
such young athletes in Hollie, Helen, Will and Alistair qualifying and compet‐ing at the Olympics bodes well for the chances for all of them at 2012. Championship Success
World Championships – Vancouver Great Britain had a very successful World Championships in June with Helen Tucker winning gold in the women’s race, Alistair Brownlee win‐ning gold in the men’s U23 and Kirsty McWilliam getting gold in the Junior women. Jonny Brownlee also got a bronze in the Junior men’s race.
European Championships – Lisbon Again the Junior athletes were impres‐sive with Kirsty McWilliam gaining a silver in the Junior women’s race and Jonny Brownlee a bronze in the Junior men’s. None of the senior athletes fin‐ished in the top ten but Will Clarke was closest finishing 11th. World cups Early season results in World Cups were important in getting ranking points to determine the number of GB athletes who were given starting places at Bei‐jing. We gained the following podium places:
Mooloolaba : Tim Don – bronze New Plymouth: Andrew Johns – bronze Ishigaki : Hollie Avil – bronze Tongyeong: Tim Don – gold Hollie Avil – silver Madrid: Helen Tucker – silver Alistair Brownlee – bronze Des Moines : Helen Tucker – bronze Hamburg: Olly Freeman—bronze Tiszaujvarous: Andrea Whitcombe – gold Huatulco : Andrea Whitcombe – bronze
Other performance activity
Despite heavy emphasis on Olympic qualification and competition, the per‐formance squad also took part in a number of development and talent camps and the programme continued to support coaches’ professional develop‐
Non‐Olympic Performance
Outside of the Olympic discipline which attracts public funding, British Triathlon also supports athletes at non‐Olympic disciplines from our own resources, raised through membership and spon‐sorship. This support ensures that Great Britain is represented at major championships and that the athletes who represent us get funded to compete. This includes providing kit, subsistence and team sup‐port. The non‐Olympic programme is run by Chris Kitchen, the Board Director holding the performance portfolio with support from team managers Dave Newport (duathlon) and Brad Goggin (long distance). Another year of outstanding perform‐ances by British triathletes ensured that Great Britain maintained their reputa‐tion as a top nation for triathlon and duathlon.
2008 Non‐Olympic Success ITU World Long Distance Triathlon Championships, Almere, Netherlands Gold – Chrissie Wellington, Senior
ETU European Long Distance Triathlon Championships Gold – Joe Gambles, Senior Silver – Paul Amey, Senior ITU World Duathlon Championships, Rimini, Italy Gold – Paul Amey, Senior Gold – Sophie Coleman, Junior Silver – Catriona Morrison, Senior Bronze – Ritchie Nicholls, Under 23 World Ironman Championships, Kona, Hawaii Gold – Chrissie Wellington, Senior World XTERRA Triathlon Champion‐ships, Maui, Hawaii Gold—Julie Dibens ITU World Long Distance Duathlon Championships, Geel, Belgium Gold – Catriona Morrison, Senior
ETU
European Duathlon Championships, Serres, Greece Silver – Matt Gunby, Under 23 Bronze – Vicky Graves, Junior
GB Age Group Team
A total of 1,169 participants competed in Age Group championships this year. Most championships have seen an in‐crease in British participation, although the 2007 World Championship in Ham‐burg and European Duathlon champion‐ship in Edinburgh were more strongly represented than the 2008 champion‐ships in Vancouver and Serres respec‐tively. 