The Dave Aitchison SportsAid Fund was set up to assist talented young triathletes in the Triathlon London & SE regions to succeed in the sport. Athletes who receive funding must be identified and nominated by the British Triathlon Federation, based on their talent and sporting results.  Applicants must:

Successful applicants will typically receive grants of up to £1,000 per year which can be used towards coaching, equipment or competition travel costs.

 

The fund was set up in memory of Dave Aitchison, a rising star in British Triathlon, who died suddenly in January 2007, aged 29, from an undetected heart condition (arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomyopathy). Dave was a strong cross country runner as a schoolboy and developed a passion for cycling as a mountain biker at University before moving into triathlons where he really excelled. As part of the Herbalife Triathlon Academy coached by Bill Black, in his first year of competition Dave won the Age Group race at both London Triathlon and London Duathlon before taking Bronze at the World Age Group Championships in Lausanne and being named British Triathlon's Age Group Triathlete of the Year 2006.

 

Dave's triathlon club, London-based Ful-On Tri Club, organise an annual cyclosportive - The Surrey Legs of Steel: Dave Aitchison Challenge Ride from Boxhill, taking in the thigh-burning Surrey Hills where Dave did so much of his training, earning himself the "Legs of Steel" title. All profits from the event go direct to the fund, and it is the main fund-raising event for the Dave Aitchison Fund.

 

If you meet the above selection criteria and would like to be considered for funding, please fill in the DAF Application Form, and return it to James Beckinsale, the Triathlon London Talent Coach, as detailed at the bottom of the form. Applications are typically submitted to British Triathlon by October each year for consideration for the next year's funding.

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