North-east triathlon club wins national accolade
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A triathlon club based in Ellon has been recognised with a top national award.
TrYthan has been named Triathlon Scotland's Club of the Year.
It was established in 2016 by a group of friends who enjoyed training and racing together.
David Horne from the club said: "We pride ourselves on being an inclusive club that supports all abilities, from European champions and British age-groupers to those wanting the challenge of doing their first swim, bike, run event.
"Since becoming a Triathlon Scotland affiliated club in June 2019 the club has gone from strength to strength, growing from 10 adult male members to 71 members, including a large female and junior TriStar contingent.
"This is testament to the time and hard work invested by the coaches and committee in providing a first-class club to the community."
Over the past year the club has had three members successfully complete British Triathlon coaching qualifications, with two completing level one and the other level two. It now has six qualified coaches to support its growing membership.
The club provides a wide range of regular coached sessions for both its adult and TriStar members.
Weekly coached adult swim and run sessions tailored for all abilities are provided, as well as TriStar bike, run and swim training which has proved so popular that there is now a waiting list to join.
To help the club set up its junior section and get TriStar coaching off the ground quicker, TrYthan linked up with another club, Three Peaks Triathletes, to share resources including coaches, equipment, training venues and the services of the welfare officer.
Horne added: "This has made a huge difference to the success of TrYthan TriStars, allowing more children to attend training.
"The enthusiasm of the coaches to engage with the young triathletes saw many of them sign up for their first duathlon in the spring, and there was disappointment when it was cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
"To keep members focused, motivated and connected during this time, the club set a number of challenges including a series of children’s virtual duathlon races, a cycling distance challenge, a cycling elevation challenge and Strava art challenge.
"However, perhaps the most exciting challenge was the Hannah Miley loo roll challenge which Hannah set and judged herself. Both TriStars and adults threw themselves into the challenge and loved having an Olympian involved."
Triathlon Scotland is the national governing body for the sport and is recognised by the federation British Triathlon.
It works in partnership with its club network to increase participation, develop volunteers and train coaches on the UK Coaching Certificate pathway.
It also manages the national performance programme, ensuring Scottish athletes are best prepared to qualify and compete at Commonwealth and Olympic or Paralympic Games.
It operates through a combination of staff and a voluntary board of directors, complemented by a base of volunteers, all working together to realise the full potential of the triathlon community in Scotland.
Triathlon Scotland development manager Calum Reid said: “Although a young club and still developing, TrYthan has been really ambitious in its progress including the creation of its thriving junior section.
"In particular, it was great to see it work in partnership with other local clubs to make this possible.
"The club has done a great job of engaging people of all abilities and backgrounds from the local community and is a deserving winner of our Club of the Year award.”
For more information about TrYthan visit the club's Facebook page
