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worth pointing out a detail I seemed to have overlooked – I already had a job. I decided I’d deal with that problem in the unlikely event that it arose, found my suit and set off for my first interview since 1990. The interviewers were all big-cheeses on the British triathlon scene and the line of questioning was as expected although they did seemed concerned that, as a military man, I would be an autocratic ‘shouter’, reluctant to follow orders handed down to me by my youngers-and-betters – I pointed out that this would be no change from work, where all the Wg Cdrs seem to be the same age as Policemen.
I must have been fairly convincing as I was offered the job of Run/Bike Course Manager subject to a satisfactory performance in a race at Hyde Park that summer. My wife’s point then had to be addressed; fortunately, the Air Warfare Centre and the wider RAF have been very supportive and I have been granted a ‘sabbatical’ using various types of leave.
The Hyde Park event was a World Champs race that the International Triathlon Union had bravely handed over to our fledgling team a week before to make the final arrangements. We were required to manage not only the elite races but the amateur races for over 4000 triathletes competing in standard distance, sprint distance, junior aquathlon (swim – run) and paratriathlon events.
The elites were following the proposed Olympic course of a single 1500 m lap of the Serpentine before running to their bikes
for 42 km of cycling over 7 laps taking in Buckingham Palace and Wellington Arch, before a 4-lap 10 km run around the lake. We also got to work with aspiring Olympian team leaders we would depend upon to re-arrange the course and manage our 400 volunteers. They also had to deal with irate locals who, amongst other things, just couldn’t understand why the prospect of being killed by a 30 mph cyclist should disrupt their direct route to their child’s tennis lessons, or the presence of 400 swimmers should prevent a leisurely breaststroke across the width of the lake. Fortunately, we had a balanced team of marshals with significantly more patience than me (the 2am start didn’t put me in a particularly diplomatic mood).
In the end, the race went well, with GB taking first in men’s and women’s races, no major accidents and less disruption to traffic than you’d expect when you shut down Hyde Park Corner and The Mall. As a result, I start my job on a part-time basis in July 12 and look forward to riding with the best in the world.
Fg Off Michael Masters
I started triathlon eight year ago but after a serious knee injury I was sidelined for a year. During this time I completed my introduction levels for refereeing and coaching in triathlon before returning to compete at a higher level in 2006. That same year I was selected to represent GB at the World Long Distance Championships in Canberra, and finished 29th. On my return I was posted from Lossiemouth to Coningsby and engaged
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locally, spending more time coaching and officiating.
Pursuing officials qualifications, I continued to progress and reached senior level. In the same year I was honoured with the Official of the Year 2009 Award (East Midlands). I continued to compete at GB level until taking my commission in 2009, when I took a short break. Since then I have tended to concentrate on the officiating and coaching with a few appearances at National and Interservice events thrown in and this year I will be representing the RAF at Interservice level at Duathlon, Standard Distance and Long Distance with the intention of making it difficult for the other Services to win!
The skill set and training I have received from the RAF have helped me enormously to develop into one of the most versatile Technical Officials in the ITU and I can honestly say that, without the help of the RAF sports board and my line managers, I would not be where I am today – on cue for the Olympics…
Other officials selected include: Sqn Ldr Tim Ellis, Sqn Ldr Jim Thorley – Rowing; Sqn Ldr Peter Lily – Water Polo; FS Paul Kendall – Swimming; Chf Tech Duncan Cooper, FS Neil Cottis, Cpl Simon Murphy, SAC Michael Brown, Cpl Andy Baker, Chf Tech Darren Thompson, Cpl Ian Tautz, Sgt John Williams, WO Kim Mason, Wg Cdr Neil Wilkinson, Sqn Ldr John Huggett – Paralympic Sailing; Chf Tech Kim Weetman – Open Water Swimming; Wg Cdr Clive Monkley – Sports Medicine.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
Envoy Summer 2012
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