Swim Bike Run

It's in everyone

Triathletes Celebrated at the 2022/23 TWA Annual Awards

Triathletes Celebrated at the 2022/23 TWA Annual Awards

Date: 01 Jun 2023
Posted: 1 year ago

On Saturday, 27 May 2023, the 2022/23 Triathlon WA Annual Awards were held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Perth Waterfront. We welcomed 160 athletes, supporters, staff, partners and friends to the Waterside room to celebrate the season in style!

View the gallery of photos here: https://patrickboerephotography.pixieset.com/triathlonwaawards/

Triathlon WA would like to congratulate the below award winners on their achievements and contributions in the 2022/23 season. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2023/24 for another fantastic year of racing.

Community Coach of the Year Award

The Community Coach of the Year Award, now in its second year, aims to honour those who do outstanding work in coaching non-elite age group or junior triathletes. Winners of this award demonstrate outstanding engagement, integrity, community spirit and commitment to growing the sport of Triathlon in Western Australia.

The 2023 Community Coach of the Year Award was presented to Phoenix Tri Club’s Emma Moon!

Emma has been coaching triathletes of all ages and abilities for 5 years and is known for her infectious enthusiasm and incredible passion for the sport. She delivers group sessions across all disciplines working with beginners to experienced Ironman athletes. She holds a volunteer coaching position with School Sport WA, and is also a coach for the Guildford Grammar School Triathlon Squad.

Coach of the Year Award

The Coach of the Year Award recognises individuals who have coached WA athletes (Age Group or Elite) to one or more outstanding achievements in the preceding twelve months.

The 2023 Coach of the Year award was presented to UWA Triathlon Club’s Steve Gleeson!

Steve is TA Performance Accredited and has coached many athletes to reach their full potential and represent WA in National and International races. His coaching accolades in the past 12 months include Junior Sprint National Champion, Oceania Continental Para Cup Winner, numerous top ten results in Continental Cups, podiums at local events, and a Junior World Championship qualification.

Steve Barrie Technical Official of the Year

The Technical Official of the Year Award has been acknowledged since 2000. The Award was renamed in 2007 in honour of the late Steve Barrie to recognise his significant contribution to our sport.

This award is presented annually in recognition of the service and dedication of a Technical Official to the sport. Awarded to the Technical Official of the Year on the recommendation of the TWA Technical Reference Panel, the Steve Barrie Award recognises an individual’s valuable contribution to the technical program based on their regular participation in the Field of Play (minimum of five events in the season) and their contribution to the progression of the program throughout the season.

This year, the Steve Barrie Award was presented to Felicity Tyrrell-Prince!

Felicity joined the Technical Program 15 years ago and has been a consistently excellent official. Felicity is based in South West WA, and is always happy to support regional events like IMWA, Karri Valley, Busselton Festival of Triathlon and Bunbury Classic. Felicity is an active member of the local community through animal rescue, and is the only official we have that can remove snakes from the course!

Technical Service Awards

The Technical Official Service Awards are awarded in recognition of a Technical Official who has provided over 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 years of commitment and service to the sport of Triathlon. The sport would not be possible if it wasn’t for our Technical Officials, so we’d like to thank every official within our program. The following milestones were celebrated at the 2023 Awards:

5 years of Service:

  • Travis Bentley
  • Susan Androvich

10 years of Service:

  • Damien D’Antoine
  • Steve Norton

15 years of Service:

  • Felicity Tyrrell – Prince
  • Cathy Hoare

25 years of Service:

  • Frank Stapleton
  • Warren Milward
  • Robyn Scott

Congratulations and thank you for your service to our sport and community your efforts are invaluable and so appreciated.

Service to Sport

The Service to Sport Award is intended to recognise an individual who has demonstrated outstanding service to the sport of triathlon at a state, club, event, or other association level. This years’ Service to Sport Winner is the true meaning of outstanding service, having been a coach since 1996, contributing to the creation of novice programs such as Tri-Mum’s, Kids Triathlon School Holiday Program, as well as junior development programs with the Junior Triathlon Academy, School Gold Program and was the Lead of the Triathlon Excellence Program from 2006 – 2009. This award winner is constantly holding events, coaching age group athletes, and working towards making the sport a community.

The 2022/2023 Service to Sport Award winner was Brian Kempson!

Brian recently had to undergo a quadruple heart bypass and whilst recovering he was still checking in with athletes and creating training plans. His passion for the sport and his athletes is undeniable, and we are so grateful for his service to triathlon in Western Australia over the last 25 plus years!

Individual Performance of the Year – Male & Female

The Individual Performance of the Year Award is intended to recognise the most outstanding performances or one-off performance of West Australian athletes in the preceding twelve months including WA athletes racing World Triathlon events.

MALE WINNER:

This year’s Individual Male Performance of the Year Award winner was Kurt Wesley for his performance at the 2023 Oceania Triathlon Cup Busselton.

Representing Australia on the World Triathlon stage since 2015, with 57 World Triathlon starts and having spent 5 months of 2022 in Europe to gain further racing and training experience, he has certainly been committed to the sport.

The 2023 Oceania Triathlon Cup Busselton was a Super Sprint eliminator format involving 3 races back-to-back, with the bottom 8 from each sprint being eliminated. Kurt won the first heat, before crossing line in 3rd place for the 2nd stage and securing his bronze medal in the final. A standout performance from Kurt.

FEMALE WINNER:

The 2022/ 2023 season has been an excellent one for our Female Individual Performance of the Year award winner. She has had an absolutely stellar run with National wins in the eastern states, and is a standout in terms of junior race results. It’s hard to single out just one performance as her best!

This year’s Individual Female Performance of the Year Award winner was Rhianna Hepburn!

