Peter Clifford

Level 2 Triathlon Coach
ITU Coaching Course Facilitator 
Pure Performance Certified 

 

My relationship with triathlon goes back to 1989 where I did the Bundeena Triathlon as my first. Thereby followed 14 years of competition, doing all sorts of races. Nike races in Kurnell, Holty races at  Kurnell & now Triathlon NSW run races at Kurnell.....3 Forster Ironmans, bike races, track racing, 6 foot track's, my favourite King of the Mountains, the list goes on and on and on. My family grew up around triathlon and it's a part of them now. We holidayed on the beaches of Forster with all our friends for 10 years.  

In 2003, after a bout of appendicitis and a worn out body from 2002 Ironman telling me to slow down I took up the role of Junior Development at Cronulla Tri Club and went and got accredited. I had taken my daughter down to Wollongong to a one day session by Jamie Turner and watched him in action and it inspired me. Ken Bonham and Aaron lean ran my course and this was where I met my now coaching partner Mick Delamotte  He was out there getting accreditation for his new role at Engadine.  

In my first year at Cronulla, working along with Gary Eykhof, we won the State Junior Series. The following year, Mick won it with his Engadine JETS. Those were great days going to all the SJS races and having a good time.  

While all this was going on I was working within the TriNSW Development Pathway and worked in assistant roles with JT at a number of JDS camps. Nowra, Toronto & Wollongong were the main camp areas in those days and I loved the atmosphere of working with those guys. JT tought me a lot about athlete development those days and I was a sponge sucking up as much as I could.  

By 2005, after working as an assistant i was given the role hole Head Coach of the TNSW TAP program....a role I enjoyed tremendously. 2005 was to be the last year of TAP however as JT and Justin Drew made structural changes to the pathway so Mick and I formed a regional academy in Sydney. We called it SJTA and it was a great learning ground for me as we TID'ed and developed athletes that form a vital part of the National Series to this day.