MOTI 2XU South West Series 2009 announced

 The North West Region has been allocated a sum of money to improve event quality. The region is short of referees and does not have enough to cover all the events that take place. Referees are crucial in monitoring event quality and making suggestions for improvement. So the Regional Committee decided at their meeting in May to offer a £100 golden handshake to referees once they qualify. To become a referee you need to complete a learning pack and then shadow at 4 events before becoming qualified. Trainee referees do not receive any travel expenses or fees for this. Therefore we hope that the £100 will offset the cost and encourage more people to volunteer. The golden handshake is available to referees who qualify at level 1 or level 2 and to motorcycle referees. Please spread the news to anyone who may be interested.

If you are interested in becoming a referee or motorcycle referee or progressing to level 2  please contact either of

Sue Taylor Regional Refereeing and Technical Co-ordinator  4sue.taylor@btconnect.com

Dave Rigby Regional Secretary dnrigby@virginnedia.com

Be a part of our legacy!

Events and Volunteer Officer

Triathlon in Scotland is experiencing an exciting period of growth and triathlonscotland are now looking for an ambitious, dynamic individual to take on the new Events & Volunteering Officer post. This is a hands-on part time development/administrative role based at the triathlonscotland office within the Stirling University campus.
Our focus for the next 4 years will be to develop our membership, to recruit, train and up skill our coach and volunteer workforce whilst developing our events calendar.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow is an important driver for us to develop a lasting legacy. The Events and Volunteer Officer will have a key role to play in this vision.

The Post Holder will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of the triathlonscotland domestic events/championship programme, for increasing the number and quality of events and for the administration of the registration, sanctioning and branding of events in Scotland. They will also be responsible for developing and implementing the volunteer plan with a key role in recruiting, retaining and developing the volunteer workforce.

The successful person will have experience within a sports environment, will have a track record of working with volunteers, have good administrative and analytic skills and a genuine desire and ambition to develop a burgeoning sport.
Salary Range - £18,000 - £21,000 pro rata
Closing date – 6th August
Interview date – 18th August
Application forms and additional information can be downloaded from the triathlonscotland website at www.triathlonscotland.org

Completed applications should be returned to admin@triathlonscotland.org
For further information or an informal discussion please contact Jane Moncrieff, Chief Operating Officer, on 07961 910337.

Javier Gomez continued a fabulous summer for Spanish sport by winning an epic men’s elite race at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship London, which is presented by Tata Steel. Jonny Brownlee had a breakthrough performance in second, while brother, Alistair, staggered exhausted across the line in tenth.
 
Gomez’s dramatic victory in 1:42.08 at the London 2012 Olympic Games venue meant he has secured back-to-back world championship wins, following his success in Hamburg a week ago. Jan Frodeno, Germany’s Olympic champion and world number one, took bronze.
 
There was disappointment for Britain’s reigning world champion and 2009 London winner Alistair Brownlee, who gave it everything – battling with his brother and with Gomez in a remarkable 10k run, before finally running out of steam just a few hundred metres from the line.
 
Gomez, who crashed out in the ride in last year’s London race, said he had to give it everything to hold off the Brownlee brothers in a thrilling race.
 
“I’m really happy. Two victories in a row in two weekends is fantastic,” he said. “We were running pretty fast the whole time and I had reached my limit at the end.
 
“On the final lap I decided to go as hard as I could. I looked back with 300m to go and realised I was running by myself,” he added. “It’s really hard to beat the Brownlees. They’re great champions.”
 
Jonny Brownlee said he had nothing left at the end of the race. “That was the hardest race of my life. To be honest it was a massive shock to find I was so near the front. It’s the first time I’ve been at the front in a race like this. I thought ‘what’s going on here?’
 
“After the first lap I thought I’d try to stay up there for two laps, and then I thought I’d try to stay there for two and a half,” he said. “I had absolutely nothing left, but I’m absolutely delighted. It’s a dream come true.”
 
Germany’s Frodeno still sits on top of the world rankings. He looked out of contention for a podium place until Alistair Brownlee ground to a halt in the latter stages of the run, leaving the German to collect the bronze.
 
“It was a tough day for me today after peaking for last week’s home race,” he said. “I was quite uncertain what was going to happen, but I’m really happy with the outcome. It shows that it’s not over till it’s over. I’ve shown before that I have a strong finish, but I guess I did get a little lucky today, even though that’s not the way you want to get lucky.”
 
There was further success for Britain with 31-year-old Stuart Hayes – who had thrown down the gauntlet in the ride – coming home in eighth place.
 
He said: “That was the perfect race for me, I gave it everything. I knew I didn’t have enough on the run, so I had to take it on the bike. At the end I kept going until my legs gave away.”
 
Ben Collins (USA) had been the early pacesetter in the swim, but was overhauled by Maik Petzold (GER) by the halfway mark. But Alistair Brownlee who worked his way up the field and dived in for the second leg of the swim just a fraction of a second behind the German.
 
Despite losing his goggles, Alistair Brownlee established a lead and was first out of the water, just ahead of Petzold, with Frederic Belaubre third and Jonny Brownlee in fourth.
 
Alistair Brownlee rapidly established an early lead in the bike, but by the 5k mark the lead pack had caught him, and double Olympic medallist Bevan Docherty (NZL) was leading a front pack of 27, with Hayes (GBR) and Olympic champion Frodeno (GER) both well up in the leading pack.
 
By the 20k mark of the ride, the chasing group had caught up with the leaders, with the top 56 riders separated by just 10 seconds.
 
