Applications for more than one post will be considered.

For more details and an application pack, contact the Regional Development Officer:-

Gareth Hall
Regional Development Officer – Wales
UWIC Sports Facilities
Cyncoed Campus
Cyncoed Road
Cardiff
CF23 6XD
07834542083
garethhall@britishtriathlon.org

13th November 2005

November 12th and 13th 2005 saw the first Welsh National Start and Potential training weekend for this season at the Wales National Pool in Swansea.

Following the Talent ID day on October 8th 2005 the athletes listed below are now in the squad:-

* Under 23
Dan Beynon
Helen Tucker

* Junior
Aled Thomas
Lewis Bevan
Ben Powell
Katie Silke
Lowri Hughes
Rhian Thomas

* Youth
Grant Stokes
Simon Johns
Dominic Prescott
Luke Watson
Joanna Freeman

The coaching squad was headed up by Wales National Coach Chris Jones and assistant Performance Coach Rick Velati. The other coaches were Dave Hart, Bridget Heath, Dean Hardie and Chris Goulden. The new Welsh Triathlon squad kit can be seen pictured below being worn by some of the coaches. All athlete measurements were taken at the weekend and their kit will be ready before the next squad days in December.

The athletes were put through intensive endurance, technical and skill based sessions in all three disciplines of swimming, running and cycling. There were also core and strength based sessions in the gym. Each athlete was assigned a squad coach to compliment their personal triathlon and individual sport coaches.

British Triathlon's Regional Volunteer Awards 2005
28th October 2005
The voting for British Triathlon's Regional Volunteer awards has now closed. Thank-you to all of you who voted, we have received an unprecedented number of votes this year. It's great to see so many of you getting involved and wanting to recognise the people who have made a difference in your region this year.

The Welsh winners are:-
a.. Regional Volunteer of the Year Noelwyn Daniel
b.. Regional Referee of the Year John Nicholls
c.. Regional Coach of the Year Rose Jones

Congratulations to them. Their names will be forwarded for the National Awards the results of which will be presented at British Triathlon's Annual Awards dinner on 19th November. Good luck to them all.

You can view all the Regional results by following this link on the British Triathlon website.

Congratulations to all those who competed in the Welsh Grand Prix Series for 2005. With 1,182 names on the list it has taken a long time to collate all the results as they had to be calculated manually. Please check your own results and if there are any errors then please contact Gareth Hall within the next week. Full results can be found here.

Top 3 placed males:-
1. Roger Devonald
2. David Astins
3. Neil Davies

Top 3 placed females:-
1. Ellie Jones
2. Ruth Isaacs
3. Sian Williams

Welsh Triathlon is currently compiling the 2006 calendar. Race organisers should contact Tom Roberts with their events as well as the BTA for registration.

Categories for the senior Welsh Championships will be:-

Sprint distance triathlon
Standard distance triathlon
Middle distance triathlon
Duathlon
Aquathlon
Race organisers are asked to contact Tom if they wish their events to be considered for Welsh Championship status.

Leanda Cave, Anneliese Heard and Helen Tucker are the first Welsh triathletes nominated for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

There could also be a place in Team Wales for Bridgend's Marc Jenkins who has had an ongoing battle with deep vein thrombosis. Team manager, Steve Trew said "We will be setting out the parameters for Marc Jenkins and his qualification criteria over the coming weeks and we are confident that he will be ready to take up his position."

Cave, 27, was the 2002 world champion and is the reigning Commonwealth silver medallist. Heard, 23, is a double world junior champion, and 21-year-old Tucker has impressed this year with a European U23 medal and two ITU World Cup podium places.

We are pleased to announce that Rick Velati has been appointed as Assistant Performance Coach to work alongside Head Coach Chris Jones at the High Performance Centre in Swansea.

Under daily management of Chris Jones and reporting to the BTA Performance Director Rick's main responsibilities will be to lead the coaching and management of the Welsh Youth and Junior Development Programme and provide coaching assistance to Chris himself

On a slightly overcast Sunday morning 400 athletes began to arrive at Lake Bala for the 7th running of the Bala standard distance triathlon. This race is possibly one the most scenic and picturesque on the British calendar. The event takes place by the beautiful Llyn Tegid (Lake Tegid) in the Snowdonia National Park. The athletes had come from all corners of the United Kingdom to take part in this event which was hosting the final event in the 220 Race Series along with the Welsh Standard Distance Championships. The athletes had to swim 1500metres in Lake Bala, followed by a 40km bike along the A494 to Rhyd-y-main and back to Bala and finally a 10km run out to Rhos-y-Gwaliau. With two thirds of the field yet to register the 9:30 swim start was put back by 15 minutes. After the athletes had been given a detailed briefing the first age group made their way to the counting pen. The hooter was sounded and the athletes began to make their way round the rectangular swim course. The temperature was recorded as a balmy 16. Much improved from the 14.3 from 2004. Slowly the other age groups made their way to the start position. Over the next two hours the athletes would continue to enter the water to make their way round the course.

Athletes had come from all four corners of the principality to take part in the Welsh Championships. The open winners were Carol Bridge in first place in a time of 2:10:03 followed by Carneddau Tri's Rhian Davies in second (2:17:30) and Ful on Tri's Jess Taylor in third.

Not surprising that the junior winner was Rhondda Tri's Carol Bridge. The women's veteran was won by Barbara Williams from Wrecsam Tri.

Honolulu bound Multisport superstar Diane Walford won the female Super Veterans. Good luck in worlds! The men's Welsh champion was Scienceinsport's team member Richard Jones in a time 1:58:35. He was followed by Chester Tri's Paul Hawkins in 2:03:45. In third place was David Astins.

The male junior was won by Tom Philips of Kelly College Tri Team in a time of 2:08:21. Gwent Tri's Rhodri Buffet came in second place. The evergreen Roger Devonald from Pembrokeshire Tri took the men's veterans title in 2:11:20.

Having recovered from a satisfactory Ironman at Sherborne was Brian Palmer who won the male Super Veterans category.Pete Norman from Wrecsam Tri took the men's vintage veteran title in his own indomitable style in a time of 2:40:10.

A great race in a superb venue put together by a very hardworking group of individuals

Male Categories

Many congratulations to Tom Roberts, Triathlon Wales' secretary, for completing his first Ironman. Read his report by following this link

The Austin Rawlinson Sports centre in Speke, Liverpool was once again the venue for the National Inter-Regional Championships. Teams from Scotland, Wales and the nine English regions took part on 2nd September, each team consisting of two boys and two girls in the Tristar 2 and 3 categories, and three boys and three girls in each Youth team.

Competition was fierce in all age groups, with the pool swim and multi-lap bike and run routes around the sports centre allowing for great viewing, aided by the weather conditions, good crowds and closed roads.

Wave starts meant that the action was constant and the excitement remained high, until an afternoon of high quality racing came to an end and the results announcement drew close. British Triathlon's Chief Executive Norman Brook was present to offer encouragement and his commendations to all that took part, as well as giving out the trophies.

Wales produced its best ever performance, finishing as 6th region overall, one place higher than in 2004. First place honours were taken by South East England.

Hywelis Thomas-Howells from Multisport Racing Club was the highest placed Welsh individual athlete, achieving 3rd place in the Tristar 2 category. A special mention should also be given to Josh Harris who managed to finish his race, despite suffering from severe stomach cramps on the run.

The team spirit and enthusiasm from all the Welsh triathletes, their families and supporters was exceptional and ensures that the future of triathlon in Wales stays bright.

All the results can be found on the BTA website
Bridget Heath (Team Manager)