Triathlon New Zealand has appointed highly respected international coach Jon Brown to the role of High Performance Coach within the Tri NZ HP Programme.
In addition to Brown, Tri NZ High Performance Director Graeme Maw has also confirmed the appointment of Christchurch’s Tim Brazier as Talent Development Coach and that Rob Creasy will continue to be associated with Tri NZ but as a Performance Scientist for High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ).
Maw is delighted at the appointments of three highly respected experts, with the addition of Brown a coup for the sport in a highly competitive market place.
“I am thrilled with the appointments of Jon and Tim to complete our High Performance coaching team alongside Head Coach Greg Fraine. We have worked through a painstaking process to recruit the very best expertise, and have been able to assemble a coaching team for our athletes that is genuinely world-leading. The blend of expertise is outstanding – on the obvious level covering swim, bike and run, but equally significantly with the mix of approach, freshness and experience.
“This is echoed by the appointment of Rob Creasy as Performance Scientist with HPSNZ who we must thank for their unflinching support. The common thread among the whole team is an unambiguous focus on performance, and we look forward to helping our athletes reach the very top,” said Maw.
Jon Brown was twice 4th in the Olympic Marathon running for Great Britain (2000 and 2004), succeeding in a hugely demanding event. Brown has more recently been working with Canada Tri, first as running consultant, working very closely with two time Olympic medallist Simon Whitfield, before stepping up to lead the Canadian team through to London 2012.
“Last year I spent time training in Wanaka and was very impressed with what I saw of the New Zealand programme,” said Brown from Victoria, Canada.
“I was really impressed by the attitude of the athletes, the coaches and the people involved. What I’m looking forward to most is establishing a high quality training environment in Cambridge and working together with established New Zealand coaches and athletes.”
Brown is familiar with the environment he is coming into and the green field opportunity at the new National High Performance Centre (NHPC) in Cambridge.
“Clearly the key objective is to build a sustainable production line of podium potential athletes for future Olympic Games. Essential to that is establishing a High Performance triathlon culture in Cambridge. New Zealand already has great triathletes and the new NHPC in Cambridge can only enhance that further and hopefully inspire the next generation of kiwi triathletes to Olympic success.”
Tri NZ National Head Coach Greg Fraine is thrilled at the team that has now come together, a team that can get to work on the HP Strategy set to deliver success to the sport over the next 8 years.
“I am genuinely excited about the appointments of Tim and Jon to the Tri NZ coaching team and the continued world class work that Rob will contribute. The combined experience of this group complements the needs of the Tri NZ HP Programme very well. The combination of the personalities involved will provide a collaborative yet challenging environment that will provide the best possible platform for our athletes to succeed.”
Brazier is delighted at his appointment but more so at the decision to focus the HP Strategy so strongly towards the development of athletes.
“I am especially thrilled that Tri NZ HP has created an opportunity for a focused talent development role. The new structure and environment will enable us to effectively lead and assist the vast amount of talented triathletes in New Zealand to Olympic and World Championship podiums.
“I will probably bring the teams average age down by about 10 years! But in all seriousness, I think that it will provide a good balance to the team. Outside of applying my physiological background across the three disciplines, I think one of the biggest strengths that I contribute to the team will be my ability to seek and quickly apply new knowledge through creating an adaptable, performance focused, and learning environment for athletes and coaches.
“Lastly I would like to thank the Coach Accelerate programme members and leaders for developing my skills which have significantly contributed to me being where I am now.”
Tri NZ President Garry Boon is delighted that yet another bold step has been taken in response to the 2011 independent review into the High Performance Programme.
“The HP review was the foundation for the development of the Tri NZ 2020 High Performance Strategy, which will guide our HP Programme to the 2016 Rio Olympics and on to 2020. It’s now almost 12 months since that review was completed and the TriNZ Board is extremely excited to see the new programme really starting to take shape. Today’s announcement is a massive step forward in our commitment to establishing a truly world leading High Performance Programme.”
Brown will commence his new role immediately from Canada but in practical terms will begin work in May with Brazier at a youth development familiarisation camp in Cambridge while Brazier is already hard at work alongside Greg Fraine in working with the Tri NZ HP Squads as they train, prepare and race at events around the world. Brown will relocate fulltime to New Zealand in October, following the European season, with the Avantidrome complex on target for a December 2013 or January 2014 opening.
