January 2025 saw Will Grace receive his official professional triathlon license. I have been proud to have been associated with Will over the past few years and for PE2SLT to have been his first sponsor. Everyone who knows Will is really excited to see what the year ahead brings him, but what we do know is that nobody will work harder in the pursuit of their dreams than Will.

That said, two other coachees for 2025 are similarly driven individuals with big goals. Julia is continuing her progress towards IM South Africa in March and is making huge gains in all aspects of her preparation. It has been great fun working with Julia and having an athlete who is unafraid of striding out of their comfort zone and challenging themselves. She is great on her socials too!

The start of the year also sees the return of Dave into the warm embrace of PE2SLT. After his fantastic achievement at Ironbourne in 2023 (including 4 PBs!) Dave wisely took a step back last year to let his body recover…but he did so knowing that IM Wales in 2025 was going to be his next big challenge. It is not his only big goal of 2025, but Wales will be his A race for the season. Dave is another athlete who brings a massive amount to the coaching process and I cannot wait to be in his camp again this year.

On the education front, two clients are working towards the potential to apply for SLT roles in 2025. They both have bags of potential and will be real assets to any school, but hopefully they will be able to be retained and promoted internally at the right time for both them and their schools. For both the next 12 months will definitely bring them closer to their goals and I will enjoy supporting them along the way.

Back to triathlon and my own goals as an athlete are varied this year, with another 70.3 race booked in and a return to the standard distance also on the cards. It will have been a couple of years since my last foray into the shorter distance – as I won my age group on that occasion it was tempting to retire! But the competitive urge to get faster remains so I am looking forward to preparing for the two different distances in 2025.

As well as supporting Julia and Dave towards their goals I will likely pick up one other athlete in 2025 as that is all that time realistically allows. That might come through the Chichester Triathlon Club 1-1 offer or some other route, but if you think that you might benefit from such support then do by all means get in touch.

Wishing you health and happiness for 2025.

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”