With British Triathlon celebrating a successful year, the Coaches, Volunteers and Officials who underpin and enrich the sport have been recognised by the Leigh Day British Triathlon Workforce Awards at the British Triathlon Awards Dinner in Birmingham on Saturday 23 November 2013.

The Leigh Day British Triathlon Volunteer of the Year award went to Dave Wardle, who has given his services to triathlon for over 25 years. He has been chair of Hillingdon Triathletes since it was formed with four members. It now has over 250.

Dave organises around thirty events a year, coaches on a weekly basis, is a qualified referee, and has acted in capacities such as chair of the London Region.

Dave commented: “I’ve got a good team of people who help support in the background. I used to compete myself and about ten years ago, my heart went out of rhythm, so like many others you tend to move to the organisation aspect. It makes something to look forward to in the evening coming home from the day job.”

The Leigh Day British Triathlon Coach of the Year award went to Edinburgh’s Andrew McMenigall, who was tragically killed this summer in a cycling accident.

Andrew had a talent for coaching athletes of all levels with humour and a great deal of thought. He would regularly coach a non-swimmer in one lane and a Great Britain Age-Group triathlete in the next. He was coaching almost every Edinburgh Triathlon session before he died.

Gavin Calder, who nominated Andrew for the award, commented: “Our current club champion could not swim a length this time last year and credits Andrew with teaching her from scratch. The fact that 69 people, all in lycra, held up traffic as they cycled to his funeral tells of the high regard in which he was held.”

The Leigh Day British Triathlon Official of the Year award went to A&E nurse and international official Maisie Bancewicz. Having started out in 2005 as a level 1 official, Maisie, who lives in Glasgow, has now officiated around the world and is an ETU technical official. She has also provided tutoring and mentoring for others.

She commented: “It’s very nice to be recognised for something, and a bit overwhelming. It’s not something you expect. Someone asked me once what do you get out of being an official. You use your time off, you get to meet people internationally and you get a huge amount back that you wouldn’t expect. That’s the draw; it’s considerable.”

Many of tonight’s nominees and winners of the Leigh Day British Triathlon Workforce Awards have played an integral role in supporting events in their local area as well as having helped Britain host the biggest ever ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in London this summer.

The British Triathlon Event of the Year award has been awarded to the DEVA Triathlon in Chester. The event featured as a qualification event for the world championships in London and was highly praised by everyone who took part in it.

Published 23 November 2013