Triathlon New Zealand is driven by a small but talented and committed staff. Led by Claire Beard (CEO), the Sports Services team is based in Auckland while most of the elite athletes and High Performance staff train and work out of the Avantidrome in Cambridge.
Claire Beard
Claire is passionate about sport, with extensive experience in the commercial, marketing and events environments. Tertiary qualified in Marketing and Management, Claire has joined Triathlon New Zealand following roles in major events, recreation, sport and local government.
Claire is motivated to create an organisation that is financially viable and is strongly supporting athletes to deliver on the world stage. She is excited to be leading Triathlon New Zealand and connects well with the amazing triathlon community.
Mel Saltiel
We wish to welcome Mel Saltiel into the Tri NZ Community Team as the Community Manager.
Although a kiwi, Mel joins Tri NZ after relocating back to NZ from Australia where she worked for Triathlon ACT. She holds experience as a technical official, as well as course director positions at Challenge Wanaka and ITU races,
Danie de Jeu
Danie has a strong foundation in sports, from playing, working and volunteering in a number of them over the years. She has developed a strong base of the inner workings of different sports and sporting events through working in various roles, such as; Registration Manager for Xterra Auckland Run Series, Operations Assistant for Ocean Swim Series and Workforce Coordinator at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Danie has a strong work ethic and enjoys connecting and building positive relationships with others, this coupled with her comprehensive understanding of the Tri NZ processes as well as an intricate knowledge of the Triathlon Community makes her a valuable asset for the sport services team
Sophie has a passion for sports, media and communications. As a past professional sportswoman herself, she loves getting people involved in sport from beginners giving it a go, through to elite athletes reaching for Olympic success. She has over 18 years experience in international sports events including the Winter Games NZ, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup, European Golf Tour, The Ashes and NZ Cricket series and more recently Challenge Wanaka and Motatapu; she is very proud to be part of the Triathlon NZ team.
Sophie has competed in triathlons around the country and is passionate about getting more people involved in the sport and enjoying New Zealand’s great outdoors. She manages Media, Marketing, PR, Broadcast and Communications for Triathlon New Zealand.
A recent recruitment period in Tri NZ’s High Performance has resulted in Hamish Carter’s appointment as the General Manager of Performance (four days per week).
Hamish, a triathlon Olympic Gold medalist from the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens brings with him a wealth of knowledge in high performance triathlon as well as strong ties to Cambridge.
Stephen Sheldrake
For the past 25+ years has successfully been coaching athletes of all abilities and ages, from first timers through to World Champions and Olympians. This has included athletes all over the world including the UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Dubai and the USA to name a few.
From February 2007 through to April 2013 he was a national coach with Triathlon Zealand including being a coach at the 2012 London Olympics. Before this he was a Professional Triathlete for 10 years following on from a sports related double degree from University.
Stephens role at Tri NZ involves many aspects within High Performance including;
Maree Kaati
Maree has played an integral role in the High Performance programme joining Triathlon New Zealand in 2014. After 14 years as a competitive rower representing New Zealand at an Elite, U23 and Junior level; Maree has an extensive understanding of what coaches and athletes require to achieve world class results consistently.
Maree developed a healthy twelve-year career in the tourism industry and during that time managed the Cambridge i-SITE Visitor centre.
Maree strives to support the athletes to achieve their best through smooth operation of day to day office administration.
Bruce Hunter
Bruce has been involved with High Performance Coaching for several years, taking a more fixed role within Tri NZ in 2017. Bruce’s commitment and enthusiasm to coaching will serve him well with managing the Cambridge High performance programme.
His role involves:
Age Group Selection Commission
The Age Group Selection Commission work with the Community Manager in reviewing the age group selection policies for the World Triathlon Championship Age Group teams. Once policies are approved, and the event season is underway the commission also review the results from selection events- selecting athletes accordingly.
The 2018/19 Age Group Selection Commission
Technical Advisory Group
The Technical Advisory Group work with the Community Manager in reviewing the Tri NZ Rules, allocating Technical Officials, as well as offering a plethora of expertise, knowledge and advice to the Tri NZ team, and broader network.
Coaching Advisory Group
A motivated group of coaches spread throughout New Zealand who offer insightful thoughts and advice to Tri NZ and triathletes in NZ. The Coach Advisory Group assist in keeping coaches up-skilled within their regions of New Zealand.
Club Advisory Group
Advocates for Triathlon NZ Affiliated Clubs, the Club Advisory Group works with Triathlon NZ to ensure the club space of our sport is well understood and heard.
Event Advisory Group
A panel of event providers which covers the variety of events on offer in New Zealand. They offer insights on how Triathlon NZ can best work with Event Providers and in the event space.
The Elite Selection Commission’s Terms of Reference can be seen here.
On the Commission: