New recipe for triathlon facing its first test

TRIATHLON Australia’s bid to “re-invent” itself will face its first test in Sunday’s Commonwealth Games selection race as the governing body’s more centralised talent pathway begins to take shape.

New Triathlon Australia Podium Centre head coach Joel Filliol will take the reins at the Gold Coast Triathlon, set to be held around Southport’s Broadwater, in what has become the home for the country’s elite senior program.

The Canadian started at Triathlon Australia just prior to the country’s disappointing showing at the Tokyo Olympics

last year, a result that forced the organisation to review its strategy and processes.

“It is a bit about re-inventing ourselves,” Filliol said.

“We are looking at the Commonwealth Games (in Birmingham in July) as an opportunity and a stepping stone towards the Paris Olympics.

“Some of the changes we have made were pre-planned before Tokyo and some upon some deep reflection on what went wrong. How do we use that to inspire us and prepare at the level we need? We want to invest in our training processes and environments where we can have the most impact on performance.

“We got to a stage where we didn’t have as many options as we would like to support our Australia athletes.

“We had become a little decentralised, with not many environments managed by Triathlon Australia.

“A number of athletes, like Jake (Birtwhistle) had sought other training opportunities overseas. That is limiting because not every athlete would be able to take advantage of those opportunities. We want to provide more high level training environments at home that can support a wider number of athletes.”

A NSW high performance centre has returned, one in

Queensland already exists, another is being prepared in Victoria and Filliol said he wanted to look at Western Australia and South Australia.

Filliol’s increasing squad already boasts Birtwhistle, Emma Jackson, Jaz and Kira Hedgeland, Kye Wylde and Brandon Copeland.

His program is also supported by Gold Coast-based coach Dan Atkins who mentors the country’s younger triathletes.

The winners of Sunday’s male and female race will each secure an automatic nomination for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.