Paratriathletes and volunteers awarded at BTF Awards

Paratriathletes, volunteers, officials and coaches have been recognised at the British Triathlon Annual Awards dinner. The Volunteer Awards, supported by Leigh Day & Co recognised the outstanding contribution made to the sport by our network of dedicated, motivated and passionate volunteers.



Dr Sarah Springman OBE, President of British Triathlon Federation highlighted their contribution commenting: “This year has seen unrivalled achievement for British Triathlon. The Annual Awards Dinner is triathlon’s opportunity to reflect on and celebrate our successes. Not only the athletes make the headlines, but also the volunteers, who give up their time to support our sport.”



The Leigh Day & Co. British Triathlon Volunteer of the Year award went to Ian Jones of Manchester Triathlon Club. When asked about his reasons for volunteering Ian commented: “In my experience most triathletes do, even if it’s just giving up a couple of hours a week to help coach or help with races - most of us all do this. I might have won this, but I am sure there are hundreds or thousands of people out in the UK who are just as deserving of this.”



The Leigh Day & Co. British Triathlon Young Volunteer of the Year award was won by Caitlin Simon, a member of Alnwick District Triathlon Club, Coach of the Year was won by Rob Moore from Exeter Triathlon Club and Official of the Year award was won by Lynda Chase from London.



Clare Cunningham and Chris Goodwin were named Corus British Triathlon Female and Male Paratriathletes of the Year.



The prestigious award rounded off an exceptional season for female winner Clare Cunningham. The 32 year old from St Albans won double gold this season in both the 2009 ETU Paratriathlon European Championships and 2009 ITU Paratriathlon World Championships.



Clare commented after receiving her award at the British Triathlon Annual Awards Dinner held on Saturday 14 November: “It’s been an incredible year for me, I only learnt about triathlon a year ago, and to win the European and World’s is pretty awesome. I used to be a swimmer, and I retired at the grand old age of 19, and I feel pretty privileged to have this opportunity again.” For more from Claire, see issue 242 of 220 Triathlon, out on 15 December.



Chris Goodwin from Southampton was introduced to the sport in 1999 and has worked hard to develop into a GB athlete. In the 2009 ETU Paratriathlon Tri 6 European Championships the 39 year old was rewarded winning gold in Holten.



Jonathon Riall, National Programme Manager for Paratriathlon at British Triathlon was delighted to see the athletes recognised for their achievements this year commenting: “Having recently started my role at British Triathlon, I am overwhelmed by the dedication of the national athletes which culminates in such fantastic performances seen by Clare and Chris. They are both deserving winners of these awards, and I'm thoroughly looking forward to watching their progression next year.”