a general thread to say goodbye to those from the tri community who have passed on
Many of you will have met and known Nina Foord who was one of the most experienced TOs in the UK. Sadly she died of cancer yesterday.
Nina goes back a long way with triathlon in the UK and was integral in getting the sport established helping set up the (then) BTA and establishing a set of rules. She was also an athlete in her younger days racing against the likes of Sarah Springman (former VP of the ITU).
Nina was also integral in mentoring a huge number of current TOs, myself and Mrs FB included.
She had a cheeky smile and great sense of humour but underneath was a heart of steel - you didn’t want to cross her if she was set on giving you a bollocking for a rule infringement. She was also great with kids.
Heard today that one of the UK’s longest serving TOs, John Beaumont, died on the 18th December after a sudden and catastrophic brain bleed. John had been a fixture on the Northern TO circuit for many years - originally from Leeds, but I think lived in Cheshire.
Just heard that another stalwart of the “older” days of tri in the UK has died - Ian Pettit from Deal. He helped set up the BTA as it was and contributed as an athlete, GB team manager and event organiser.