111 athletes won medals; total‐ling 123 medals in all, with 44 gold, 33 silver, and 46 bronze. ITU Winter Triathlon World Champion‐ships Freudenstadt, Germany – 22 Feb‐ruary Participants: 12 Team manager: Keith Snell Medal winners: GOLD (1) = Samantha Toop (25‐29) SILVER (1) = Philip Hobbs (25‐29) BRONZE (2) = Stuart Sievwright (20‐24), Giles Fulford (25‐29) ETU Triathlon European Champion‐ships Lisbon, Portugal – 11 May Participants: 157 Team manager: Scott Murray Medal winners: GOLD (7) = Emma‐Kate Lidbury (25‐29), Alex Lewis (25‐29), Chris Stuart (30‐34), Richard Wilder (35‐39), Juliet Vickery (45‐49), Carol Killick (65‐69), Peter How‐ard (75‐79) SILVER (5) = Jacqui Slack (25‐29), Rich‐ard Legge (30‐34), Shona Forrest (35‐39), Euan Lees (35‐39), Liz Clegg (50‐54) BRONZE (9) = James Sedgwick (18‐19), Phillip Fishwick (20‐24), Lisa Greenfield (35‐39), Jo Crotch (45‐49), Julie Williams (50‐54), Rani Sinniah (55‐59), Dave Prat‐ten (55‐59), Michael Smallwood (60‐64), Arnott Kidd (70‐74) ETU Duathlon European Champion‐ships Serres, Greece – 24 May Participants: 59 Team Manager: Gary Jones Medal winners: GOLD (11) = James Bellward (20‐24), Carla Molinaro (20‐24), Nathan Gosling (25‐29), Rachel Hobbs (30‐34), Caroline Toshack (35‐39), Dan White (45‐49), Peter Wheddon (50‐54), Maggie Brom‐ley (50‐54), Catriona McRobbie (55‐59), Mick Anglim (60‐64), Dave Peck (75‐79) SILVER (8) = Alexander Bamford (20‐24), Louise Kelly (25‐29), Lee Calderon (25‐29), Debbie Coney (30‐34), Ros Viner (35‐39), Jon Cowell (45‐49), Peter Orme (50‐54), Theresa Brewer (50‐54)
ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships Almere, Netherlands – 31 August Participants: 143 Team manager: Dawn Hunter Medal winners: GOLD (1) = Dion Harrison (25‐29) SILVER (1) = Julie Payne (30‐34) BRONZE (2) = Alex Fairman (20‐24), David Lewington (70‐74) ETU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships ‐ Gerardmer, France – 6 September Participants: 31 Team manager: Chris Kitchen Medal winners: GOLD (1) = Rachel Hall (30‐34) SILVER (2) = Suzanne Hawkins (30‐34), Kirsti Robertson (35‐39) BRONZE (1) = Anna Troup (35‐39) ETU Cross Triathlon European Champi‐onships Ameland, Netherlands – 13 September Participants: 7 Team manager: Malcolm Westwood Medal winners: SILVER (1) = Claire Shea‐Simonds (30‐34) ITU Duathlon World Championships Rimini, Italy – 27 September Participants: 211 Team manager: Fay Ford Medal winners: GOLD (7) = David Roper (20‐24), Dan‐ielle Stewart (25‐29), Emma Dews (30‐34), Peter Wheddon (50‐54), Barbara Leverett (60‐64), Edwina Brocklesby (65‐69), David Peck (75‐79) SILVER (2) = Elspeth Knott (55‐59), Peter Howard (75‐79) BRONZE (5) = Louise Kelly (25‐29), Penny Edwards (50‐54), Chris Smith (50‐54), Barbara Law (60‐64), Mick Anglim (60‐64)
BRONZE (7) = James Buchanan (25‐29), Andrew McFarlane (30‐34), Jill McGee (40‐44), Paul Rogers (40‐44), Robert Brewer (45‐49), Geoff Brewster (50‐54), Brian Williams (60‐64) ITU Sprint Triathlon World Champion‐ships Vancouver, Canada – 6 June Participants: 195 Team manager: Ian Pettitt Medal winners: GOLD (7) = Jennifer Eilertsen (25‐29), Vicky Begg (35‐39), Darrelle Parker (40‐44), Jane Bell (50‐54), Alan Kerr (50‐54), Julia Hector (55‐59), Peggy Crome (65‐69) SILVER (8) = Mairi Crawford (20‐24), Carla Fisher (30‐34), Andrew Campbell (30‐34), Katherine Vile (35‐39), Simon Gowen (40‐44), Ted Hamilton (55‐59), Jane Askey (65‐69), Peter Knott (70‐74) BRONZE (13) = Matthew Gunby (20‐24), Christina Cork (30‐34), Stephen Mavin (30‐34), Debbie Cooper (40‐44), Frank Boyne (40‐44), Christina Poulton (45‐49), Sarah Springman (50‐54), Mike Skivington (50‐54), Christine O'Reilly (55‐59), Stephen Walton (55‐59), Geor‐gina Gardiner‐Jennings (60‐64), Bob Luck (65‐69), Geoff Gearing (70‐74) ITU Olympic Triathlon World Champi‐onships Vancouver, Canada – 7 June Participants: 294 Team manager: Malcolm Westwood Medal winners: GOLD (7) = Mark Couldwell (30‐34), Juliet Vickery (45‐49), Trace Harris (45‐49), Barry Jameson (55‐59), Barbara Leverett (60‐64), Melanie Easter (AWAD TRI6), Graham Kiff (AWAD TRI6) SILVER (4) = Emma‐Kate Lidbury (25‐29), Jill Parker (30‐34), Sophie Whitworth (35‐39), Mark Hirsch (45‐49) BRONZE (4) = Lisa Greenfield (35‐39), Mark Livesey (35‐39), Richard Melvern (60‐64), Robert Butler (65‐69) ITU Long Distance Duathlon World Championships Geel, Belgium – 10 Au‐gust Participants: 59 Team manager: Fay Ford Medal winners: GOLD (2) = Emma Dews (30‐34), Mick Anglim (60‐64) SILVER (1) = Valerie Martin (40‐44) BRONZE (3) = Anna Troup (35‐39), David Warner (45‐49), Jane Fruen (50‐54)
