British Triathlon Calls on Black Country Women to Give Tri a Try

British Triathlon have teamed up with Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign to launch a new pilot scheme to encourage Black Country women to think differently about how they get active.

The emphasis is placed on moving away from traditional ‘New Year fad diets’ and using triathlon-based activity to get healthy, fit and have fun in the process.

With female participation in triathlon at an all-time high, the campaign aims to encourage a new wave of women to take their first step into the sport during 2017.

The pilot, titled ‘This Girl Can… do triathlon (any which way she likes)’ asks women across the region to take part in one swim, one cycle and one run/walk every week in March.

Support will be available through a range of local GO TRI activities to help those looking to start out on their triathlon journey. A special Facebook group has been set up where women can access top tips and advice about all things triathlon, and getting fit and healthy. Those taking part will be asked to pledge their weekly activity using an online platform throughout the month. 

Natalie Justice-Dearn, British Triathlon Director of Delivery, said: "Sport England’s This Girl Can campaign is a national celebration of active women, no matter what activity level they may be at.

"The scheme we are launching across the West-Midlands aims to build on this by offering triathlon-based activity as a simple and adaptable way of improving fitness that can easily incorporated into a busy lifestyle. It will link in with our national GO TRI programme, designed as a low-cost, easy access pathway into the sport for compete triathlon beginners.

"Activity could include a length of the local pool, a cycle on a static bike in the gym and a jog around the block with friends; it’s completely down to the individual to decide what works best for them.”

The pilot scheme will run across , the Black Country, Staffordshire, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Shropshire. Women who want to take part can join the private Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/thisgirlcandotriathlon/. 

For more information on what British Triathlon are doing to support women’s participation, please visit here. For information on GO TRI, please visit here.

ENDS

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:  Helen Barklam on helenbarklam@britishtriathlon.org or 07739 526556.

Alternatively, contact media@britishtriathlon.org. Please visit http://www.britishtriathlon.org/media for British athlete profiles, free images* and general information about triathlon. *Please refer to image use restrictions in the gallery section of the site (http://www.britishtriathlonmedia.org/media/licence)

About British Triathlon

British Triathlon is the Governing Body for the sport in Great Britain. It is responsible for raising the profile and delivering elite performance for Triathlon, Paratriathlon, Duathlon and Aquathlon in Great Britain. Triathlon is a fast growing, dynamic and modern Olympic and Paralympic sport with talented world class athletes, coaches and support staff, focused around delivering world-class success and inspiring participation. 

Great Britain is home to double Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee, 2016 silver and 2012 bronze medallist Jonathan Brownlee and 2016 bronze medallist Vicky Holland. In addition, British paratriathletes returned from the Rio 2016 Paralympics with one gold, two silver and one bronze medal courtesy of Andy Lewis, Lauren Steadman, Alison Patrick (Guide: Hazel Smith) and Melissa Reid (Guide: Nicole Walters) respectively.

We also have a strong squad of highly world ranked elite triathletes, and emerging talent from our youth development programmes https://www.britishtriathlon.org/media/statistics.

There are over 1,200 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year, a figure which grew by 63% between 2012 and 2016. British Triathlon is committed to being a leader in environmental awareness in sport, protecting the environment in which we operate today and in the future.

British Triathlon is a beneficiary of the UK Sport Lottery funded World-Class Programmes (WCP). The programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk.

Visit www.britishtriathlon.org/media for downloadable image galleries, detailed athlete profiles, results, stats and information.