The commitee
The AVTC Committee is selected at each year's AGM, typically at the end of each season. Below are the details of the current committee members. If you have any queries or to get in touch, visit the contact us section.
Nick Bentley
Club Chair
I moved to Abingdon in 2017 and joined AVTC that same summer, the first time I’d been part of a tri club.
Apart from the social side of it, my favourite aspect of being a member is the swim sessions and the support you are given by the coaches to improve, something I constantly need to do!
I’ve done triathlons from super-sprint all the way up to Ironman distance (Lakesman 2017) but also love just swimming in the lake and cycling and running events and am on my way to ticking off all 5 of the Monuments, just the two Italian classics to go!
Favourite biscuit: Chocolate hobnob
Emily Subden
Social and website
I joined AVTC in 2017 after completing a sprint triathlon and getting the triathlon bug.
Before taking up triathlon I really enjoyed swimming and cycling and forced myself to run to keep fit too. I found the club to be a great way of meeting other triathletes and I really enjoy the coaching, particularly in the pool.
Since joining I have taken part in various sprint and Olympic distance triathlons in the UK and overseas, plus separate swimming, running and cycling events. I have recently taken up mountain biking and completed my first off-road duathlon (the swim was cancelled) in 2021.
I take care of the website and am social sec with Jess. Being on the committee is a great way to support the club and be involved in how it's run - plus you get to know a new bunch of people which is always a bonus.
Favourite biscuit: Rocky bar
Jess Budd
Social
I joined AVTC in 2021 after moving to the area and having previously done sprint triathlons! I found the club super friendly and inclusive.
Like my role in the committee, I enjoy the social aspect of the sport - seeing friends in training, supporting on races and having a good natter on a bike ride!
I particularly enjoy swimming and you’ll see my down at the lake in the summer months! I have done sprint triathlons before but would love to work up to doing an Olympic this year.
I’ve enjoyed joining the committee this year as it’s a really good way to get to know others and feel involved in the club.
Favourite biscuit: Any covered in chocolate!
Paul Sherman
Treasurer
I joined the club in 2016 after attempting my first Sprint Tri and failing dismally. Didn't have a clue what I was doing and just did it with some friends - I finished 2nd to last!
As I am a stubborn so and so and don't like being defeated I decided to actually train sensibly, join a club and learn properly. I can safely say I have loved it and can't imagine training any other way with any other club.
By the way, I went back to that same Sprint Tri Event the next year and took 35 mins off my 'PB'!
Favourite Biscuit: Shortbread
Pam Stockell
Membership
I joined AVTC back in 2015, just after having had a go at my first triathlon – the pool-based Wantage Triathlon (which sadly no longer exists). I had been a club swimmer as a child, and had dabbled in cycling and running just for the fun of it throughout my adult life, so combining all three sports seemed like a good idea. Besides, I had just turned 50 back then and was in denial at the thought that I was getting old and it might be downhill from now on! (Plus the consultant at the hospital had told me that I needed to do something to use the whole of my lungs, and suggested either joining a choir or taking up an aerobic sport – well, I can’t sing to save my life…).
I love the friendliness of the club, and how supportive everyone is of other members’ set-backs and successes. There is always someone on hand with valuable advice or words of wisdom to keep you going, and there is always someone who will celebrate with you, especially in the group events where there are lots of members taking part. And I love how the coaches will work just as hard with someone who is working their way towards their first park run as with someone who is preparing for an international event.
Since joining the club, I am happy to say that I have improved at all three disciplines, not just in terms of technique and speed, but also in terms of confidence in what I am now prepared to have a go at. At 50 I worried that it might all be downhill from now on; at 57 I can’t wait to get to 60 so I can be in the next age bracket and see how competitive my times are then! And I am also working my way up to my first half ironman this Summer.
Favourite biscuit: Chocolate-coated gingers!
Elisha Fiddaman
PR and social media
I joined AVTC in April 2018, 6 months after quitting smoking. My (particularly athletic) younger brother bet me that after 12 years of smoking and avoiding cardio there was no way I could complete a triathlon.
I have been a casual swimmer all my life and even competed in some races as a teenager, where I was forced to do backstroke as I couldn’t dive and didn’t like putting my face in the water. I had never owned or ridden a road bike and hadn’t so much as run for a bus since about the age of 12.
I joined the club to learn more about the sport and help me work out how I was supposed to put three sports together when I’d never even been good at one. I was instantly taken in by the energy of the club and how friendly and inclusive it was. Nobody cared that I wasn’t ‘sporty’ and that I couldn’t run very far or very fast, they just seemed genuinely happy to have me there and I had so much fun.
I completed my first pool-based sprint distance triathlon in September 2018. In 2019, I moved to the open water… Then I brought a road bike… Then I extended the distance of my races… Then I entered some running races… And then I was asked if I’d like to become a coach.
I completed my Level 1 BTF qualification in November 2019 and I plan to continue to higher level qualifications in the near future.
My brother was wrong and it turns out, I’m pretty ‘sporty’ after all.
Favourite biscuit: Big fan of a plain digestive or a shortbread… But I don’t discriminate, all biscuits deserve to be eaten.
