British Triathlon has enjoyed its most successful four-year cycle, culminating in a fantastic Olympic triathlon event with Team GB medals won on the home stage.  The organisation has taken great care to work with key stakeholders in the programme to identify the skills needed to move the World-Class Programme forward from its current position, ensuring a platform for further world-leading success.  

 

British Triathlon particularly looked for a leader with strong influencing skills and experience of delivering on all the elements that make a difference in elite sport.  In addition, the new leadership needed to build on the success of the Olympic Triathlon team, putting the key relationships (coach/athlete and support team) at the heart of the strategy required to produce sustained elite performance.

 

Brendan Purcell has worked with elite sports programmes for over ten years, including a role leading High Performance Diving in Australia.  He then joined the GB Canoe Sprint programme prior to the 2008 Olympic Games, and at the London 2012 Olympics, he led the coaching team supporting the successful medal-winning GB Canoe Sprint team.

 

Ben Bright, a previous Junior World Triathlon Champion himself, coached a number of World Championship winning triathletes before taking on the role of Men’s Olympic Coach within the British Triathlon Olympic Performance Group - a group created in May 2011 to focus solely on the British Triathlon Olympic Squad and who helped successfully guide the squad to British Triathlon’s best ever results in the Olympic Games. 

 

On appointing Brendan and Ben, British Triathlon Chief Executive, Zara Hyde Peters OBE said:

 

“I am delighted to introduce Brendan as our new Performance Director and Ben into a new permanent role as Head Coach.  

 

“Brendan’s background of working with elite athletes within an Olympic multi-medal winning programme is exceptional. He has shown he has the essential skills to be an excellent leader of the programme supporting our Lottery funded elite athletes and I have great faith in what he will achieve.

 

“Ben’s experience in Olympic discipline elite triathlon is recognised throughout this country and the world. He is greatly respected amongst those he has worked with – both athletes and coaches.  This respect is well deserved and will contribute massively to his success in fulfilling the Head Coach role alongside Brendan.

 

“I believe that in appointing both Brendan and Ben, British Triathlon will successfully address the challenges that lie ahead for the World Class programme and will continue to ensure that the GB Triathlon team leads the World.”

 

Brendan Purcell said: “It’s a great opportunity and I am delighted to have been offered and accept the job.  Over the next few months, I will spend time listening to those who currently already make a significant contribution to triathlon.  I also intend to use the knowledge I have gained from my involvement in other world-class programmes combined with the outstanding development triathlon has already made in Britain to help provide the structure that enables British elite triathletes to achieve gold medal-winning performances. The opportunity to work with Ben, the coaching and support team and the world-class athletes in triathlon to help harness their expertise and passion is really exciting. I am very much looking forward to working at British Triathlon.”

 

Ben Bright said: “I’m tremendously proud and excited to be given this opportunity.  The success the team achieved in London is a fantastic launch pad and the aim for the next cycle is to continue to support those athletes who have performed so well in the past, whilst at the same time developing the next generation to become Olympic medallists.  British Triathlon has a world-leading programme and thanks must go to all those who have contributed over the years and enabled British Triathlon to be in its current position.   I’m looking forward to working within such a high performing team and using the momentum built over the last few years to further embed a culture of success.” 

 

Start dates for both positions are currently being finalised, but will be early in the New Year.

 

These positions are supported and funded as part of the Lottery funded World-Class Programme by UK Sport.