With a current membership around 200 juniors, youths and adults, the triathlon club in Chichester has rebranded to become Chichester Triathlon Club, giving club a chance to showcase themselves as a club for the whole city and open to all.
“Triathlon can be perceived as an expensive, elitist sport and we’ve tried to knock down those barriers,” commented Andy George, Chair of Chichester Triathlon Club. “For example, we have partnered with British Triathlon to run GO TRI events which are aimed at encouraging complete beginners into the sport.
“The annual GO TRI events are run voluntarily by our club members, but all of our coaches also devote several hours a week for free in order to keep costs down to a minimum for our members.
“This year, to help beginners and new club members, we’re also going to run taster sessions to introduce people to the basics of the sport including unique aspects of triathlon such as transitions, when you change from swimming to cycling or cycling to the run.”
As a community club we recognise the important role we play in the lives of many families in Chichester. In the build up to Tokyo 2020, the club’s junior section swum, biked and ran their way from Chichester to Tokyo to keep the members connected with one another during lockdown and to raise money for the charity MIND. Collectively they completed over 21,000km and raised over £3,500.
“Our vibrant junior section is actually one of the largest in the country. To reflect this, and as another innovation, this year we are organising our first children’s triathlon” Andy George continued.
“I’d put it [the growth in the junior section] down to the dedication of the volunteers. I have a very, very strong coaching team in the youth and juniors. They run two-hour run and bike sessions on Saturday mornings and swimming coaching every Tuesday and Thursday. It really is impressive.”
Clubs provide a great structure for juniors and adults alike to be supported as they take their first steps into swim-bike-run. They provide affordable coaching and guidance on how to develop, as well as providing a community of likeminded individuals to get to know and to enjoy the sport with.
“Last year the GO TRI came back for the first time since COVID,” Andy George added. “We only had 50 or 60 people there, but as a result of that we’ve had people join the club and it was only because of the capability of having our senior members there saying ‘this is triathlon, come and have a go’.
“Everyone’s very approachable. We’ve got GBR triathletes throughout the club, iron men and iron women, we’ve got long distance runners, we’ve got all-sorts of athletes. But almost all of them are regular members of our local community with full-time jobs, children of their own, and a host of other commitments and responsibilities.
“Triathlon, with the different distances available, gives everyone a chance to fit their training around the numerous other draws on their time. The physical and mental benefits of being part of an active community are huge, so clubs like ourselves play an important role in community cohesion and wellbeing.”
You can find out more about Chichester Triathlon Club and their members by visiting their website - HERE
