Tony Cullen
Founder & Head Coach
Tony has always been a highly competitive athlete. After spells playing football professionally for Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa, he turned to coaching and was appointed Head Fitness & Endurance Coach at FC United – one of
the biggest amateur football clubs in the country.
It wasn’t until 2000 that he took up Triathlon and began developing a small client base, mostly just friends. But he was hooked and soon decided to take the next step of specialising in long distance triathlon coaching. TRICENTRALUK was born.
Tony is now one of the most sought-after long-distance triathlon IRONMAN coaches in the UK. Under his guidance, TRICENTRALUK athletes have secured multiple first time IRONMAN World championship KONA qualification spots, IRONMAN Age Group wins, IRONMAN Podium places, SUB 9hr IRONMAN personal bests, along with multiple Long + Short distance GBR qualification.
Tony’s methodology
As an active competitor, Tony has tried and tested almost everything there is in his pursuit of excellence. His carefully developed methodology focuses on finding the correct balance between work, kids and social life to make you the best athlete you can be. As triathlon continues to evolve, so too does his approach, as he finds ways to improve both his coaching ability and his athletes to make the very best of their training time.
“You can’t guess long distance triathlon coaching. You have to understand the data and learn how
to use it, to your advantage. A carefully structured training schedule should slot seamlessly into your life, and that’s where we come in.
By maintaining regular direct contact, I can help
you reach your absolute peak, whether you’re an ambitious amateur balancing challenging work and family commitments or an elite/pro athlete looking to take your career as far as you possibly can.”
— Tony Cullen Head Coach
Achievements
Sub 2hr Olympic Distance PB Sub 4hr Middle Distance PB
Sub 9hr IRONMAN PB
1st Overall Monster Middle distance 70.3 2016
Gold Medal and British Middle Distance AG Champion 2016
3rd AG Ironman Austria 2016 (sub 9hrs)
Sub 9hr Ironman PB (8:57) IM Austria 2016
1st AG Ironman UK in 9:422017
1st AG Challenge Mogan Half Gran Canaria 2017
2nd AG Challenge Championships 2018
2nd AG IRONMAN Dubai 70.3 2019
1st AG IRONMAN Marbella 70.3 2019
1st Overall English National Middle Distance Champion 2019
1st AG IRONMAN UK Bolton 2019
10 x Ironman World Championship Kona Qualifier
6th AG Ironman UK 2012
Silver medal at British standard distance AG champs 2013
2nd Overall Bala Middle Distance 2013
4th AG Mallorca 70.3 2013
2nd AG Ironman UK 2014
6th AG Ironman Lanzarote 2014 (sub 10hrs)
2nd AG Challenge Dubai 70.3 2015
6th AG Ironman South Africa 2015 (sub 10hrs)
2nd AG Ironman UK Staffs 70.3 2015
1st AG Ironman UK 2015 (sub 10hrs)
Recent Coaching Achievements
John Thelwel fastest amateur UK IRONMAN athlete ever with 8hr 36min at
IRONMAN Tallinn 2020 - Multiple Kona qualifications over the last 3 years.
George Martindale: Multiple Kona qualification spots, including his
first one, along with an IRONMAN PB of 8:46.
Karen Driver: Multiple Kona qualification spots, including her first
one, along with many Ironman podium performances.
Claire Walton: Multiple Kona qualification spots, including her first
one, along with many IM podium performances.
Matt Dewhurst: Muliple IRONMAN 70.3 podium finisher
& Middle distance race wins.
Dan Elliot: Multiple race wins at short & middle distance.
David Cullen: Multiple race wins over short & Middle distance,
with IRONMAN PB of 9:32.
Norman Purnel: IRONMAN podium performance.
“Tony didn’t dictate my training, he helped me to flourish, the get the best out of each session. I had a sense of genuine focus and purpose everyday and, because of that I qualified for Kona in the first year”.
Claire Walton - Elite IRONMAN Kona Qualifier
Testimonials
Get in touch
If you would like more information about TRICENTRALUK and the coaching packages we offer or if you just have a question then please complete the contact form below or email tony@tricentraluk.com and I will get back to you.