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Sally Napthen

Level 3 Triathlon Coach
Sally coaches the Tuesday evening run group from Total Fitness in Chester.
She is also the person behind the hugely successful Deva Divas Ladies Triathlon, which won British Triathlon Event of the Year both in 2009 and in 2016, the only race to have ever won the British Triathlon award twice.
I came from taekwondo into triathlon, having achieved 2nd Dan black belt and training towards 3rd.  I had never run, hardly cycled above 2 miles and was absolutely terrified of water!  First race was Barbridge Duathlon 1995……clonky old mountain bike racked with sleek, shiny race bikes….needless to say I was last!

Tom Walker taught me to swim – no coaches in Chester Tri then! – and in 1996 entered my first triathlon (Tequilla Slammers). …almost drowned!  Eventually I got the hang of not drowning and worked my way up to doing a half IM (Llanberis 2001) then IM USA in 2002.  Since then completed IM Lanzarote and IM Austria as well as various other triathlons, adventure races and mountain bike challenges.

I got into coaching because I knew how difficult it was when I first started.  It’s brilliant to see people achieve their goals and watch their confidence grow!

 

Top tip: Self-discipline!  Knowing when to push and when to rest.

 

Coaching philosophy: To help people who come to Chester Tri club achieve their goals……it’s great to see Divas finish the Deva Divas race with big smiles!

Coaching qualifications

BTF Level 3 Coach – 2003

Level 3 Sports Massage & Therapy

Finest sporting moments

Learning to swim!

Enjoying and finishing IM Lanzarote