Despite the swim leg being canned this year, organisers say it’s been a successful Ironman event. Over ten thousand supporters also part of the action – cheering on loved ones as it came down to the wire in both the pros and full race. with organisers reaching for their calculators to work out who actually won after heavy rain forced a major change to the race format All articles from our websiteThe digital version of Today's PaperBreaking news alerts direct to your inboxAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueOvernight rain led to poor water quality prompting organisers to cancel the swim leg in both the Ironman Australia and Ironman 70.3 events Race day brought highlights from both events in Port Macquarie with the new format seeing athletes start on the bike in a rolling time trial This year also saw the return of the professional competition as part of the Ironman 70.3 in Port Macquarie for the first time in several years attracting a mix of seasoned athletes and up-and-coming stars View +20 PhotosRace day action: highlights from Ironman Australia and 70.3 in Port Macquarie.Athletes began the race with the time trial start tackling the 90km bike course before completing the 21.1km run with the finish line at Port Macquarie's Town Green While New Zealand's Sam Osborne was the first to cross the finish line it was Finland's Henrik Goesch who claimed victory in the men's 70.3 event with a time of 3:19:27 Osborne officially placed second in 3:20:20 with Australian Caleb Noble third in 3:21:03 Goesch began the bike leg from 17th position and had a nervous wait at the line as the final times were calculated He had pushed hard in the closing stages of the run to hold his advantage and earn his first Ironman 70.3 title "We woke up to a different race morning than planned so I didn't really know where I was at all "You just had to push right until the finish line." Goesch said he would be taking away "a lot of confidence" from the performance Sydney's Natalie Van Coevorden dominated from start to finish crossing the line in 3:45:55 - three and a half minutes ahead of New Zealand's Amelia Watkinson with Skye Wallace finishing third in just her third professional race who was the eighth woman to start the bike leg quickly surged to the front and extended her lead throughout the morning The Paris 2024 Olympic representative backed up her win at Ironman 70.3 Geelong in March to make it three triathlon wins from three starts this year "I'm pretty excited to be honest- it's three from three for this year for me which is pretty awesome after making the transition across from short course to Ironman 70.3," Van Coevorden said "It was a bit of a different start to the morning but I think I made the most of today and had a really good performance but I think I outdid myself on the bike and really showed myself that I am in good shape "I pretty much led from start to finish today Van Coevorden said the result showed how far she'd come after a tough 2024 season "I think it just shows that I'm improving and getting better and better "I think my weaknesses are now becoming my strengths and I'm putting together really consistent Ironman 70.3s now and hopefully I can do that for the rest of the year," she said She said she lost a lot of confidence in herself last year but it was probably one of the worst years of my whole career So to come out and have three big wins this year is pretty special Athletes are expected to keep arriving at the Port Macquarie finish line well into the evening with the final Ironman Australia competitor likely to cross after midnight UKG IRONMAN 70.3 Port Macquarie - Professional Women's Results UKG IRONMAN 70.3 Port Macquarie - Professional Men's Results Newsletters & AlertsView allDaily Today's top stories curated by our news team Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over Your digital replica of Today's Paper The 2025 Ironman Pro Series got off to an unexpectedly frustrating start at 70.3 Geelong this past weekend Technical difficulties prevented almost the entire live broadcast of the season opener Viewers were left in the dark as an internet outage at the production hub prevented video or audio signals from being transmitted It was a disappointing start for the much-anticipated 18-race Pro Series which offers $1.7 million in end-of-season bonus payouts and aims to bring a more structured high-stakes competition to long-course triathlon With the PTO’s T100 Triathlon World Tour already raising the bar for broadcast coverage the failure to deliver live footage in Geelong puts early pressure on Ironman to ensure future races go smoothly Natalie Van Coevorden and Jelle Geens took commanding victories in the women’s and men’s races setting the tone for what promises to be a fiercely competitive season A post shared by Professional Triathlon News (@protrinews) Australia’s Natalie Van Coevorden celebrated a career-first Ironman 70.3 victory holding off New Zealand’s Hannah Berry and Australia’s Grace Thek who finished behind her in second and third The Paris 2024 Olympian almost didn’t start the race admitting that she woke up feeling unwell and had doubts about whether to compete Her coach and family nudged her to the start line establishing a 10-second advantage over the chase pack with Berry making the first move on the run Van Coevorden stayed focused and was able to close the gap at 8km After years of focusing on short-course racing Van Coevorden has dipped her toe into long-distance in the past finishing second at 70.3 Bahrain and Melbourne It was the first time she took top stop at the distance in an impressive season opener A post shared by Professional Triathlon News (@protrinews) Belgium’s Jelle Geens showcased why he is the reigning Ironman 70.3 World Champion showcasing his authority on the race with a devastating run split with no fewer than 13 athletes emerging from the water tightly together led by Australia’s Josh Ferris and short-course star Matt Hauser The bike leg saw a big pack with 20 athletes still within a minute of each other at the halfway point the front pack was down to a group of 10 riders with local hope Ben Hill leading the charge into transition By the halfway mark he was fully in control with Japan’s Kenji Nener hanging on for dear life Geens kept the competition at bay and made it over the line first with the fastest run on the day Australia’s Jake Birtwhistle finished second and New Zealand’s Tayler Reid rounded out the podium in third he ended up having an unfortunate mechanical failure leaving him stuck in a single gear for the entire bike leg The Australian revealed post-race that his electronic shifting failed before the start saying he used it as a training session for future Pro Series events exiting the water only 30 sec behind the front pack It was a win for Wurf who has been working on improving his swim for this season Get the digital edition of Triathlon for your chosen platform: Welcome to packagingeurope.com. 