News & Racing

Challenge Wanaka Training Camp coach named Coach of the Year

Head coach of the official Challenge Wanaka Training Camp, Bevan McKinnon of Fitter, has taken top honours as Coach of the Year at the Triathlon NZ Annual Awards. Bevan McKinnon is a dedicated and motivational person who is a credit to coaching in New Zealand. His ability to relate to people allows

Karl Hayes

Jun 9, 2012 — 3 min read

Bevan McKinnon – 2012 New Zealand Triathlon Coach of the Year and Official Challenge Wanaka Coach

Head coach of the official Challenge Wanaka Training Camp, Bevan McKinnon of Fitter, has taken top honours as Coach of the Year at the Triathlon NZ Annual Awards.

Bevan McKinnon is a dedicated and motivational person who is a credit to coaching in New Zealand. His ability to relate to people allows him to impart his knowledge in a way that is accessible to athletes of all abilities.

“Bevan is one of those people. He is highly respected within the endurance sport community and his passion for not only sport, but health and well being, places him above others in his field,” said one nominator for the Tri NZ Awards.

“His sessions are informative and structured. His use of training technology is great for managing training data and ensuring that training specs are met for each session,” another wrote.

Challenge Wanaka race director, Victoria Murray-Orr, was delighted to hear of Bevan’s success.

“It certainly doesn’t surprise me and the award is very well deserved,” she said. “Bevan’s passion for the sport and empathy for those taking part is second to none and we’re extremely proud to partner with him for our official training camp. He was on the podium here in 2011 and athletes can be sure they will walk away after three days with Bevan with a wealth of knowledge and well set up for their race on 19 January.”

Triathlon New Zealand extends its congratulations to all seven winners in this year’s Tri NZ Annual Awards.

The awards recognise excellence and outstanding achievements by Kiwis in the sport of triathlon.

This year the volume and quality of nominations was fantastic, giving the judging panel some tough decisions to make.

Thank you to all TRIBE members who voted in the three categories decided solely by Tri NZ members. The winners are;

World Champs Performance of the Year
Andrea Hewitt (Christchurch)

Disabled Athlete Performance of the Year
Nick Ruane (Wellington)

Emerging Talent
Sam Ward (St. Kentigern College)

Emerging Talent winner Sam Ward had an unprecedented number of votes come in, with huge support from his teachers and peers at St. Kentigern College in Auckland.

“Sam has been one of the school’s best triathlon captains ever and has won every schools tri event he has entered this season (AKSS Tri Champs, AKSS Aquathlon Champs, AKSS Tag Tri Champs, NZSS Tri Champs) and done so very convincingly. He is an outstanding triathlete and equally outstanding ambassador for the sport. He also was second in the 16-19 Sprint age group race at Beijing in 2011,” one voter said.

Andrea Hewitt won World Champs Performance of the Year for her gold medal performance at the ITU World Championships Series Grand Final in Beijing.

Wellington’s Nick Ruane won Disabled Athlete Performance of the Year for his outstanding effort at the ITU Long Distance World Championships in Nevada, where he won the silver medal in the Tri3 category “New Zealand’s first ever medal in Paratriathlon at the Long Distance World Champs.

The other four award categories called for nominations from TRIBE members, and were then ultimately decided by a judging panel. The winners are;

Club of the Year
Wellington Triathlon Club

Coach of the Year
Bevan McKinnon (Auckland)

Technical Official of the Year
Cathi Davey (Wellington)

Outstanding Contribution to Triathlon in Schools
Patrick Harvey (St. Kentigern College)

Wellington Triathlon Club is one of New Zealand’s premier triathlon clubs and continues to go from strength to strength with growth in membership over the past year climbing to an all-time high of 245 members.

“The club doesn’t just focus on its own activities. It boasts what must be one of the most active groups of Tri NZ technical officials in the country. As well as officiating at local and national events the club has six internationally qualified officials “four of which have officiated at international events overseas,” one nomination read.

Coach of the Year Bevan McKinnon is a dedicated and motivational person, who is a credit to coaching here in New Zealand. His ability to relate to people allows him to impart his knowledge in a way that is accessible to athletes of all abilities.

Technical Official of the Year Cathi Davey is a major contributor to the Tri NZ Technical Programme. In the past year she has officiated at nearly all of the Contact Tri Series races as well as Ironman NZ, often taking senior roles such as race referee. As a qualified International Official, she has travelled to Sydney and Beijing to officiate.

As the St. Kentigern College triathlon coach, Patrick Harvey has won Outstanding Contribution to Triathlon in Schools. The St. Kentigern triathlon programme has become one of the strongest among all schools in the country thanks in large part to Patrick’s tireless work.

Thank you again to all this year’s winners, and also all those who voted and sent in their nominations.