Welcome! (Sean Nicolle, Chair & Lead Coach)
Happy Easter Oxford Tri!! I hoe you’ve had a lovely relaxing weekend with your families and friends, it was certainly nice to get some dry weather for training on Friday Saturday AND Sunday here in Oxfordshire 👌
17 of us are just back from Lanzarote training camp, see photo above of those who had club kit 😂 watch out for a montage of pictures to celebrate and inspire for next year!
We’re into our busiest time of year for the club, and it’s really exciting!
Next weekend on Saturday 26th we’ve got a training course for members to help give us confidence in how to provide effective on water safety cover for our Open Water swims this season. We’ll run two sessions morning and afternoon for 3hrs, provided by an expert water sport instructor, if you are willing to help out with on water safety cover this season THIS SESSION IS FOR YOU, we have limited places so please drop me a line ASAP at Chair@oxfordtri.co.uk to book your session, 9am or 1pm, at Queenford lake.
Then next Sunday 27th April is the Club organised OX Aquathlon. Where we get the opportunity to inspire the next generation of triathletes! About 2/3 of the 150 people signed up, are juniors new to the sport, honestly this is one of the best ways to give back to the sport, giving these youngsters, novices (and some old hats) the racing buzz and hopefully they’ll get the bug and who knows, join the club in the future. If you can offer a few hours of your time from 11am to 3pm on Sunday we’d absolutely love you to sign up to help, see sign up details later.
Open Water sessions will start again for club members on Saturday May 3rd, usual time 8 till 9, Paul Whitford will post out shortly with this years sign in sign out procedures, I’m not expecting any huge changes from last year mind.
Then we’ve got the Blenheim Triathlon – The opportunity to race in our own club wave on Sunday and volunteer in Transition on the Saturday as another fantastic opportunity to give back to the sport and earn yourself a free entry (or discounted entry if you can’t commit for a full day).
I appreciate we’re asking so much of members in this 5 week period from end of April to beginning of June. I honestly do appreciate that you have many other demands on your time and any help you can give to the club and the sport will be gratefully received by all involved.
So that’s the immediate headlines, hope you enjoy the Newsletter and of course any feedback on the newsletter, or anything else to do with the club, please mail me (chair@oxfordTri.co.uk) and I’ll take to our next committee meeting in early May.
Club Series 2025. (Grace Robinson)
Just a reminder of this year’s Oxford Tri Club Championship Series—a thrilling journey of speed, endurance, and friendly competition!
This year’s series includes four epic races:
Banbury Tri – 18th May,
The Oxfordshire Sprint Tri – 15th June
The Oxfordshire Olympic Tri – 17th August, and
Reading Tri – 14th September.
Don’t forget we’ve got exclusive discount codes for these races, available on our website (under Discount codes – Partners & Discounts). So, whether you’re new to triathlon or a seasoned competitor, get ready to swim, bike, and run your way to glory! Will you have what it takes to claim the title of Club Champ at the end-of-season awards?
Cross Country Round 5 Race Report – (Clive Shackell)
Another sunny morning with blue skies and a light wind greeted the Oxford Tri cross country runners for the final cross country race at Henley Showground on the edge of the Chilterns.
After several days without rain the course was dry and firm with the only mud and puddles being in the forest at the top of the hill.
9 Club members lined up with more than 370 other senior runners at the start line and made their way around the 7.25km course.
The course was made up of a medium-length loop through fields followed by two longer loops uphill through the trees and back down towards the start and finish area. A slightly shorter course than the previous 4 races and a steep downhill section of 200m at the end helped to improve the finishing times.
Thanks are due once again to Stuart for volunteering as a course marshal and to Craig for transporting the Club tent and lugging it to the competitor’s tent area.
A total of 21 Oxford Tri members took part in at least one race this season with Emma McDermott, Hannah Grainger Clemson and Doug Young finishing all five races.
Results: At the end of the season the women’s team finished 7th in division 2, while the men’s team were unfortunately relegated from division 2. Individually the highest placed Oxford Tri member over the season was Hannah who finished 5th in her age group.
The Ox Aquathlon – 27th April – (Craig Bathgate)
We’ve now got nearly 150 people signed up for the Aquathlon at Leys Leisure centre on 27th April, It’s going to be a brilliant event and opportunity to inspire youngsters and novices alike into our sport. If you can help us to run it smoothly, it’s not too late to sign up!! 11am till 3pm, Sunday 27th April. Please indicate via the following sign-up form – https://forms.gle/UGwgeXsQCcjJVqG1A
May Open Water Familiarisation and Drills. (Sean Nicolle)
Just a reminder that these sessions are now open for sign up and are a great opportunity for adults (over 18) of all abilities to learn and brush up on the skills needed for Open Water Swimming.
Please share with your friends and on your socials, if you can, to help get these sessions filled up and raise essential funds for the club.
Please see the website for more details and to sign up and pay: https://www.oxfordtri.uk/open-water-familiarisation-sessions/
We’re hoping for a bumper attendance at these swim sessions, 3 Saturdays and two Wednesdays from 17th May to 31st May, this will require a small army of volunteers and coaches to continue the success we’ve had in previous years, we’ll come out with roles and sign up nearer the time.
Blenheim Palace Triathlon -volunteering opportunity 7th/8th June
As previously mentioned, this year we have the incredible opportunity to volunteer at Blenheim Palace Triathlon on the 7/8th of June. For those who volunteer comes the opportunity to get a discounted entry/free place if you volunteer for the full day. There’s also the opportunity to volunteer on the Saturday and race for FREE on the Sunday!!
There will also be an OxfordTri specific wave happening on the Sunday Afternoon.
The only downside is if you want to race in the British champs race you wouldn’t be able to go in this wave as the champs is draft legal and later waves aren’t.
If you don’t want to race this year you can still volunteer for a day on Saturday or Sunday this year and earn a credit for a free entry next year.
We’d love to see as many people there as we can.
Our volunteer sign up is about to close so please be quick in ofeering your time if you can. using the following link – https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSd5UZX6IpU…/viewform…
Member Achievements (Sean Nicolle)
I’m so proud to announce that we have two new club Swim Bike Run Leaders qualified in April, Nick Chatrath and Sarah Dawson, have done the short online course and are now fully qualified and now chomping the the bit to get involved, look out for more info on led rides in May from the Lake as a starter, and I really hope we can get more sessions put on for you all.
Thanks again Nick and Sarah for taking on this challenge and really looking forward to getting you involved.
As a club we’ve got such a busy spring schedule and really hope to see lots of you soon and hope you can get involved in one of many ways.
Come to sessions and socials – meet fellow members, check the calendar for venues, timings and sign-ups.
Become a coach or leader – speak to Sean Nicolle if you are interested leadcoach@oxfordtri.co.uk
Share planned runs/cycles on Facebook if you are happy for others to join you – https://www.facebook.com/groups/oxfordtri
Calling all Accountants! (Eleanor Cameron)
Our treasury team has wrapped up the club accounts for 2024, and we need a kind-hearted accountant to give them a quick review.
Just an hour or two of your time could greatly help our club’s governance.
If you’re up for it, please email treasury@oxfordtri.co.uk
The Treasury Team
Hope to see you all at a session or race soon.
Best Sean Nicolle