The 2016 Triathlon WA Annual Awards were held on Sunday 19 June at Crown Casino with a crowd of over 200 triathletes, friends and family there to celebrate the sucesses of the season.
Whilst the culmination of the awards was the announcement of the Triathlete of the Year, there were some new awards presented, some memorable speeches and some heart felt stories that highlighted the passion of the people involved in this great sport.
The new award was the Individual Performance of the Year Award, Male and Female, that is awarded to the most outstanding performance from an Australian athlete over the season including those racing overseas in ITU and WTC events. Peter Hall gave a great speech, touching on the history of the sport in WA and how much it meant to be able to present the Female award to his daughter, Sally Pilbeam, who had an outstanding season both internationally and domesticlly.
The male winner was Bunbury boy and soon to be Olympian, Ryan Bailie. His award was accepted by his mother, Kerry Bailie, who gave the speech of the day, talking to the junior athletes, particularly those in the TEP program, of which Ryan is a product. She spoke of Ryan's determination and commitment, even when he wasn't the top of the pack and that, "hardwork beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard."
Worthy joint winners of the Chris Hewitt Memorial Award were Loretta and Dale Wesley from North Coast Triathlon Club. As well as having exceptional careers as athletes, with Loretta being the first WA athlete to win an IRONMAN event, they were inaugural members of the North Coast Triathlon Club, strongly supported the Trystars program and have volunteered hours of their time to the sport in both an official and unofficial capacity.
Steve Norton was a humble winner of the Steve Barrie Award for Official of the Year, saying he was just happy to be a part of the sport and being an offical had given him an opportunity to travel and get the best seat in the house at events (as well as the best parking).
The inaugural winner of the Club Event Series was Esperance Triathlon Club, accepted by Owen and Lisa Critchley. Owen spoke about how the Club Event Series gave their small club a chance to mix it with the larger metro clubs and it was a credit to the clubs commitment to race when the closest triathlon was 400km away.
Winner of the Champion Club was Exceed Triathlon Club, accepted by Ross Pedlow. Ross spoke about how the club had moved from being focused on the faster end of the field to being a full range club, offering programs from Trystars to elite.
TEP athlete of the Year was Jessica Claxton, who had a fantastic year with a number of excellent results interstate, including winning the Oceania Junior Championships in New Zealand and the School Sport Australia Triathlon Championships in Hervey Bay. This resulted in her being second overall in the National Junior Series and gaining selection in the team for the World Championships in Cozumel.
The event culminated in the awarding of the Triathlete of the Year Award for Junior, Age Group and Open Athletes. In the presitgious Open category, Katey Gibb took out the Females for the fourth year in a row, making a clean sweep of all four races against a class field, including Alise Selsmark(2nd) and Renee Baker(3rd). The Male category was won by youngster Oli Stenning, from Matt Burton(2nd) and Jason Rhine(3rd). Whilst Oli sent his thanks from England, Matt Burton gave a heart felt speech about continuing through adversity and the importance of family support.
To see the full list of Junior and Age Group winners in the Triathlete of the Year, click here. For a summary of all the awards, see below.
Follow us on:
![you tube icon](/Assets/Triathlon+Australia+Digital+Assets/Logos/you+tube+icon.jpg)