About 220 Triathlon
Started in 1989 by a dedicated enthusiast working out of his flat, 220 Triathlon has since grown to become the magazine of record for UK triathletes of all abilities looking to improve their times and get more enjoyment out of the sport.
In both the print magazine and on this very website you’ll find advice from some of the world’s best coaches, physios, nutritionists and athletes that will help you keep you informed and in shape for the year ahead.
Whatever you need advice with, we can help. … and what does the number 220 refer to? Well, the original method of estimating your maximum heart rate (and thus your training heart rate range) was to subtract your age from 220.
Read on to find out about the people who bring you articles, gear reviews and commentary from the world of tri…
Meet the editorial team
Helen Webster, editor
Helen has been editing magazines for 25 years. Her passion is endurance sport and she’s taken part in many triathlons and single-discipline events over the years.
Highlights have been competing in the ÖtillÖ Swimrun World Series and swimming the length of Lake Coniston. She also works as a live race commentator and you’ll find her at Norseman every year interviewing athletes at the finish line.
Helen is a qualified Level 2 Open-Water Swim Coach focusing on open-water confidence and runs regular workshops at the South West Maritime Academy near Bristol. She is also an RLSS UK Open Water Lifeguard trainer/assessor. When not swimming, she’ll be testing kit for 220 out in the wilds, using her home-built camper as a mobile office.
Liz Barrett, contributor
Former 220 deputy editor Liz Barrett started work on the magazine in 2007 as staff writer. During her 18 years with the brand, she 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 still our go-to pro-athlete expert. She now works as a freelance journalist and sub-editor.
Rob Slade, contributor and gear tester
Rob Slade is an experienced journalist from Bristol. He was 220 Triathlon‘s Content Editor between 2021-2024 and previously editor of Adventure Travel magazine. Rob has been testing gear for 10 years and now contributes to 220 as a freelancer.
Rob has been running, cycling and hiking since he was a teenager, but pulled on the tri-suit for the first time in 2021. Since then, he’s raced everything from supersprint triathlon up to half Ironman, with the latter including a jaunt up Scafell Pike for the run. He seems to be most happy when the body hurts, the weather rages and there’s a hell of a long way left to go.
Matt Baird, contributor and gear tester
Bristol-based Matt is the current managing editor of BBC Countryfile Magazine and is the former editor of Cycling Plus. During his 13 years on 220 Triathlon, he raced everything from super-sprint to off-road duathlons and Iron-distance races around the world, often very slowly and often involving eating a sandwich in T1.
Matt’s also the author of the Sport Book of the Year (2016) nominated ‘Triathlon!‘ from Aurum Press and is eyeing his 40th triathlon in 2025. He has been more peanut butter than man since 2011.
Tim Heming, columnist
Experienced sportswriter and journalist Tim is a specialist in endurance sport and has been filing features for 220 since 2012. For the past decade he has also written a monthly column tackling the divisive issues in swim, bike and run from doping to governance, Olympic selection to pro prize money and more.
Over this time he has interviewed hundreds of paratriathletes and triathletes from those starting out in the sport with inspiring tales to share to multiple Olympic gold medal winners explaining how they achieved their success. As well as contributing to 220, Tim has written on triathlon for publications throughout the world, including The Times, The Telegraph and the tabloid press in the UK.
Tim won’t be alone in viewing exercise as a core component of health and wellbeing, and generally feels in a better place if he’s moving for at least an hour a day. Often that comprises some combination of swimming, cycling and running.
Martyn Brunt, columnist
Martyn is 220‘s long-standing back page columnist and the author of Accidental Ironman: How Triathlon Ruined My Life. Despite almost 25 years’ of triathlon experience under his elasticated race belt, Martyn has learned absolutely nothing from this and continues to make the same schoolboy errors he made when he started out as a fresh-faced age grouper wearing Speedos.
In the intervening years he has spent untold amounts of money on shiny carbon things and spent countless hours putting himself through training hell, and managed to achieve precisely one age-group win. This doesn’t stop him being the most competitive person on the planet though, happy to race you round the shops with a trolley. Don’t listen to any race advice he gives you, it’s a trap.
Sarah Broadley, gear tester
Sarah has been involved in triathlon since 2012 and started by encouraging juniors to join the sport through a junior club in Sussex. Now an open-water swim coach based in the Cotswolds she is a keen swimmer and cyclist and perseveres with the running so that she can participate too.
Sarah loves being outdoors and claims she is solar powered so the more sunshine available for training and racing the better – hence why she escapes to warmer climates at every opportunity!
Tomos Whitmarsh-Knight, Commercial Ad Manager
Tom is 220 Triathlon’s Commercial Advertising Manager and has been working on the title since 2016. Tom brings a passion for endurance sports to the brand. As a dedicated runner from a young age he’s raced everything from track 800m races to ultra distances events up to 50 miles.
Whether it’s urban routes or rugged trails, he’s happiest with running shoes on, discovering new paths and pushing the limits. When we need run kit testing to the limit, we give it to Tomos to try out.
Jude Palmer, gear tester
Whether it be in the hills or in cold water, Jude is at her happiest when out in the great outdoors, having an adventure, however big or small and with other people.
She is a Trail Running and Open Water Swimming Coach who loves sharing her knowledge and experience to encourage others to immerse themselves in nature, to explore and to connect with others. ‘Running trails or dipping into hidden waterfalls gives me more than just physical fitness, it makes all the difference to my mental health. It reminds me that I am participating in the world, I am alive and kicking and that is good enough for me.’
