Former British elite triathlete and Vice President of the International Triathlon Union, Sarah Springman OBE, has been appointed as the inaugural President and Chair of the Board of Directors of the British Triathlon Federation following a stringent selection process.

Sarah will take up her position early in the New Year when the full Board of Directors for the British Triathlon Federation has been appointed. The Chair of the Board of Directors and Board of Directors for Triathlon England will be appointed in mid January 2007.

Sarah represented Great Britain at the elite level of triathlon from 1984 to 1993, and competed at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand. During her elite career she amassed twenty ETU European Championship medals, including three individual and five team golds, before turning her focus to long distance racing, finishing fifth at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships in 1985 and 1987.

Sarah first became a Board Member of the British Triathlon Association between 1984 and 1985 before founding and co-Chairing the International Triathlon Union Womens Commission between 1990 and 1992. From there she was elected as the ITUs Vice President, a position she held until 1996 whereupon she stood as Honorary President of the British Triathlon Association until 2004. In 1997 she was presented with the Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to sport. She was a member of the GB Sports Council and UK Sport from 1993-2001.

Sarah Springman OBE said: I am greatly honoured to be entrusted with the task of leading the Board of the newly constituted British Triathlon Federation to set up winning partnerships with our Home Nation members of England, Scotland and Wales. It will be an extremely challenging but exciting task, and one that the new Board will relish.

“We are all most grateful to Jasmine Flatters and the other members of the British Triathlon Association Board for their dedication to the Association and for carrying through the Modernisation process.