2009 was another successful year for the Triathlon London Region. The region now has 2 Regional Programme Managers (RPMs) – Jon Train & Stewart Ward – who are working closely with the regional committee in achieving our goals.
Triathlon London's Regional Committee has developed a new
Strategic Plan for the London Region, in consultation with interested parties. This plans forms the basis of the direction of Triathlon London as regards access to BTF and other resources, including funding, coaches, development, etc. A copy can be downloaded here:
Strategic Plan.
Clubs achieving clubmark and starmark accreditation have doubled this year compared to last year, with a total of 3 Starmark accredited clubs (Crystal Palace, Ful-On Tri, Thames Turbo) and 4 Clubmark accredited clubs (Crystal Palace, Jetstream, SLH Tri Club, Thames Turbo). The credit for this lies with the RPMs.
The region hosted an ITU World Cup series event in Hyde Park in August which proved very successful, with the majority of volunteers coming from within the region's clubs.
The Triathlon London website has proved a success in communicating with the regional members and has seen a 17% rise in monthly visitors since last year. It provides regional members with access to a range of information from regional news to volunteers & race officials, coaching, clubs and events.
The Triathlon London League has again proved to be a success with this year's win going to Thames Turbo. Now in its 4th year it is still encouraging healthy competition between the regional clubs. It has also increased the camaraderie between club members. The regional championship hosted by Human Race, now in its 2nd year, is growing to be a major event on the events calendar.The Kids of Steel event in Newham was a great success yet again. Regional committee and club members were there again to help the event run smoothly.
The Kids of Steel event in Newham was a great success yet again, with over 600 primary school kids taking part. The regional committee and club members were there to help the event run smoothly.
The London Youth Games aquathlon was held at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. It was a success again with many juniors and youths taking part and representing their boroughs. We have learnt that this is a perfect event for talent spotting.
The region had a strong team for Junior Inter-Regional Championships (IRCs). The juniors and youths represented the Triathlon London region with pride and dignity and achieved better results than expected with 3 podium places. This is not to underestimate their ability to do well, but shows that with perseverance and correct guidance they can achieve better results. The Triathlon London Academy head coach, James Beckinsale, is now in place.
Having been the regional chair for 3 consecutive years, I will not be up for re-election as Chair this year, as per the constitution. I am filled with pride and honour to have been in post the maximum time available. We are very lucky to have so many people wanting to be involved in regional matters, which proves that our communications and links with the membership and clubs are good.
John Petrides
Triathlon London Chair