Danny Simpson
Kit
I joined the club in 2014 with my daughter after we both “had a go” at triathlon. I did my first race in 2007 after giving up football trying not to spend all my spare time on the sofa.
I really enjoy training and racing with like minded people.
I was born with a bit of a dogs dinner of a left leg and got classified as a para triathlete in 2017 and have enjoyed racing with members of the team GB squad.
In 2021 I did my first half Ironman distance triathlon and surprised myself be smiling for most of it.
I’m the man you need to talk to if you’d like some kit.
Favourite biscuit: fig rolls
Micol Marchetti
Charity
Hi, this is Micol, I’m Italian (you always need an Italian in the Squad!), and after 7 and a half years in Bristol and 2 years in Sweden, I moved to Abingdon in June 2019. I joined the club to challenge myself and to meet new people. In my youth I competed in swimming from the age of 5 to 18, with a few years of coaching and teaching to enjoy the other side of the swimming experience as well.
I joined the Club on April 2022, I didn’t run a triathlon yet but, after an injury occurred at the end of the last Summer, I’m now building up the stamina (and self-confidence) for taking part in a Sprint Triathlon hopefully at the beginning of Summer (Summer of 2023 if you were wondering…😉 ).
Back in Bristol I did a few aquathlons (swim and run), and in the past years I have been running and swimming for Charity Events (Swimathon, Rotary Club, Cancer Research, Marie Curie). I now also take care of charity/fundraising for the Club. The AVT Club is a pretty heterogeneous club in terms of age, experience, levels of performances and craziness: all very interesting aspects for a Club set up for great achievements (and friendly drinks sessions)!
Favourite Biscuit: Bourbon biscuit (with expresso!)
Lorraine Wilson
Welfare and website
Favourite biscuit:
Stewart Haveron
Membership
Favourite biscuit:
Committee roles
Chairperson
The Club Chairperson oversees the running of the club as a whole. You will be aware and across most significant activity being undertaken by the committee members and there to assist and cover where required.
The Chair arranges the committee meetings as well as the AGM to help keep things moving and running smoothly. More specifically you will be responsible for our membership to the British Triathlon Federation as well as oversea that essentials such as insurance are maintained by the Club Secretary. You’ll need to work closely with the Club Treasurer to assist with financial decisions too and be at hand should any issues arise within the club.
Coaching Liaison & Club Secretary / Coaching Support
These are roles in the Committee created recently to allow coaches to focus their efforts on the coaching. The main area is to book our training venues which tends to happen twice a year as we switch between seasonal schedules. BTF membership and insurance needs to be updated on an annual basis. It is helpful if the person in this role is able to attend coaches meetings and help organise any subsequent actions.
Welfare Officer
The Welfare Officer is available for any club member who may have well-being concerns and also maintains our accredited status with BTF which is needed for all clubs with junior members. The officer is also responsible for ensuring the coaches’ DBS certificates are up to date. The Health and Safety role involves keeping the risk assessment documents up-to-date for all of the venues we train at and reporting injuries that occur in the course of AVTC training.
Treasurer
The Treasurer provides a key role supporting the club, paying for any expenses (pool hire fees, club kit orders), tracking the club's overall finances and depositing money into the club account. This latter task is normally from the Thursday swim hat - this however is under review and there will be a chance to help the club streamline its memberships in 2020.
Being treasurer gives you the opportunity to be right at the heart of some of the club's key decisions, such as organising training sessions, supporting coaching and activities such as trips, socials and kit orders.
Web and newsletter officer
This role involves keeping the website up to date and sending out weekly newsletters to all members. For the newsletter, each week you will need to compile the email with information on training (provided to you by the head coach), updates on club member achievements, and any other content requested by members (such as race reports, training updates, events). You will then need to add it to the newsletter template and send it out on a Monday to the subscriber list.
For the website, regular updates include adding posts/race-reports to the blog, changing the images on the site to keep them current, and adding and editing the training schedule. This role can take up as much or as little time as you want to put in. The site has been recently updated but there are still plenty more improvements that can be made if you have the time and inclination (and patients with using Wix).
Social media and PR officer
This post requires a member to take charge of the club’s social media presence - Twitter, Facebook (page and group), Instagram and Strava - making sure regular updates are posted to them including lots of photos. The role also requires running Facebook ads at certain times of the year to attract new members.
In addition to the online activities, the person in this role is also responsible for looking at other promotional opportunities including having fliers and banners (where possible) at training venues and events and contacting local media about club achievements and events.
Social officer
As Social secretary you are responsible for fun! We have a reputation of being a friendly social club. Social secretary is responsible for organising social events (parkrun meets, events where we aren’t in Lycra, helping with charity events and the highlight of the year that is the Christmas party and awards night).
Club kit officer
The kit officer is in charge of both technical and casual kit orders and supplies.
Members officer
The members secretary is the first point of contact for all new enquiries to the club, arranging trial sessions, and setting people up with membership. Each May, the members secretary is also responsible for collecting club members subs for the year (working closely with the Treasurer), and issuing membership cards.
Club charity coordinator
The charity coordinator is in charge of electing a club charity, promoting the chosen charity to club members, and arranging fundraising events throughout the year.