Dan Elliot
Coach

In 2015, at the age of 19, after 3 years of solely running, I decided it was time to give triathlon a go. I could swim and run well, I just had to learnt to ride a bike fast, couldn’t be that hard, right? Wrong. After taking part in a couple of triathlons and doing fairly okay, I decided it was time to get a coach. I stumbled across Tony Cullen, who had recently set up his own coaching business. I looked at a few of his results and, after finding out he had qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona multiple times, I decided to join TriCentralUK. 

I progressed extremely quickly, with my bike turning from my weakness into my strength, and I went to every race I competed in thinking I could win. 

After 4 years of Sprint, Olympic distance and 70.3 distance wins, as well as podiums, including 3rd at UK Ultimate half under my belt, we hit a world pandemic. It was during this time and a lack of racing, that I decided it was time to give Ironman a go, so I entered Ironman Vichy in France. This was my first Ironman and I finished in 10hours 8minutes. After the race, I spoke to Tony and he said it was a great performance to build on, the next day I entered Ironman UK Bolton for 2022. 

This current year (2022) has been my biggest year in triathlon, having podiumed at both Ironman 70.3 Lanzarote, where I finished 3rd in my AG, and Ironman UK Bolton. It was in Bolton that I not only finished 3rd in my AG but was 5th overall, qualifying for the World Championships in Kona. 

The Monday after Ironman UK, Tony rang me and asked me to join the TriCentralUK coaching team. Triathlon coaching has been a goal for me from the beginning of my triathlon career, and the opportunity to pass on my knowledge under the watchful eye of one of the best coaches in the country is something I couldn’t turn down. 

To put into perspective the progression I have made as part of the TriCentralUK team, at the Shropshire Olympic triathlon in 2016 I finished in 34th place in 2hours 9minutes. Fast forward 6 years, at the same race I finished in 3rd place in 1hours 53mins, huge gains all thanks to TriCentralUK. 

TriCentralUK is not just a team, it is a family. The camaraderie is second to none and you can pretty much guarantee you could go to any race around the country and will bump into one of your team mates who will support you throughout the race. I genuinely wouldn’t change anything within this team, and all the coaches personally know what it takes to succeed.