Legends of Triathlon – ‘Two of our Own’ show how the ‘Bodyworks’

‘Two of our Own’ are GB’s Glenn Cook and Sarah Coope. They are not just legends for the titles they have achieved in Triathlon, they earn the accolade for what they have given back to the sport.

As long-time partners they have both have maintained a high-profile presence as coaches running Team Bodyworks Performance Triathlon in Eastbourne. Team Bodyworks is recognised as a British Triathlon Satellite Centre thanks to its ability to offer an uninterrupted pathway for aspiring World Class triathletes and para-triathletes. It’s highly experienced coaching and support team is led by Director of Coaching, Glenn Cook (GB Olympic Team Coaching Staff) and Director of Junior Development, Sarah Coope (England Talent SE Academy Head Coach).

Both Glenn and Sarah enjoyed unparalleled success as elite British triathletes in the 1980’s and 90’s, and have since gone on to coach WTS and Olympic Reserve athletes, Olly Freeman (2008) and Todd Leckie (2012), along with numerous World, European and British Junior & Youth Champions in a variety of endurance disciplines. Their eldest daughter Chloe a recent guest on our podcast is the current British Triathlon Champion and their youngest daughter Beth at age 16, has started to rack up title achievements like her parents i.e. 4th Youth European Championships 2019, 1st Jersey Super League 2019,1st English Schools XC Championships 2019.

Chloe Cook (British Triathlon Champion) talks Triathlon to the TriNation Podcast crew

Glenn Cook

With over 25 years coaching experience, Glenn has been a member of the Team GB Olympic and England Commonwealth Games coaching teams since 2002. His experience in the pro field of triathlon is extensive as both a competitor and coach having finished runner up at the first ever ITU World Triathlon championships and 2x European triathlon champion, which has seen him coach with all age groups and numerous World champions at varying levels and disciplines. Glenn Cook was appointed as British Triathlon’s Olympic Head Women’s Coach in June 2011, Olympic selector in 2012 and was instrumental in the performances of the Team GB women at the memorable Olympic Games in London 2012 namely Helen Jenkins, Vicky Holland and Lucy Hall.

Glenn Cook of Great Britain a former national class swimmer started winning national triathlons in 1984 and 1985 and soon decided to make a pilgrimage to train in triathlon Mecca, San Diego. Glenn did well in USTS races in the States and with a 30:20 10k pure run PR, he won a European Championship half Ironman race and took 4th at an unofficial ‘world championship’ Olympic distance race in Kelowna, British Columbia in 1988.

While it is hard to realise now, at the time of the inaugural ITU World Championship at Avignon, Francein 1989, a young Glenn Cook was lining up against the greats of the sport – Rick Wells of New Zealand and the legendary Mark Allen of USA to name but a few. Glenn recalled the day “It was really hot – well above 90 Fahrenheit, and there wasn’t much shade”. For the first leg of ITU Olympic distance world championship Glenn’s strategy was “Swim hard and if you can hang on to that sort of pace, you will get out of the water higher up. If not, you’ll get dropped and have a gap to make up.” Those on the starting line were athletes who had a burning desire and passion to succeed – no sports science for these guys – as Rick Wells recalled “Once on the bike, I pinned my ears back and went for it,” eloquently stating“My philosophy was ‘Go til ya blow,’ and I biked my nuts off.” 

When Wells broke into a lead on the rolling hills of the Avignon bike course, there was frustration and confusion behind. “Halfway through the bike, I was riding with Rob Barel about 45 seconds back and then Mike Pigg and Mark Allen showed up,” said Glenn Cook. “That is when I latched on to them and we finished the bike together.”

By the end of the race, Allen ran a 33:06 to finish in 1:58:45 for a narrow margin of victory over the ever-improving Glenn Cook who ran through the field to take sliver, while Wells held on for dear life for bronze. It is testimony to Glenn Cook’s sporting prowess in pushing the legendary Allen all the way to the finish line that Mark Allen looks upon this victory as the one he is most proud of in his career saying “ Most people know me for winning Ironman… That day I won the ITU Olympic distance world championship to me was the ultimate stamp…”

In no small part, this race was the stepping stone to World Triathlon as we know it today. As Glenn Cook stood on the podium with pride alongside fellow triathletes, all from different countries, brought together through the sport they shared in common, the nation’s flags were raised behind them and the national anthems played. None of them may have known it, but at that moment in time, they were all part of a bigger picture – the coming of the Olympic Distance Triathlon as an Olympic Sport. 

Sarah Coope

With a wealth of coaching experience, Sarah’s, experience in the pro field of triathlon is extensive as both a competitor and coach. She is considered by British Triathlon to be the most victorious British triathlete of the 1980s, taking the title of ETU European Triathlon Champion five times at three different distances, standard, middle and long and being undefeated in Europe for 2 years for Ironman distance. She also became the European duathlon champion in 1991.

As well as being Lead Coach for Junior Development at Bodyworks, Sarah is also Head Coach at the Triathlon England South East Region Academy where she imparts her knowledge to athletes of all ages with an emphasis on the junior squads. 

From 1985 to 1989 Sarah Coope competed in eight European Triathlon Union (ETU) sanctioned races, and was once even escorted by police patrol in Northern Ireland during the Home Nations race, due to certain IRA activities at the time. All this before participating in the 1991 Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, placing third women overall.

In the early days of triathlon, unlike today’s data driven training approach, the athlete had to take responsibility for their own learning. Back then there was a culture where mistakes were seen as positive and failure was not seen as being down to a lack of ability. They drew a distinction between failure and making mistakes, and neither were seen as negatives, both were part of the journey to success.

Sarah’s draws her wealth of experience from that culture. As well as a top performance coach Sarah is a sport nutrition specialist and remembers well – in horror – her early experiences of race nutrition reflecting on her first Ironman where knowledge of a carbohydrate loading diet or an isotonic drink were for tomorrow’s world. Rather than experience intense gastrointestinal distress during the race Sarah’s strategy was not to eat but to drink only water and bite on a few orange segments – hindsight is a wonderful thing. If you’re an endurance athlete, you’ve probably been given endless amount of advice regarding what to nutrition to take on board during a race, but back in the early days of Ironman for Sarah it was simply a water bottle and a Power Bar diced into chunks and stuck to your handlebars. All of these experiences led to Sarah’s keen interest in nutrition and why sports nutrition is so important to athletes.

Sarah moved to long-course triathlon in the latter years of her career, placing third woman overall at the1991 Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii finishing behind Paula Newby-Fraser and the legendary Erin Baker from New Zealand who ended her career with a record of 104 wins from 121 triathlons entered. It is worth bearing in mind the way that the Ironman circuit has changed over the past 15/20 years. While there are around 40 Ironman events on the annual calendar now, that wasn’t always the case, and hence the opportunities to race back then were few and far between.It is very easy to believe that Sarah would be a multiple Ironman event winner today given her performance in Kona, and the huge number of victories she achieved in other events.

If you’re new to multi-sports or an athlete who does not know where to turn after the lights dim on your athletic journey, look no further than Glenn and Sarah, as your role models – success for them was never a destination it was always a life-time journey to success. 

With the local Eastbourne campus of the University of Brighton being Team Bodyworks main training site, the club invests heavily in performance mentoring and lifestyle support to help athletes, and their extended teams (including parents, schools, therapists, partners and sponsors), understand the pathway, the nature of performance and how to overcome the challenges involved. For more details on what Team Bodyworks Performance Triathlon can offer contact Stuart Wilkinson, Director & Performance Mentor with many years’ experience of talking through the Team Bodyworks programme and its suitability for athletes of all ages and ability.