Meet the athletes

Want to find out more about Great Britain's elite stars?

Get to know some of British Triathlon’s elite squad and hear about how they got into triathlon

West Midlands 2020 Regional Awards

Published:

This year has seen an abundance of creativity and adaptability from clubs, coaches, and volunteers across the region and the 2020 Regional Awards celebrated those achievements.

Club of the Year was awarded to Tri Energy, a Worcestershire based club established in 2014 that caters for members between the ages of six and seventy-six. Tri Energy designed a number of virtual multisport events, including triathlons, duathlons and even a half marathon dressed as Batman.

The club has created a community atmosphere in a year when many have struggled with isolation, even creating ‘Trisolation’ where club members were split into five teams and competed against each other in a series of events.

Tri Energy, Club of the Year

The award for Coach of the Year went to Sam Anderson, a Level 3 British Triathlon Coach at Tri Energy. At Tri Energy, Anderson organised ‘Trisolation’, garden-based bleep tests and the club’s Batman run and encouraged other coaches to get creative and embrace the virtual world.

Anderson, who has been coaching for around seven years now, said: “I just totally love swimming, biking and running and having the joy to work with so many different athletes at so many different levels, crossing so many different barriers to achieve their goals.”

Sam Anderson, Coach of the Year

Nichola Smith of Rugby Triathlon Club received the award for Virtual Activity of the Year. The Virtual Long Course Week Challenge was an event that tasked members to complete either a sprint, middle, standard or long distance triathlon over the course of a week.

The club emphasised inclusion and participation, giving members the option to complete the challenge their own way, encouraging as many members to take part as possible regardless of skill level.

Nichola Smith, Virtual Activity of the Year

Lorraine Brooks of Malvern Triathlon Club was named the Virtual Coach of the Year. Brooks created a turbo challenge, a distance challenge, and a climbing challenge to keep members engaged throughout the lockdown period. She also created a WhatsApp group that received over 7,000 posts, including 1,000 videos in just three months as they shared motivation with one another.

Lorraine Brooks, Virtual Coach of the Year

Finally, Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Steve Butler. Butler created a number of challenges for Malvern Triathlon Club members, one of which involved ascending as many meters as possible by visiting over 100 wells in Malvern.

Many of the club members united through these challenges and beat personal goals along the way. Butler thanks club members for making the challenges so successful.

Steve Butler, Volunteer of the Year

Thanks to our Partners

Join Us

And enjoy insurance benefits, race licensing and more...