OLLIE STRINGER - HEAD COACH

I’ve been involved in competitive sport for approximately 20 years - 15 years in athletics (sprint and middle distance) and 6 years in triathlon (middle and long distance). However, I was that dead annoying kid at primary school who treated the annual school sports day like the Olympic Games. So it could be argued I’ve been involved in competitive sport a little while longer. This may also explain why my first professional career was as a Primary School Teacher - I had to retain those Olympic titles! Alongside coaching, I also work for British Cycling in education development and have contributed to the development of the new coaching pathway for cycling coaches.

During my time as a track athlete I was lucky enough to train alongside some truly phenomenal athletes, some of which medalled at European & World Championship and the Olympic Games (shame I couldn’t do this myself!). I also worked under some fantastic coaches who inspired me to become a coach myself and have helped shape my own coaching style and philosophies.

After constantly battling achilles issues for what felt like an eternity, the love for competing on the track took a nosedive. It was at that point when a couple of close friends of mine suggested giving a triathlon a go. Well… it only took one sprint triathlon for me to enter IronmanUK in Bolton. From that point on… hooked! I went all-in, got myself a coach (another fantastic coach to have worked with) and I managed to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona in 2022. I finished the race in a respectable time, given the unforgiving conditions, of 9:51.

Unfortunately competing in triathlon is no longer on the cards for me for due to some unfortunate heart complications (that actually began pre Kona) due to having Covid. It took several hospital visits across the course of a couple of years, working with multiple cardiologists and doctors, to realise that my heart is prone to going into Ventricular Tachycardia (a dangerous arrhythmia) and I now have an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) to protect me from any future episodes.

Over the past few years I have coached many athletes to achieve great things, from experienced athletes looking to hit new personal bests, or first timers at the marathon, 70.3 or full distance triathlon. Now that I am no longer competing myself, I can use my knowledge and experience to double-down on my coaching and help people achieve their goals as best as I possibly can!

The passion for triathlon and endurance sport is still very much there. I may not have reached my potential in the sport - but it has become my passion and mission to help others achieve their’s.

Hi, I’m Emily, I’ll be behind the scenes here at Team26 Performance thinking about our community and how we can best support you in achieving your goals.

So a bit about me! I have a background as a swimmer from a young age, I quit stereotypically at 16 and left sport behind for a few years. I studied Sport and Exercise Science at university and stayed on for a masters, finishing off with a PhD in Exercise Metabolism & Nutrition. Whilst pursuing my PhD, my love for sport was reignited discovering triathlon after my dad did an ironman, since then I’ve never really looked back! I’ve done all distances from sprint to full ironman alongside some endurance swimming.

Outside of the time-consuming hobby that is triathlon, I work as a nutritionist working with athletes from a variety of backgrounds including elite sport. My specialisms in particular are nutrition for endurance sport and disordered eating. I am also a mum to a wonderful little girl, I want her to grow up knowing that females can do anything from both a career and sport perspective, she motivates me everyday! With this in mind, I understand the juggle that is full time work, being a parent and trying to be an athlete!