Taylormade Triathlon Club
Based in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs. We are a triathlon club that caters for everyone from the seasoned triathlete to those yet to enter a race.

Triathlon.org News Feed

1. Auckland prepares to welcome the world at 2012 Grand Final
   With less than five months to go before the 2012 ITU World Champions are crowned in the fourth year of triathlon’s premier series, Auckland’s preparations to stage the ITU World Series Grand Final are well underway. November last year saw Auckland host the Barfoot & Thompson ITU Triathlon World Cup to glowing reports. In fact the day couldn’t have been better from a local perspective, the spring weather was on its best behaviour, Kris Gemmell and Andrea Hewitt delivered home town success and huge fields took part in the age-group races over sprint and standard distance. But international visitors planning on coming to Auckland for the 2012 Barfoot & Thompson ITU World Triathlon Grand Final and Age-Group World Championships be warned – you ain’t seen nothing yet! With last year seen as something of a dress rehearsal for the big show, this year’s hosting of the ITU World Triathlon Series Grand Final and Age-Group World Champs from October 14 to 23 aims to set a new benchmark for World Championship events around the world. Event CEO Dave Beeche leads a large team working feverishly on planning and preparing an event that will have a lasting impact on the sport in New Zealand and leave a lasting and brilliant impression on visitors in New Zealand to race or support family or friends. “This is going to be huge, fantastic for the city of Auckland, New Zealand the sport of triathlon but most importantly our international visitors. Last year was a big success but we have not been resting on our laurels, this year is so much bigger in so many ways but the goal is to once again deliver an event that will do the sport and the country proud. “There are many reasons to come to Auckland in October this year but the biggest plus for those participating or watching the racing is the ‘hub’ nature of the venue. Racing will be based in the CBD, with transition and race headquarters right on the downtown waterfront at The Cloud, a wonderful state of the art covered structure that is a legacy of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. “From the moment people check in to their hotels in the CBD, they can forget the need for a car; forget the need for long trips anywhere, all you will need is a map – which we will provide, and some walking shoes. Supermarkets, coffee, restaurants, bars, race headquarters, transition, massage, and swimming – everything you need will be within 10 to 15 minutes walk of your hotel.” And you need not worry if you haven’t yet qualified to...
2. London 2012 Olympic Qualifying Update after San Diego
   The two-year ITU Olympic Qualification Period is almost at an end after the penultimate race in the city where triathlon was invented. The ITU World Triathlon San Diego held plenty of hopes and dreams, some were realised, some were not. Here is the updated Olympic simulation, which is a guide to what the London field what look like if qualification finished tomorrow, and an early look at the Madrid round of the ITU World Triathlon Series. Elite Women’s Simulation As the final automatic qualification event for USA Triathlon, a key focus was on who would join Gwen Jorgensen and Sarah Groff in London. The top contenders were Laura Bennett and Sarah Haskins, who both represented the USA in Beijing and that battle was on right from the start. Both are strong swimmers and both emerged within a lead group of eight that included Helen Jenkins and Erin Densham. While Haskins tried a few times to break off the front in the bike, she didn’t, and they came in T2 together. Bennett flew through in 20 seconds, while Haskins took 28, and that ended-up being a defining moment. While Haskins did almost catch Bennett in the run, the 37-year-old pulled away and went on to bronze – her first series medal and her second Olympic team. In other individual selection news, Netherlands’ Rachel Klamer met her national federation’s qualification criteria with a 12th place finish. This acted as a confirmation result for her early pre-selection in 2011. Maaike Caelers also put herself into contention with 11th, enough to move herself onto the Olympic simulation. Lisa Mensink had held down a second place for the Netherlands, but her day finished early with a crash leaving T1. That crash also ended her own hopes of competing in London, she sustained a fractured shoulder, however Caelers result was enough to keep the Netherlands with two spots for now. In other important results, Lydia Waldmuller moved Austria into the picture, taking over the European new flag spot from Finland’s Kaisa Lehtonen, while Hungary moved from two places to one. A week after collapsing before the finish line in Huatulco, Vendula Frintova recovered and put the Czech Rebublic back in with a chance to send two women. So far Frintova and Radka Vodickova hold down those two places. Claudia Rivas also met the Mexican Triathlon Federation’s qualification criteria to confirm her place in London. The competition to see who can field the maximum three athletes in London didn’t change after San Diego, except for...
