British Triathlon is pleased to announce the UK Sport Lottery Funded World Class Performance Squads for 2018. The 34 athletes are being funded towards achieving success at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games and or the 2024 Games.
Kate Waugh and Olivia Mathias are new to the Olympic programme having achieved significant junior success this year. Waugh is the ETU European junior champion and has one year remaining as a junior athlete. She was also second at the ITU world junior championships, with Mathias sixth.
New athletes have been added to the paratriathlon roster in preparation for the International Paralympic Committee confirming next December which classifications will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
All five of the newly funded paratriathletes have achieved significant international success this year, and both Claire Cashmore and Jade Jones join the squad with experience of previous Paralympic Games with swimming and track athletics respectively.
These athletes join an experienced team of athletes and coaches. British Triathlon Performance Director, Brendan Purcell, commented: “We’re pleased to add some new names to the World Class Performance Squads alongside some of the sports’ most successful athletes.”
He added: “We absolutely rely on UK Sport Lottery Funding to get our Olympic and Paralympic athletes to start lines ready to race, so this is an opportunity to say thank you to everyone who buys a lottery ticket as we prepare for a big year ahead with the Commonwealth Games, a home European Championships in Glasgow, the ITU World Championships on the Gold Coast, and Olympic qualification starting.”
As well as funding athletes, UK Sport Lottery Funding enables British Triathlon to invest in coaching staff and specialist practitioners, equipment and world-leading facilities, such as the Brownlee Centre, which was officially opened in Leeds earlier this year.
2018 World Class Performance Squads
Paralympic
Podium Squad:
Dave Ellis, 31, Manchester
Andy Lewis, 34, Lydney, Gloucestershire
Alison Patrick, 30, from Dunfermline, based Loughborough
Lauren Steadman, 24, Portsmouth
Melissa Reid, 26, Truro
Podium Potential Squad:
Steven Crowley, 40, Exeter
George Peasgood, 22, Loughborough
Ryan Taylor, 24, Derby
Joe Townsend, 28, Eastbourne
Fran Brown, 33, London
Claire Cashmore, 29, Manchester
Jade Jones, 21, Middlesborough
Nicole Walters (Guide), 28, Bath
Olympic
Podium Squad:
Alistair Brownlee, 29, Leeds
Jonny Brownlee, 27, Leeds
Vicky Holland, 31, from Gloucester, trains Bath
Helen Jenkins, 33, Bridgend
Jess Learmonth, 29, Leeds
Non Stanford, 28, from Swansea, trains Leeds
Jodie Stimpson, 28, from Oldbury, trains Loughborough
Podium Potential Squad:
Marc Austin, 23, Stirling
Gordon Benson, 23, Leeds
Tom Bishop, 26, Leeds
Sam Dickinson, 20, Leeds
Ben Dijkstra, 19, Loughborough
Grant Sheldon, 23, Stirling
Alex Yee, 19, from London, trains Leeds
Sophie Coldwell, 22, Loughborough
Lucy Hall, 25, Leeds
India Lee, 29, Winchester
Olivia Mathias, 19, Loughborough
Sian Rainsley, 20, Leeds
Georgia Taylor-Brown, 23, Leeds
Kate Waugh, 18, Gateshead
