FLORIDA HOSTS PROGRESS TOWARD SUMMER

Trackspeed1 UK are split up this Spring due to lack of funds for many of their athletes, but for those who did make it over to pre-season training in Florida, the sunshine state is providing them with the stage for another great build-up to summer (see photo's below).

TS1UK head coach John Powell is leading the programme, based at the USA National Triathlon Training Center, in Clermont, near Orlando. He was disappointed that so few were able to make it tis year, but enthused by the progress made by those that were.

"It's not always about training hard on a trip like this. It offers the opportunity for athletes to think about their bodies 24/7 without external pressures, and that in itself is a huge advantage pre-season," he said, "and everyone here has progressed well to date.

"That said of course, we want to optimise performance, and there are some very promising signs from the guys out here already, and we are barely half way into the trip.

"It's a great pity we had to leave so many back in London though. there simply isn't the funding in sport these days for up and coming athletes until they really hit the national radar, and of course that is a catch-22 situation. They can't hit the national radar because they need that extra boost to do so, but they can't afford it, and so don't get support!"

Nathan Gilbert joins the party as a late-comer tonight (Sunday 6th), and Kieran Daly travels at the end of the coming week. Both athletes have shown significant improvements in form in training at Crystal Palace of late, and will be looking to polish up fitness levels and sprint performance in the Florida sun.

Meanwhile, the likes of Italian junior Fred' Afrifa, English Schools Champion Fawwaz Okunola, and experienced senior Jason Hussain, among others, remain in London under the tutelage of TS1UK assistant coach Johnathan Regis.