Major Events
New For 2008 British Triathlon Grand Prix 18 May, Reading Corus Elite Series, Sprint distance 07/8 June, Mazda Blenheim Triathlon, Sprint distance 15 June, Nokia Windsor Triathlon, Stan‐dard distance 26 July, Parc Bryn Bach Corus Elite Se‐ries, Olympic distance 10 Aug, Mazda London Triathlon, Olym‐pic Distance 07 Sept, Strathclyde Park Corus Elite Series, Super Sprint Eliminator
Mazda National Ranking Series 2008
2008 Corus Elite Series
Reading (Sprint format) – 18th May: 121, 000 viewers Men – 1st Tim Don, 2nd Chris Gemmell, NZL, 3rd Richard Stannard Women – 1st Kirsty McWilliam, 2nd An‐drea Whitcombe, 3rd Heather Jackson Parc Bryn Bach (Olympic format) – 26th July: 110,000 viewers Men – 1st Will Clarke, 2nd Tim Don, 3rd Stuart Hayes Women – 1st Hollie Avil, 2nd Liz Blatch‐ford, 3rd Andrea Whitcombe Strathclyde Park (Super‐sprint format) ‐ 7th September: Men ‐ 1st Will Clarke 2nd Alistair Brown‐lee 3rd Dann Brook Women ‐ 1st Samantha Warriner, NZL. 2nd Christine Pilz, GER. 3rd Jodie Swal‐low.
Duathlon Clumber Park Duathlon ‐ 8 March Steyning Duathlon ‐ 24 March Swindon Duathlon ‐ 6 April Milton Keynes Big Cow Duathlon ‐ 13 April Ashbourne Duathlon ‐ 26 April Total numbers taking part in one or more event: Men ‐ 381 Women ‐ 118 Total numbers taking part in at least three events: Men – 51 Women – 18 Final Points Rankings:
Men 1st Place – Lee Piercy: 348.15 2nd Place – Daniel Corner: 347.98 3rd Place ‐ David Vaughan: 343.96
Women 1st Place – Victoria Wilkinson: 307.86 2nd Place – Emma Dews: 306.85 3rd Place – Rachael Hobbs: 294.07
Triathlon Parc Bryn Bach Triathlon ‐ 22 June Wakefield Triathlon ‐ 6 July Worthing Triathlon ‐10 August Blithfield Triathlon ‐ 31 August Northumberland Tri Festival ‐ 14 Sep‐tember (cancelled due to weather) Total numbers taking part in one or more event: Men ‐ 306 Women ‐ 101 Total numbers taking part in at least three events: Men ‐ 15 Women – 7 Final Points Rankings:
Men 1st Place – Nick Buis: 340.80 2nd Place – Richard Teare: 331.70 3rd Place – Peter Goodfellow: 331.40
Women 1st Place – Nicola King: 299.40 2nd Place – Heather Rees: 292.81 3rd Place – Vicki Wade: 292.24
Governance
The last financial year has seen British Triathlon Federation and its members developing their new governance struc‐ture. Triathlon England finalised its Board enabling a handover of responsi‐bilities. The governance separation is now clearly established. The continued support from First Ascent has enabled the British Triathlon Board to grow as a team and develop within their new re‐mit. This year has seen the formation of a new committee – the British Technical Committee. As the sport builds towards 2012 and the need to grow technical officiating capacity becomes critical, this group ‐ which includes experienced technical representatives from all three member nations – will make a signifi‐cant contribution. The group will take a strategic lead on developing resources and creating clear development oppor‐tunities and routes for aspiring officials. Standards
The British Triathlon Federation contin‐ues to support the UK Sport/Sport Eng‐land self assurance system with a full submission completed by 30 September 2008. This year has seen significant developments in supporting documen‐tation and policies due to the work done over the past 12 months in the operations directorate. This self assur‐ance is backed up by occasional spot check audits and regular reporting on all public funding streams that the sport receives. Changes in the Equality Standard as‐sessment process are very positively regarded by British Triathlon Federa‐tion. The previous paper submission process has been replaced by a short interview and competency assessment by an experienced equality advisor. This sport‐friendly move by the funding agencies is welcomed as it allows more time and resource to be focused on quality delivery of sport. In the area of child protection where British Triathlon already holds the Inter‐mediate standard, the submission for advanced standard has been completed in November 2008.