In the final 5k of the bike, the leading pack was joined by Ivan Rana (ESP) Erhard Wolfaardt (RSA), Belaubre (FRA), Pais and Clark Ellice (NZL) with the 26-second lead over the next pack. Alistair Brownlee, meanwhile, was 34 seconds off the lead in 14th.
 
On to the run Alistair Brownlee hit the throttle to try to close the gap on the front seven and was joined by his brother and both Gomez and Frodeno, but Hayes was still ahead.
 
It only took a third of the 10k run for the chasing pack to swallow up the leaders, with Alistair Brownlee clocking 9.29 for the first 3.3k.
 
The two Brownlees, Gomez and Frodeno over the final two laps before the Spaniard produced a final surge that took him away from his rivals and set up that epic win.
 
Top 10
1 Javier Gomez (ESP) – 1:42.08
2. Jonny Brownlee (GBR) – 1:42.14
3. Jan Frodeno (GER) – 1:42.30
4. Alexander Bryukhankov (RUS) – 1:42.44
5. Mario Mola (ESP) – 1:42.46
6. Brad Kahledfeldt (AUS) – 1:42.54
7. Jarrod Shoemaker (USA) – 1:42.57
8. Stuart Hayes (GBR) – 1:42. 59
9. Steffen Justus (GER) – 1:43.04
10. Alistair Brownlee (GBR) – 1:43.05

13. Tim Don (GBR) - 1:43.20
20. Will Clarke (GBR) - 1:43.48
38. Olly Freeman (GBR) - 1:45.06

Europe’s largest ever elite Paratriathlon race took part in Hyde Park today, and produced three gold medals for British athletes in an event featuring athletes from around Europe and the USA.

Iain Dawson continued his winning form from the European Championships. The visually impaired athlete was a winner by over three minutes from Leicester’s Haseeb Ahmad. Dawson was followed during his preparation and performance by a camera crew from BBC East, and will be featured on TV next week.

He said: “The Swim was fairly tough. Lots of people were trying to swim in between us I had to fight not to lose position. It was a good result, and a good stepping stone to the World Championships in September.”

Susanna Rodriguez of Spain won the equivalent women’s race in the Tri6 category. She said: “My race was ok, and it was a really nice venue, really well organised and I’m happy to be here in London with this opportunity to race. Lots of people were shouting your name, not just the British athletes but for everyone.”

Faye McClellend continued her fine season with another win. She was exactly one minute ahead of world champion, Clare Cunningham.

She said: “It’s brilliant, it feels fantastic and it’s nice to win it twice in a row. It was great coming through the carpeted area, it really gets you going.”

Britain’s third gold medallist was Stephen Judge in the Tri2 category, who was a convincing winner over Britain’s James Smith. He made a good start in the swim and biked well. Smith was the faster runner, but Judge was well ahead. France’s Cedric Farrudja was third, on a successful day that saw his countrymen win two gold medals and another bronze.

The USA matched Britain’s gold medal performance with three wins across the different categories.

Other medals for Great Britain included silver for David Cooke in the Tri1 category, silver for Jane Egan in Tri4 and bronze for Anna Turney in Tri1.
 

Over 3,000 triathletes competed in sprint and standard distance Age Group races at the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship London presented by Tata Steel this weekend.

The two races formed an integral part of a festival of triathlon, which saw two elite races, the British Youth and Junior Aquathlon Championships and the largest elite paratriathlon in Europe take place in iconic Hyde Park.

With thousands of age group athletes taking part, the atmosphere was carnival like, and the elite athletes were certainly thankful for their support today as Heather Williams, British Triathlon Performance Director, commented: “This has been a big weekend for all our guys. The support in Hyde Park has been absolutely fantastic, and I am sure they will all agree that spurred them on to some great performances.”

There were some high profile sport stars taking part in the races including the former European and Commonwealth Champion, Iwan Thomas. Iwan raced yesterday in the sprint event and finished 18th in his age group with a time of 1:21.21. After the race, Iwan showed his enthusiasm for the sport commenting: “I love this sport, I got overtaken by a million 14 year olds, but I love this sport and am coming back.” You can watch the full interview and many other video clips from both day’s racing on our British Triathlon YouTube channel.

Sponsors, Tata Steel, hosted a sprint wave for employees. HR Director and triathlon novice, Tor Farquhar said: “The open water swim was a bit of a shock, I misjudged that a bit. I got used to it but it was harder work than I expected. The cycle was lovely. I was passing work mates on the opposite side of the road all the time, as we’d see each other on the laps. I’ll definitely be back next year, I loved it!”

In today’s standard distance race, the age group community came out in force with each athlete completing their personal triathlon challenge, with friends and family supporting them. One athlete was especially ready for the triathlon challenge, as all blacks’ legend Sean Fitzpatrick raced as part of the Team Laureus relay.

Fitzpatrick tackled the 40k bike ride and was joined by fellow New Zealander Andrea Hewitt – fourth in yesterday’s women’s elite race – who took the swimming leg, and by Sky Sports presenter James Gemmell, who completed the team’s effort by running the 10k run.

The stars of the race though were the thousands of novice and experienced Age Group athletes that competed. Not only did they race, but they also supported our elite men and women, helping Helen Jenkins to third and Jonathan Brownlee to an inspirational second place, behind the Javier Gomez.

Unofficial results from both races can be downloaded below:

Sprint Distance: Age Group results.pdf
Standard Distance: Standard Distance results

See the action on our youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/BritishTriathlon