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Site powered by Webvision Cloud Natalie Van Coevorden’s career in short-course racing appears to be over with the Australian star making a major career decision Instead of racing next Saturday’s WTCS Grand Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia the 31-year-old has made the decision to end her short-course career and move up in distance – with immediate effect Now for Natalie the future will be at middle distance and she explained her decision in a heartfelt post on her Instagram account She wrote: “Many of you have asked why I am not racing the Grand Final and the simple answer is that I have decided that I will be focusing on 70.3 / middle distance from now on This might seem like a bit of a retirement post but it’s nice to reflect and let go of this chapter before I move on to the next I had qualified myself for junior world champs and in that first year I hit the benchmark to race my first World Cup and my first World Series in my home town of Sydney 13 years on and 130 World Triathlon races later – an Olympian– Commonwealth games medalist– World Championship relay medalist– WTCS medalist– WTCS relay medalist– World Cup medalist– Apart of some strong French GP and German Bundesliga Podiums “A special achievement for me is going to 12 world championships for Australia and being the 42nd Australian women compete at an elite WC Some results although might have not been a podium some times it just takes a day when you feel like everything came together to make it a memorable race I am proud that no matter what was happening I showed up and made the most of every opportunity I had Thank you to everyone who has been apart of this journey Also thank you to the people who have believed in me already and have jumped upon this new one.” Follow the madness of the 'Race that eats its young' on RUN247 This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. 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Volume 9 - 2016 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2016.00037 Autoimmune encephalitis (AIE) is a group of disorders in which autoantibodies directed at antigens located on the plasma membrane of neurons induce severe neurological symptoms In contrast to classical paraneoplastic disorders AIE patients respond well to immunotherapy The detection of neuronal surface autoantibodies in patients’ serum or CSF therefore has serious consequences for the patients’ treatment and follow-up and requires the availability of sensitive and specific diagnostic tests This mini-review provides a guideline for both diagnostic and research laboratories that work on the detection of known surface autoantibodies and/or the identification of novel surface antigens We discuss the strengths and pitfalls of different techniques for anti-neuronal antibody detection: (1) Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and immunofluorescence on rat/primate brain sections; (2) Immunocytochemistry (ICC) of living cultured hippocampal neurons; and (3) Cell Based Assay (CBA) we discuss the use of immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry analysis for the detection of novel neuronal surface antigens which is a crucial step in further disease classification and the development of novel CBAs This striking response to immunotherapy stresses the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of AIE the availability of sensitive and specific tests to detect cell-surface autoantibodies is of key importance Whereas diagnostics in AIE is an emerging field, large experience exists with laboratory tests used for the detection of anti-neuronal antibodies in classical paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS; Probst et al., 2014) of the methods used in PNS diagnostics are also suitable to detect autoantibodies involved in AIE The different requirements for diagnostic methods are mainly determined by two major differences between classical PNS antigens and AIE antigens Classical PNS antigens are primarily located intracellular whereas AIE antigens are located in or on the plasma membrane antibodies directed at classical PNS antigens are mostly recognizing linear epitopes whereas surface antigens contain mostly conformational epitopes Despite the fact that many of these techniques are currently used in AIE diagnostic and research laboratories, the methodology to detect cell-surface antibodies is not widely standardized. In this article we review the advantages and pitfalls of three different techniques for antibody detection: (1) IHC/IIF on adult rat/primate brain slices; (2) ICC on living cultured rat hippocampal neurons; and (3) CBAs for neuronal membrane proteins (for an overview see Table 1) In addition we evaluate the use of immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry analysis for the identification of novel cell-surface antigens Laboratory techniques for the detection of neuronal cell-surface antibodies The reactivity of antibodies present in patient serum or CSF against rat brain proteins can be tested with IHC In this assay 5–9 μm thick complete rat brain slices are used Therefore all possible antigens are available and accessible and different brain regions can be assessed This technique has been a core method for the detection of antibodies directed at intracellular antigens in PNS For classical PNS antigens diagnostic laboratories mostly use IIF of primate cerebellum With good quality IHC and experienced observers the recognition of these specific staining patterns may already lead to diagnosis Most synaptic proteins are highly homologous (for example rat-human homology on protein level for the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor (NMDAR) is 99.3% (source: NCBI) when screening for novel neuronal antigens it is important to keep in mind that due to interspecies differences some epitopes might be absent in rodents and are therefore missed on IHC To assess antibody reactivity to extracellular epitopes live staining of cultured primary rat hippocampal neurons with patients’ serum or CSF can be performed. In theory, this way only