Drug Free Sport
The ADAMs online whereabouts logging
Board of Directors
President—Dr Sarah Springman, OBE
Chief Executive—Zara Hyde Peters
Portfolio Directors:
Howard Vine (GB Age Group Team)
Ian Braid (Major & National Events)
Chris Kitchen (Performance)
Tom Chambers (Scotland)
Jem Lawson (England)
Dr Dean Hardie (Wales)
Vacant (Athletes)
Independent Directors:
Ian Howard (Business)
Stephen Collins (Finance)
permitted events and again all tests were negative. January 2009 sees the introduction of the WADA code and the International Triathlon Union is a signatory to this, as is UK Sport. The major changes will be a move to athletes needing to log their whereabouts for one hour for seven days per week (versus five currently), and a change to standardise the penal‐ties for a range of offences. The ITU and British Triathlon will move to amend our anti doping regulations in line with the code in preparation for this change.
Representation
The British Triathlon Federation is affili‐ated to the International Triathlon Un‐ion and the European Triathlon Union and has delegates attending both con‐gresses.
The 2008 ITU congress is a significant milestone for British Triathlon as the current President, Dr Sarah Springman, is standing unopposed for a ITU Vice President position, as well as three other British candidates standing for election to commissions and commit‐tees.
The British Triathlon Federation is in membership of the British Olympic As‐sociation; the President represents us at the regular National Olympic Commit‐tee meetings.
The British Triathlon Federation is also affiliated to the Central Council for Physical Recreation.
system has now been in use for almost 12 months and athletes have – in the main – adapted well. UK Sport are sup‐portive with a system that monitors an athlete’s update status and warns if whereabouts have not been entered for the next three month period. This is a challenging administrative task and the new systems allow online, text and emergency phone line updating of whereabouts. During the last 12 months British triathletes have re‐corded two missed test strikes; there are no athletes with three missed test strikes against them in triathlon.
During 2008, forty British triathletes were tested out of competition and all tests were negative. In addition, tests were conducted across a range of Brit‐ish Triathlon Federation organised /
Workforce Development
An ever increasing workforce is required to ensure that as a governing body we are capable of meeting the demands in the growth of our sport. More coaches, more officials, more volunteers and more administrators are required to mirror the expansion we are experienc‐ing in all areas. Quality as well as quan‐tity is required to ensure that we can offer the best possible service to ath‐letes. Coaching development remains a key function of British Triathlon and the training and development of coaches is a fundamental part of the service we offer. The delivery of courses is now a Home Nation / regional responsibility and by moving the delivery of these courses to a local level the uptake of education has increased by the largest margin for over six years. Level three courses are being delivered nationally, although this may change as demand increases in the next few years. Ongoing development for coaches is equally im‐portant and again local solutions are being supported by national resource to ensure that quality is maintained. We will continue to build on this key area and will work with our component disci‐plines to share knowledge and good practice.