Rhianna is a dedicated and consistent performer, who has had great success this season with the support of her Coach, Steve Gleeson, and the UWA tri club. This season Rhianna has achieved amazing results including:

  • 2nd place at the 2023 Oceania Triathlon Junior Championships in Taupo in February and helping Australia to win the Oceania Junior Mixed relay title.
  • 1st place and crowned Australian Junior Sprint Champion in Adelaide in April.
  • Placed a very impressive 5th in 2023 Oceania Triathlon Cup Busselton in a very strong field of predominantly Elite and U23 competitors.

AWARD 7: Development Athlete of the Year

This award is for outstanding commitment, improvement, and performance throughout the season for an athlete in our Development Program. As well as:

  • Attendance and attitude at training
  • Commitment to team values and interaction
  • Skills growth and continued improvement

The Triathlon WA Development Athlete of the Year Award for 2023 was presented to Ivan Nagel!

Ivan is always willing to assist and encourage others, and displays strong leadership qualities, which was reflected in his selection as captain of the WA School Sport Triathlon Team for two years in a row. He is friendly and positive and goes out of his way to engage and communicate with all members of the pathway team.  He regularly attends Pathway training and education sessions, and has also recorded very strong results across the season, including stepping up to compete in his first Oceania cup race in Busselton in April.

Champion Club

The Champion Club trophy is awarded annually to the club whose financial members accumulated the most points across the Triathlete of the Year Series. This includes both the Senior and the Junior Series.

The winner of the 2023 Champion Club Award is North Coast Triathlon Club.

Interclub Series Conference Champions

  • The Winner of the North Conference is North Coast Triathlon Club
  • The Winner of the South Conference is Mandurah Triathlon Club
  • The Winner of the Regional Conference is Busselton Triathlon Club
  • The Winner of the 2023 Interclub Overall Champion is Mandurah Triathlon Club

Triathlete of the Year (TOTY) Open Winners

Awards are presented to the top five male and female triathletes in the TWA Open Category.

View the full final TOTY standings here: https://www.triwa.com.au/triathlete-of-the-year-current-standings/

PLACEMALEFEMALE
1stZeke TinleyAleisha Wesley
2ndMatt BurtonRachael Smyth
3rdReece HarrisSian Munks
4thNick ThompsonHerlene Yu
5thJames MartinFelicity Sheedy-Ryan

Triathlete of the Year (TOTY) Age Group Winners

Awards are presented to the three highest point scoring male and female athletes in each age group

View the full final TOTY standings here: https://www.triwa.com.au/triathlete-of-the-year-current-standings/

FEMALE WINNERS

NAMEAGE GROUPPLACE
Ava Rodgers12-13 yrs1ST
Lucy Henville12-13 yrs2ND
Isabella Neervoort12-13 yrs3RD
Ava Henville14-15 yrs1ST
Billie Mincham14-15 yrs2ND
Rebecca Puccini14-15 yrs3RD
Erin Driscoll16-19 yrs1ST
Bridie Crew16-19 yrs2ND
Kayla Bongers16-19 yrs3RD
Ella Phelan20-241ST
Abbie Crew20-242ND
Carolyn Wallace20-243RD
Sarah Nisbet25-291ST
Amie Thompson25-292ND
Abigail Bygrave25-293RD
Melanie Wade30-341ST
Victoria Gill30-342ND
Janne Liebmann30-343RD
Emma Moon35-391ST
Camilla Swenson35-392ND
Naomi Bath35-393RD
Rebecca Lewis40-441ST
Nichole Pursell40-442ND
Christina Ladyman40-443RD
Kate Atkinson45-491ST
Alison Thompson45-492ND
Andrea Hopkin45-493RD
Nikki Pursell50-541ST
Susan Beattie50-542ND
Lisa Hitchcock50-543RD
Jane Hardy55-591ST
Pip Laufmann55-592ND
Sue Scott55-593RD
Lise Ashton60-641ST
Trish Vickery60-642ND
June Ward60-643RD
Vicki Kelly65-691ST
Virginia Westwood65-692ND (tie)
Audrey Hull65-692ND (tie)
Pamela Williams70-741ST
Anne Blatchford70-742ND

MALE WINNERS

NAMEAGE GROUPPLACE
Luke Williams12-13 yrs1ST
Cooper Smeulders12-13 yrs2ND
Brodie Wilkinson12-13 yrs3RD
Will Cramsie14-15 yrs1ST
Connor Fraser14-15 yrs2ND
Thor Sultana14-15 yrs3RD
Joshua Fletcher16-19 yrs1ST
Ivan Nagel16-19 yrs2ND
Christophe Gardner16-19 yrs3RD
Michael Orton20-241ST
Jaxon Bilchuris20-242ND
Chad Mckay20-243RD
Aidan Clark25-291ST
Min Gao25-292ND
Lachie Tweedie25-293RD
Rhys Williams30-341ST
Claude Morris30-342ND
James O’Neill30-343RD
Joao Carlos Bernardes Neto35-391ST
Philipp Albert35-392ND
Zach Clark35-393RD (tie)
Iain Miller35-393RD (tie)
Andrew Malatios40-441ST
Daniel Wedge40-442ND
Mark Oakshott40-443RD
Barry Williamson45-491ST
Peter Brozicevich45-492ND
Matt Genevieve45-493RD
Russell Harris50-541ST
Matt McKay50-542ND
Jason Bonser50-543RD
Andrew Johns55-591ST
Lucky Phil Monks55-592ND
Phillip Hays55-593RD
Darryl Harris60-641ST
Barry Silverlock60-642ND
Geoff Large60-643RD
Richard Burnell65-691ST
John Hook65-692ND
Edmund Kerr65-693RD
David Whiteley70-741ST
Geoffrey Grose70-742ND
Dave Scott75-791ST