British Triathlon announces interim World Class Triathlon Squads

British Triathlon has named an interim UK Sport Lottery funded World Class Performance squad for 2013. With a major focus on performances at the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final on home soil in London next September, the squad has its longer term sights on the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The squad will be in place until the end of March 2013, and will be confirmed for the rest of the 2013 season once the new National Performance Director, Brendan Purcell, takes up his post in the New Year.

Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee and ITU World Champion Jonathan Brownlee feature in the squad alongside former double ITU World Champion, Helen Jenkins. All three athletes contributed to Britain’s best ever Olympic performances in Hyde Park this summer, and will have the opportunity to return to the same venue next September to challenge for world titles.

London 2012 Olympians Lucy Hall and Vicky Holland also feature in the squad, along with U23 World Champion, Non Stanford and Jodie Stimpson, who finished fifth in the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final in Auckland last month.

Seventeen-year-old Sophie Coldwell is a new addition to the squad, having stepped up from the Olympic Talent Squad.

Senior athletes Will Clarke, Tim Don, Stuart Hayes and Liz Blatchford will be supported by British Triathlon in recognition of their achievements during their exceptional careers, and the significant role they can continue to play in the future success of the sport.

World Class Podium Squad

Alistair Brownlee, 24, Leeds

Jonathan Brownlee, 22, Leeds

Vicky Holland, 26, Gloucester/Swansea

Helen Jenkins, 28, Bridgend

David McNamee, 24, Irvine/Leeds

Non Stanford, 23, Swansea/Leeds

Jodie Stimpson, 23, Birmingham

World Class Podium Potential Squad

Gordon Benson, 18, Leeds

Tom Bishop, 21, Derby/Leeds

Adam Bowden, 30, Loughborough

Mark Buckingham, 27, Holmfirth/Loughborough

Sophie Coldwell, 17, Nottingham

Lucy Hall, 20, Loughborough

Aaron Harris, 24, Loughborough

Lois Rosindale, 22, Leeds

Matt Sharp, 23, Enfield/Loughborough

Georgia Taylor Brown, 18, Manchester/Leeds

Liz Barrett 220 Deputy Editor

About

220 deputy editor Liz Barrett started work on the magazine in 2007 as staff writer. Since then, she’s reported live from almost every major triathlon across the globe, including the Ironman World Championships, 70.3 Worlds, six ITU Worlds, Challenge Roth, the 2014 and 2022 Commonwealths, the London and Paris Olympics and the Rio Paralympics, to name but a few. Name a pro and chances are she’ll have interviewed them, so, unsurprisingly, she’s our go-to pro-athlete expert on the team. When not covering races, you’ll find her whipping words into finely-crafted shape for both the magazine and website.