We are working to ensure that our strategy has synergy with the UK Action Plan for Coaching and working closely with Sports Coach UK to develop sys‐tems for the support and development of coaches. Race officials are a key part of our sport and our internal resource has shown that fair draft free races are desired by triathletes at all levels of experience. Our current requirement and training systems are being reviewed to ensure we can increase the number of officials in line with the increase in events. There is also a need to help referees advance and we plan to have a clear and equitable pathway available soon to facilitate this. From helping athletes out of a cold lake, to directing bikes, to organising a club event, the roles of volunteers are di‐verse and varied. British Triathlon strives to recognise the efforts of its volunteers through its Annual Awards Dinner. By building the profile of volun‐teers and helping them become func‐
tional we aim to assist clubs and events in the recruitment and training of volun‐teers to undertake the massive num‐ber of roles available and required across our sport. From the British and Home Nation Boards to the regional and club officials, triathlon is heavily dependent on the volunteer workforce who make the sport happen.
Equity Work
With the assistance of the National Sports Foundation and Corus, British Triathlon has been able to pursue a strategy of building upon the profile of people involved in our sport. Working across under‐represented groups we have tried to increase the number of participants, volunteers and coaches that are disabled, female and from black and minority ethnic communities. A key part of ensuring that the sport continues to grow is widening the ap‐peal of the sport and removing barriers to participation. This has been tackled through local projects focusing on a specific profile of participant supported by a national programme and a clear message that triathlon is for everyone.
Our major successes have emanated from working with disabled triathletes and we have seen huge increases in participation culminating in one of the first National Championships for dis‐abled athletes anywhere in the world. This inaugural event was made possible by the fantastic support from venue staff at Rother Valley. As triathlon strives to be recognised as a Paralympic sport, our work in local clubs and with local coaches to help them accommodate disabled triathletes is playing a very real part in growing the sport of triathlon in another equally exciting direction.
Finance
In the financial year 1 April 2007 to 31
March 2008 the Federation made an
operating surplus of £70,742 which was
in line with the stated objective of
building reserves through small annual
surpluses.
Income to the Federation continued to
grow increasing from £2,761,390 to
£3,425,730. Operations and Develop‐
ment contributed to this increase. The
organisation was successful in its bids
for National Sports Foundation and Club
and Coach funding from Sport England
to support and deliver additional devel‐
opment programmes including Corus
Kids of Steel.
There was a decline in Performance
funding inline with UK Sport’s policy to
cut the World Class Programme to only
fund athletes with medal winning po‐
tential. The proportion of non‐grant
income remained at approximately 38%
(see diagram 2). It is anticipated that as
further commercial opportunities are
explored the proportion of non‐grant
income will increase.
Operational expenditure also increased
by £312,992 from £1,169,957 to
£1,482,949; this was almost entirely
due to the delivery of the new Corus
Elite Series.
Development expenditure increased
from £586,860 to £886,287 in line with
the club and coach award.
Performance expenditure was less than
in the previous year, this being a reflec‐
tion of the new World Class policy and
the fact that Olympic expenditure did
not really affect budget until after the
beginning of the 08‐09 financial year.
The Federation is subject to normal ac‐
counting practice and to external finan‐
cial audits from UK Sport and Sport Eng‐
land. During the year Godkin and Co
resigned as auditor and Haysmacintyre
were appointed subject to confirmation
at AGM.
Expenditure by Business Area 2008 2007
Operations
1,482,949
1,169,957
Performance
985,752
1,006,991
Development
886,287
586,860
Total
3,354,988
2,763,808
Business Operations
During 2008, focus was placed on im‐proving specific areas in line with the UK Sport Governance Assurance stan‐dards. This ongoing area of work has in particular involved ensuring:
• A comprehensive financial reporting
process is in place
• Comprehensive and effective financial
policies, procedures, systems and con‐
trols are in place
• Organisation policies have been docu‐mented, approved by the Board and
communicated to employees, volun‐
teers, members and stakeholders
• BTF manages employees and key vol‐
unteers in accordance with employ‐
ment legislations and best practice
management principles
• Legal support to the Board and man‐
agement is in place
In addition, the Business Operations function has provided communications technology to all staff (head office and regional), developed and launched a new a website and intranet for British Triathlon, and promoted the sport inter‐nally and externally.
