Tell us a bit about yourself, who have you worked with in the past and what results have you got from your athletes?
I was first employed as the Head Coach for British Triathlon in Bath in 1998, I worked as the women’s head coach at the Sydney Olympic Games. I have had the pleasure of working with 5 world champions over the years, mainly from the national women’s team. I also worked with Helen Tucker for 6 years before she became World Champions 12 months later, in 2008.
How long have you been working with Triathlon Ireland?
I have been involved with endurance sports for 20 years but I have worked with triathlon now for around 15 years on and off.
What changes have you seen in Triathlon over the last year?
The level of coaching has improved worldwide, and the sport has now a place in the global market and is attracting brilliant TV and media coverage, but most of all the athletes are just getting better.
SINI have three Irish Triathletes, can you tell us a bit about each of them?
Aileen Morrison
Aileen has real potential, she could be someone who will develop slowly but once she is there, there is no doubt that she could mix it with the very best in the world. As a team member Aileen always gives so much back and is constantly looking to help the younger athletes.
Gavin Noble
Gavin has been around the Irish triathlon scene for a while and was the first Irish athlete to step up to the International level. Gavin narrowly missed out on going to the Olympic Games in 2008. Gavin has got to where he is now mostly off his own back, with little coaching, now that we have more systems in place hopefully we can help him get even stronger and better and realise his Olympic ambitions.
Emma Davis
Emma was the first Irish triathlete to reach the Olympic Games in 2008 and I think this says a lot about her credentials. Emma has struggled with injury and had a huge set back after the Olympics, but is now back building back up her fitness looking to be very competitive next year, again she should be looking at London as a major career goal.
What are the plans for Aileen, Gavin and Emma over the next 12 months?
We have to compete with the rest of the world, so the priority will be competing on the ITU World Series. This is where the ranking must be secured to enable athletes to gain selection for the Olympic Games in London.
How important is SINI to the athletes?
Triathlon is a modern sport. It is impossible to compete with the rest of the work with out world class support. SINI offers all of this and more, as a Coach it is easy to work with a team that see the same opportunities that I do, competing at this level is all about the detail and that is what SINI provide to Emma, Aileen and Gavin.
Can you tell us a bit about the Altitude Camp and how useful it was to have SINI there?
Altitude camps have been around for a while, the key is knowing what you are looking to gain from being there. Again it has to be said that the support from SINI, in particular Declan Gamble and his team, has made a big difference to all the training camps.
And finally…..
It is clear to see across Ireland we have talent, it will take time to nurture, but the culture in Ireland is right, triathlon is a hard sport and it takes people who understand the hardship it can take to reach the top.
I believe we must have lots of young kids across Northern Ireland that would be very good at this sport, we just need to find them and then develop them carefully, but again we will be working with Sport Northern Ireland on our continued investment in Talent ID, which is a priority if Triathlon Ireland is going to produce any stars in the future.
