NEW TRIATHLON AUSTRALIA PRESIDENT DAVID FERRIERS PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Posted in Other News

Triathlon, October 30, 2012: Triathlon Australia will enter the next four year quadrennial under the leadership of Melbourne-based accountant and age group triathlete David Ferrier. Mr Ferrier, 45, takes over the presidency of the Triathlon Australia board from Peter Hedge whose three-year term ended at this year’s Annual General Meeting.

The father of two was a member of the Triathlon Victoria board for two years and has been a proactive Triathlon Australia board member since 2009 where he has chaired the National Operation Model Committee and the Finance &Audit Committee as well as sitting on the Nomination &Remuneration Committee.

“The board has worked hard in recent years to stabilise the financial position of Triathlon Australia and with a significant growth in membership over the past two years it is an exciting time to be elected as president,” said Mr Ferrier.

“As a board it is important that we provide leadership and strategies that grow participation and increase opportunities for our members. To see more than 625 age groupers in Auckland for the ITU World Championships and to have many of them in one room for the pre event dinner was an amazing effort and shows how far we have progressed.

“In 2010 we set the vision of Australia as a leading triathlon nation and sought to grow the sport of triathlon in Australia.

“Being in Auckland certainly showed me that this sport is very much alive and well at all levels and we will always look to sustained international success by providing an effective and efficient athlete and coach pathway.

“To see our young triathletes producing the kind of performances that saw Aaron Royle win the Under 23 world title gives us hope that we are doing a lot of things right and the fact that we had four boys in the top 11 and three girls in the top 11 augurs well for our future.

“However, as an organization we need to remind ourselves that triathlon extends beyond our performances at the Olympics.

“Recent performances in Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events are indicative of our continued strength in long course triathlon.

“While we have strived to build better relationships with race directors across all triathlon disciplines, we are continually searching for ways to bridge the divide between Triathlon Australia and long course participants.

“We have seen great improvements from the rest of the world with six out of the top 10 men and four of the top 10 women all from Europe. It will be an on-going challenge for our coaches to give our athletes every opportunity to succeed, but equally Triathlon Australia has a responsibility to ensure that they have access to the best available resources.

“I want to make a point of singling out our Para-Triathletes, especially three-time world champion Bill Chaffey who has his sights set on Rio and we look forward to continuing our relationships with the Australian Paralympic Committee to ensure we give our athletes every chance of success in Rio.”

David has been a qualified accountant for more than 23 years, is an Associate member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a partner in the forensic accounting division of the national accounting firm KordaMentha and was formerly a partner of the international accounting firm KPMG.

David continues to compete nationally and represented Australia in the age group team at the Vancouver World Championships in 2008. He previously spent 18 months as the Chief Financial Officer of a private business and, as President, aims to combine his love of triathlon with his financial acumen.

Outgoing president Peter Hedge said of David Ferrier. “David has done an outstanding job as Vice President during this past year and I take the liberty of acknowledging (his) contribution and thanking him personally for being such a great support and valued colleague during my term as President….I wish him well and I know I leave the board in the best of hands.”

Also joining the board and replacing long-standing member of 12 years, Anthony Beven, is the Supervising Counsel, Chief Marketing Officer Group and Digital Media Group for Telstra, Ben Houston.

Ben has held positions on the Board of Directors of the Australian Association of National Advertisers and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) - Young Executive Committee. Ben is a keen triathlete having represented Triathlon Australia at the 2007 World Championships held in Hamburg.

A qualified Lawyer, Ben holds a Bachelor of Laws from Bond University and a continuing Masters of Laws in Sports Law and Intellectual Property from the University of New South Wales.

Having worked for Telstra for over 11 years, Ben has been responsible for providing legal support to the Media, Brand, Advertising and Sponsorships teams, and the management of the total contracted and leverage sponsorship budget for the Telstra sponsorship portfolio.

Ben joins re-elected board member Cassandra Erbs and existing members Murray Hilder, Mick Maroney, Jacqui Kenny and Miles Stewart.

Issued on behalf of Triathlon Australia.