Our RTC coaches are very experience across all disciplines, ages and levels
Our RTc coaches are extremely experienced in all triathlon disciplines and have many years behind them both as athletes and as coaches. Our goal is to help you become not only faster but a stronger well-rounded athlete.
Although each coach has their own specialised areas of expertise we work as a team to help you become the best you can be.
Phil Hungerford is our Director of Coaching and the adult running coach and is one of the most experienced running coaches in Queensland.
Phil was at RTC’s very first meeting in 1990 and became our initial coach. Since then he has coached running for over 40 years helping some of Brisbane’s top running talent, including previous Olympians, Youth Olympic champion and Triathlon world champions. He heads up / is the race director for Race Promotions, and as well as coaching for RTC he is also run coach for Cam’s Cycling Collective, The Run Inn Runners, St Pauls school and former owner of The Run Inn.
Phil has a long history racing in Australia and around the world both before and after becoming a race director. He has pb’s of a 2.47 marathon, 1.17 half mara, and sub 60 mins for a 10 mile race just to give you an idea of his athletic prowess before taking up coaching.
Phil has brought many people to running and triathlon, helping to support and foster the sporting aspirations of recreational and professional athletes alike. To honour his services to sport he was rewarded with running in the 2018 Queens baton Commonwealth Games relay.
He is passionate about seeing people discover they can run, and run fast. He firmly believes recovery is the key to running and we are very fortunate in RTC to have such a high calibre coach as Phil.
He coaches our Monday night speed running session, as well as coaching camps and clinics that we hold. If you want to improve your running, then come on Monday night and run with him.
Currently overseas
Mary Jackson is a Triathlon Australian Development coach (Performance Coach pending) and holds Level 2 coaching qualifications for Athletics Australia. She started coaching in 1999 (she thinks) and with GB worked for many years developing the junior structure in RTC. She was involved in the initial TRYstars program and saw much success with the junior athletes including regularly having juniors in the Queensland team for triathlon and athletics. She started coaching the adults and took up Director of Coaching for many years before heading overseas to do Voluntary work, only returning this year and taking on DOC again in July.
Her athletes have had much success racing including boasting State champions, Australian and World champions, and has a 2 x ParaOlympian in her athlete stable. She however is just as committed to seeing beginner athletes overcome their doubts to complete a race, as she is to see people make it onto the Australian team for World Championships.
She has raced across all distances in triathlon from sprint to 4 x Ironman, 24hr Triathlon and other crazy events. She has also raced in adventure racing, Rogaining, Comrades and other ultra marathons earning a State title and Bronze Australian medal at the State 24hr track running race. She would say however that as a triathlete, she is a very good basketball player.
Mary loves to work with all ages and abilities, and loves to see people set goals and achieve them. She does however believe that training / racing needs to balance with life, and that family is always your number 1 priority in your training. She wants to see people develop not just as good athletes, but as well rounded resilient people, and triathlon is just one small part of that. Her wisdom and care is what RTC coaching is all about.
Gai Grieve became a triathlon coach in 2010 after coaching previously for Little Athletics for many years. In 2014 she became head of the RTC Junior program which she was for some time, however today she is the swim coach at NL for the club. Gai believes in a skills-based approach in her coaching, teaching juniors correct technique in all disciplines before they focus on speed and racing.
As a coach she has regularly represented Triathlon Qld in schools promoting triathlon and is often selected to work with other coaches in high-level Junior camps, to provide tuition to top-level and emerging juniors. She also mentors up and coming coaches and is passionate about juniors achieving new goals and overcoming obstacles. Gai has been an active triathlete for many years and more recently still competes in the Bribie Triathlon series, often getting on the podium.
She is a current Triathlon Australian Development coach and holds Level 2 coaching qualifications for Athletics Australia. She is excellent with all ages from juniors to adults and is a very important part of our RTC coaching program.
