The Association of Commonwealth Triathlon (ACT) National Federations was formed on 26th July 2014 at a special meeting that took place during the supreme performance opportunity for the Commonwealth family at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014. The Commonwealth is a voluntary Association of independent sovereign states and their dependencies, which may be found on all continents and accounts for over two billion people (30% of the world’s population). The fundamental values of Association have been summarised in the Declaration of Commonwealth Principles (1971, Singapore) and reaffirmed in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration (1991, Zimbabwe).
24 NFs attended in the presence of ITU VPs Sarah Springman and Bill Walker and the ITU Sport and Anti-Doping Directors, and approved articles for an Unincorporated Association (UA), broadly based on the SEATC Constitution. A Management Committee (MC) was elected for the next quadrennial until the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast with members Alan Beckford (JAM), David Ferrier (AUS) and Jane Moncrieff (SCO), advisors Alain St. Louis (MRI) and Sam Wickramasinghe (SRI). Luc Landriault (CAN) was elected unopposed as Treasurer, as was the organiser of the meeting, Dr. Sarah Springman (ENG), as President. Jem Lawson (ENG) was appointed as Secretary General.
Subsequently, the MC has met on several occasions to formulate a strategic plan, which will guide the Association up to the next Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia, in 2018. The first of these was in Edmonton at the ITU World Triathlon Series (WTS) Grand Final; further discussions have been over the Skype network. The President and members of the Management Committee are most grateful for the contributions from David Sales (http://www.firstascentgroup.com/uk-headquarters) and Gergely Markus, ITU Director of Sport.
A number of working groups was formed from within the MC to examine and analyse the issues facing triathlon as an integral element of future Commonwealth Games. This paper draws together the conclusions reached through such deliberations.
‘Membership in the ACT shall be automatic to those National Federations (NF) that are in Membership of ITU or the Commonwealth Games Federation in promoting and developing Triathlon, Duathlon and Aquathlon in their respective countries, provided that those countries are also in membership of The Commonwealth.’[1]
[1] ACT Constitution; Article 2, Section 1