Through the establishment of a Man‐agement Agreement approved by Brit‐ish Triathlon and Triathlon England Boards, British Triathlon staff also con‐tinued to deliver a range of activities in England and Wales. This included:
• Maintenance of a register of mem‐
bers, issue and renewal new Member‐
ship licences and day memberships
• Development of the membership op‐
tions/package
• Maintenance of a register of clubs and
other agreed clubs/participant data
• Maintenance of IT services including
an up to date website
• Writing and issuing TriNews and the
Annual Handbook to members
• Maintenance of core HR services in‐
cluding employing and line managing
staff to deliver Triathlon England and
Welsh Triathlon objectives in line with
funding support
• Maintenance of finance operations
• Provision of business administration
services to include operational staff
support, office accommodation and
associated communication services.
Bi‐monthly reports for all areas are pre‐
pared in advance of British Triathlon
and Triathlon England Board meetings
for approval.
Through the provision of a central busi‐
ness operations function, core costs are
kept to a minimum allowing maximum
investment into the sport.
Use of the CCPR’s small NGB support
services has ensured cost effective ex‐
pert advice has been available to the
management team, particularly in the
HR area.
In the IT area the focus has been on
developing a new website – launched in
March 2008 – which helps newcomers
and existing participants in our sport
find their way around everything they
need to know about the governance
and delivery of our sport. A new intra‐
net has also been developed to ensure
more efficient working for our staff and
internal teams
Commercial
The second year of sponsorship with
Corus saw the Elite Series and Kids of
Steel programme go from strength to
strength. The presence of a representa‐
tive from our major sponsor at the Bei‐
jing Olympic Games was extremely im‐
portant to us. Mazda supported the
talent development pathway and na‐
tional aspirations for a second year
through their funding and support for
the talent academy and National Cham‐
pionships/National Rankings. Many of
our sponsor contracts are in their sec‐
ond year and we continue to seek ways
of ensuring sponsor value for their in‐
vestment in our sport.
Staff
Sponsors
The British Triathlon Federation would like to acknowledge the support of the following funding agencies and sponsors without whose support we would be unable to drive forward such ambitious performance and sports development programmes.
Senior Management Team Development Team Chief Executive Zara Hyde Peters Director of Development Mark Barfield Assistant Lucille Cowburn UKCC Coach Education Officer Paul Moss Commercial Manager James Tombs UKCC Lead Tutor Giles O’Brien
Health & Fitness Project Officer Dewi Winkle
Operations Team Development Support Officer Sarah Williams
Director of Operations Helen Wyeth Regional Manager ‐ London Jon Train
ICT Manager Gareth Davies Regional Manager ‐ South East Kat Valk
Finance Manager Maria Brown Regional Manager ‐ Wales Gareth Hall
Finance Assistant Andrea Clargo Regional Manager ‐ South West David Hooper
Events Officer John Muddeman Regional Manager ‐ North East Georgie Rutherford Events Project Officer Andy Bell Regional Manager ‐ West Midlands Stefan Pearce
Media Officer Peter Holmes Regional Manager ‐ East Midlands Jonathon Riall
Membership Leonie Sijtsma Regional Manager ‐ Yorkshire & Humb Morgan Williams
Receptionist / Administrator Matthew Warley Regional Manager ‐ Eastern Ceri Winter
Regional Manager ‐ North West Rob Bishop
Performance Team Development Team Administrator Judith Brand
Director of Performance Heather Williams Equity Officer Julian Wills
Head Coach ‐ Men's Performance Dan Salcedo
Head Coach ‐ Women's Performance Vacant
WC Talent Confirmation Coach Ben Bright
Sports Science Officer Mark Pearce
Senior Performance Administrator Laura Macey
Performance Administrator Mhairi Billington
Welsh National Talent Coach Rick Velati