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Standard Chartered achieves success with team of blind triathletes

2 December 2008

The Triathlon is one of the fastest growing mass-participation sports in the World. It is a very demanding activity for anyone to attempt, let alone for athletes who are visually impaired. With this in mind, a team of Standard Chartered employees who had some experience of the sport set out early in 2008 to overcome some of the barriers to inclusion.

The immediate objective of the project was to supply specialist equipment and training advice to enable a team of blind athletes to compete in the London Triathlon in August 2008, which is the largest triathlon in the world and attracts over 10,000 entrants every year. Standard Chartered funded the purchase of specialist tandem bikes, swimming wetsuits and race kit, while experienced guides were sought to help the athletes train and race.

Quickly after the announcement of the initiative 20 team members had signed-up, much to the delight of organisers. They represented a diverse range of people: both young and old, male and female, from complete novices to ex-Paralympic medalists.

The race in August was a great success with Melanie Easter and Graham Kiff awarded female and male Disabled Athletes of the Year by the British Triathlon Federation and five of the team were picked to join the Federation’s 2009 ‘Development Squad’.
Mark Stride, who managed the project, said afterwards that: “The fact that all the participants got a huge buzz from finishing the race is personally very satisfying, but the key message is that visual impairment is no barrier to taking on physical challenges that would exceed the abilities of the large majority of able bodied people.”

The team members have sought sponsorship for their efforts and to date have raised over GBP11,000 (USD17,500) for sight-related charities, including Seeing Is Believing – A New Vision.