Currently overseas
Brett Jackson is an accomplished swimmer who has competed in both pool and open water swimming events including Rottnest Island Channel swim. When he was racing Ironman he was consistently in the top 10 out of the water and won fastest age group swimmer twice. He has been coaching swimming for RTC for over 16 years (with a few years break while he worked overseas) and continues to coach at North Lakes Pool 3 mornings a week, and out of Grace Lutheran College Pool x 5 times per week. He also coaches open water swimming and regularly swims himself as he continues to race open water long distance events.
Brett holds Swim Australia Teacher of Competitive Swimming qualifications and coaches both adults and developing juniors. He is passionate about teaching people how to swim more efficiently, improve their stroke, relax in the water and in general get faster in the open water. He’s taken many a swimmer from swimming 25m to racing over 3.8km. If you want to improve your swim times, he’s your man.
Jan Wanklyn is a Triathlon Australia Development coach and also holds qualifications in Human Movements degree, Grad dip in Teaching, DNS Rehabilitation Specialist with a load of ongoing Education.
Her speciality is analysing technique in Swimming and Running and helping the athlete correct the imbalances so they ultimately become physically more stable, gain strength and perform faster. She also specialises in the female athlete, especially the older female athlete and the differences required in their training.
Jan is one of the original Australian Ironman professional triathletes and in her racing days won 5 professional Ironman races outright and podiumed many times, including Top 10 in the professional field at Kona. Her knowledge of triathlon and especially long distance racing, coupled with her knowledge of the human body puts her at the top of her field and she is much sought after by athletes not only before they embark on long course training and racing, but also as any injuries arise. She is responsible for seeing many athletes overcome their injuries and cross the finish line in races.
Alongside Active Release Therapy she provides individual triathlon programming, strength and conditioning programs, return to sport programs and technique assessment. She also can provide speciality technique coaching. She is a passionate supporter of RTC and also works alongside Sunshine Coast Tri Academy in supporting their program. Her knowledge base is always growing and definitely next level, especially about the human body. She is an invaluable member of our RTC coaching team.
Adam has always loved racing Long-Course and Ironman-Distance triathlons and has raced at all three of Australia’s Ironman courses, some multiple times, and most of Australia’s 70.3 courses. He has also run in countless running events, at various distances, both on the road, track, and trail. When running, he prefers training for marathon distance events and enjoys running as a pacer to help others achieve their goals on race day. He also dabbles with Duathlon, enjoying the challenge of the Run-Bike-Run format. Adam is a Level 2 Recreational Running Coach with Athletics Australia and has a Foundation Coach Accreditation with Triathlon Australia. Both allow him to lead training sessions and design training programs that could suit all RTC members. He leads RTC’s Tuesday Morning Cycling Sessions at The Criterium Circuit in Nundah and Wednesday Night’s Run Sessions at Capestone Lake, Mango Hill. His sessions engage and help to inspire runners and riders. He also Coaches at a local running club in Moreton Bay and develops running programs for runners he has a good relationship with, from 5km to Marathon Distance. If asked, he will more than likely be happy to help you. Adam’s training sessions are both social and inclusive. He designs a program/series of training sessions to suit a particular period within the triathlon and running season. This plan assists RTC members in achieving or bettering their race goals and allows all athletes to join the session, enjoy their training and benefit from group exercise. Adam’s quality sessions are tailored to suit the athlete’s current ability and goals. They help improve running and cycling economy and include drills that develop efficient training movement patterns.
Matt competed in his first junior triathlon in 1991, under the tutelage of RTC life member Shirley Voss. He has been hooked ever since. He has competed in pretty much every variety of Triathlon and Multisport event available. Sometimes he enjoys the mud and rough of Off Road Cross triathlon, and sometime he enjoys the speed of a road event. He has covered every distance from sprint distance through to Ironman. He has podiumed on multiple occasions at Nation Championships for Cross Triathlon, and achieved 15th at the 2016 World Cross Triathlon Chanpionships.
Outside of Triathlon, Matt works as a podiatrist/biomechanist, holding degrees in Human Movement Studies and Podiatry. He has a very keen interest in running mechanics and injury prevention. He holds qualifications in Running and Strength and Conditioning coaching. He enjoys the challenge of returning athletes to peak performance after injury.
