Bad news never comes alone. Always it seems to have a cold hand outstretched to bring more bad news.

Far away in South Africa we had the terrible news about an accident that robbed us of an experienced triathlete but here in Europe we now have news about the sad loss of a man who led, a man who guided, helped and educated and who was as much a part of the Hamburg Triathlon as the cheers of the spectators as athletes made their way into Poststraße.

Wolfgang Krawczyk, 04.11.1949 - 15.03.2015, was a senior executive officer at Deutsche Telekom but found time to dedicate many hours to our sport. Since 1998 Wolfgang was a member of the Technical Commission of the DTU, since 1999 he was a Bundeskampfrichter, (Federal Referee) and since 2002 he was the Head Referee at the magnificent Hamburg Triathlon, which has grown to be one of the biggest races on the World Calendar.

Wolfgang was for many years chairman of the development association Triathlon Tri-Q. This association supported triathlon in Bornhöved (this year for the 24th time) as well as youth development in triathlon in Schleswig-Holstein.

Wolfgang was in charge of referees from 2008 and briefly President of the Schleswig-Holstein Triathlon Federation. He was one of the most senior German Technical Officials and ran Hamburg with such wonderfully German efficiency. His wife was always at the helm in Registration and they were an excellent team to work with. Their son, Jan-Philipp, is on the ladder as an International Technical Official.
It was in January this year that Wolfgang and his family got the dreadful news about his illness. Despite intensive surgery this was a battle that sadly he could not win. His family were fortunate to be able to sit with him and share a few final words and, in their words, “In the evening he calmly fell asleep with a smile on his face as he said it would be.”

His passing is a great loss to German Triathlon and indeed to the triathlon world in general. I feel privileged to have worked with him. He was a kind, thoroughly organised man who was quite simply 'authority' but of the sort that commanded respect, rather than enforcing control. I liked working with him. He was reliable, efficient and got things done because the teams working with him respected him.

I have tears in my eyes as I write this but also fond memories. The great memories of this hard-working man who dedicated so much of his life to our sport will last. His legacy is being taken forwards by his son, Jan-Phillip.

We send our deep condolences to the Krawczyk family.

Thanks to DTU and to Helmut Menger for your assistance in writing these words.