3. Slovakia hosts ITU Level 1 Club & Community Coaching Couse
   A group of ITU coaches gathered in Slovakia last weekend to take part in an ITU Level 1 Club & Community Coaching Course. A total of 20 coaches from Israel, Slovakia and Croatia attended the course in Hotel Dom Sportu in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. The course was organized by ITU Development Coordinator for Europe, Zeljko Bijuk (CRO) and Secretary General of the Slovakian Triathlon Union, Jozef Jurasek (SVK) and included both theoretical and practical sessions. The ITU Level 1 Club & Community Coaching Course, included information ranging from the swim, bike and run to transitions, basic nutrition and coach responsibility. Lectures were held in the Dom Sportu, former home of the Slovakian Olympic Committee and presently used by Slovakian sports federations. Participants of the course had the opportunity to take part in an aquathlon race during their lunch break. The race took place in the lake behind the host hotel and allowed attendees to practice some of their newly learned techniques under the supervision of ITU facilitators Tibor Lehmann (HUN), Zsolt Szakaly (HUN) and Bijuk. The course was positively received by the young and ambitious coaches, many still active triathletes who all share the same enthusiasm to help promote triathlon in their respective countries.  Click here for more information on ITU Development
4. Stoltz and McQuaid aim to defend their titles at ITU Cross Triathlon world titles
   Last year was a historic one for Cross Triathlon, after four years of continental championships ITU hosted its first world titles in Extremadura, Spain. Over 400 athletes competed across the elite, junior, age-group and paratriathlon categories in the swim, mountain bike and cross-country run discipline. This year, the sport takes another step forward as ITU partners with XTERRA for the second edition for the 2012 Shelby County ITU Cross Triathlon World Championships and XTERRA Southeast Championships. Oak Mountain State Park, located in the southernmost part of the Appalachian Chain, boasts a trail praised by competitors as one of the most fun, fast, scenic and difficult with credit attributed to the work of Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers (BUMP) along with Alabama’s DCNR State Park Division, Shelby County and the City of Pelham. BUMP has spent more than 100,000 hours in design and construction of new trails over the past 20 years. The event will feature $20,000 USD in prize money for elite athletes, who will compete over a 1.5km swim, 30km mountain bike and 10km trail run. Elite Women’s Preview Canada’s Melanie McQuaid took out the first ITU Cross Triathlon world title in Spain last year, and will return to defend it in Alabama as will the two other women who finished on the podium with her in Extremadura, the USA’s Shonny Vanlandingham and Emma Garrard. However, it’s a tough field to pick a favourite, as McQuaid, Vanlandingham, Switzerland’s Renata Bucher and Great Britain’s Lesley Paterson all have good form on the course in Shelby County. Last year, McQuaid bettered Vanlandingham and Bucher in the podium 1-2-3, but in 2010 it was Vanlandingham who beat McQuaid to the title as Paterson claimed bronze. McQuaid won in 2009, with Paterson collecting silver, while Vanlandingham won in 2008, where Paterson finished third. Adding to the competition is that Bucher and Paterson, who took out last year’s XTERRA world title, had to have a photo to decide who won in Las Vegas just last week, showing that the battle for the podium is set to be a thrilling one here. Vanlandingham, the 2010 XTERRA World Champion who is making her return from an ACL injury in this race, said earlier this year it was no surprise that a strong women’s field was competing. “I’ve raced all over the world, and I just love coming back to Oak Mountain every year. It is perhaps the best course in the nation,” she said. Others to watch include Canada’s Danelle Kabush and Austria’s...
5. Jonathan Brownlee starts 2012 season with dominating win in San Diego
   Great Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee kicked off his Olympic season with a dominant performance in San Diego, winning his second ITU World Triathlon Series event ahead of Switzerland’s Sven Riederer and South Africa’s Richard Murray. In the race that had a huge impact on the Olympic picture, Brownlee was part of a small break at the start of the bike. However that didn’t last long, as a huge pack of over 50 athletes hit T2 together. From there it came down to the run, and Brownlee and Murray charged to the front on the first lap. They went toe to toe for almost half of the 10km run, before Brownlee laid down the trademark family kick to win in 1 hour 48 minutes and 47 seconds, his first race in almost seven months. “For me it was the first race of the season, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Brownlee said. “Seven months is a long time out, I was in a bit of shock at the race briefing thinking wow, ‘It’s been a long long time since I’ve been in one of these,’ I went into the race very relaxed really because I knew I didn’t have to do anything, I didn’t have to finish top nine, top four or anything, I just had to race my own race, and yeah, I was pleased.” “The swim and the bike were good, I wasn’t sure what to expect on that, but I have been running well all winter and my cross country races have been good. I felt good on the run. I felt a bit tired towards the end, I think I lacked a bit of racing there. Sven Riederer is a tough guy, he’s chased me down a few times before, in Beijing he chased me down down and he never gives up. Someone offered me a Yorkshire flag towards the end and I was to tired to take it, I thought I’m not going for that in case I blew up towards the end, I thought that would look a bit silly. It was a good race, I’m pleased to win, it shows that the training has gone well over the winter and I’m looking forward to the next race really.” Behind him, Riederer and Spain’s Mario Mola were catching Murray, and Riederer eventually passed Murray to stamp another series medal onto his resume. It was enough for 2004 Athens Olympics bronze medallist to confirm his London 2012 Olympics spot, and also means he is now the equal most successful man in series history without a win. Riederer now has five medals, three bronze and two silver, alongside Alexander Bryukhankov. Riederer said his race strategy came off perfectly. “I tried to save my energy on the bike, I was riding at the end of the pack and then in the end I was pushing for...