relevant extracellular epitopes will be detected, diminishing the background signal. Also, the effects of the protein crosslinking fixative PFA, on the antigenicity of the receptor will be circumvented (Peränen et al., 1993) Therefore after surface labeling such co-localization studies should be interpreted with caution In a CBA a recombinant antigen is expressed by mammalian cells. The transfected cells are stained with patient serum or CSF using IIF. When the patient sample contains antibodies directed at this specific antigen, staining of the transfected cells is enhanced when compared to non-transfected cells (Figure 1C) In CBAs the antigen mostly maintains its tertiary structure and the appropriate post-translational modifications This allows for the detection of antibodies directed at conformational epitopes Commercial CBAs, as well as most research laboratories, make use of human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells. HEK cells are a cell line suitable for membrane protein expression (Chaudhary et al., 2011) also HeLa or Chinese Hamster Ovary cells can be used as these cell lines attach more tightly to the culture plates than HEK cells and therefore wash off less easily during the staining procedure This is especially important when performing live CBAs in which the receptors need to be located in the plasma membrane for antibodies to bind It is therefore very well possible that the optimal choice between live vs fixed CBA might be different for each receptor that is tested For both the fixed and live CBA one should also realize that the presence of a large number of ion channels in the plasma membrane for a longer period of time could lead to excitotoxicity and might require the addition of receptor blockers (e.g., ketamine for NMDAR) to the culture medium (Irani et al., 2010b; Ramberger et al., 2015) Concerning the DNA constructs used for recombinant antigen expression in CBAs it is important to keep in mind that the addition of a molecular tag to a transmembrane protein for visualization purposes can affect protein trafficking and folding (Hughes et al., 2010) This could be overcome by using an untagged version in combination with cytoplasmic green fluorescent protein (GFP) to identify the transfected cells in this case a commercial antibody to the antigen needs to be used to assess exact colocalization of antigen and patient antibody Although in a seemingly straightforward procedure many factors are complicating the identification of a membrane antigen In general CSF contains less antibodies than serum the relative amount of specific antibodies is higher Therefore the use of CSF in staining and immunoprecipitation is thought to provide cleaner results CSF is usually less readily available than serum The detection of synaptic cell-surface antibodies has significant consequences for the treatment and follow-up of AIE patients It can confirm the autoimmune-mediated nature of the syndrome and can provide a clue for a possible underlying tumor In order to successfully identify antibodies to surface antigens clinical assessment and patient selection by an experienced clinician is of key importance For diagnostic purposes both serum and CSF should be tested by a combination of IHC and CBA to provide highest sensitivity and specificity Live staining of cultured hippocampal neurons is labor intensive The neurons used for diagnostic testing cannot be prepared beforehand and cannot be stored live ICC of neurons can provide valuable additional information when the results from IHC and CBA are inconclusive Samples selected for IP-MS need to show robust results on both IHC and live ICC of hippocampal neurons Preferentially patients with a similar staining pattern and clinical phenotype are grouped two different serum samples from one patient can be used to perform IP-MS Comparing two lists of one patient (or the lists of patients with a similar clinical phenotype and/or similar staining pattern on IHC) could facilitate the detection of novel antigens In the next years novel neuronal surface antigens will be identified most likely by screening cohorts of patients with for example epilepsy or dementia It is expected that these yet unknown patients will phenotypically show less encephalitis and more encephalopathy careful evaluation of specificity and pathogenicity of novel antibodies will be necessary Given the low frequency of occurrence of most of these antibodies meaningful clinical studies will require international collaboration PAESS and CCH have provided critical comments to the manuscript This research was funded by NUTS-OHRA (1104-034) The work of MJT is supported by grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO MJT received research funds for serving on a scientific advisory board of MedImmune LLC and a travel grant for lecturing in India from Sun Pharma MWJS has received financial compensation for seminars and conference visits from Biognost EdG and PAESS received a research grant from Euroimmun for a patent for the use of DNER as an autoantibody test High-throughput flow cytometry cell-based assay to detect antibodies to N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor or dopamine-2 receptor in human serum Treatment-responsive limbic encephalitis identified by neuropil antibodies: MRI and PET correlates Progressive encephalomyelitis with rigidity and myoclonus: a new variant with DPPX antibodies Advances in the mass spectrometry of membrane proteins: from individual proteins to intact complexes doi: 10.1146/annurev-biochem-062309-093307 Encephalitis and antibodies to dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein-6 Carvajal-González Glycine receptor antibodies in PERM and related syndromes: characteristics Efficient expression screening of human membrane proteins in transiently transfected Human Embryonic Kidney 293S cells Seroprevalence of autoantibodies against brain antigens in health and disease Antibodies to surface dopamine-2 receptor in autoimmune movement and psychiatric disorders Anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis: case series and analysis of the effects of antibodies Clinical experience and laboratory investigations in patients with anti-NMDAR encephalitis Paraneoplastic anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis associated with ovarian teratoma Anti-NMDAR encephalitis and other glutamate and GABA receptor antibody encephalopathies CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Identification of delta/notch-like epidermal growth factor-related receptor as the Tr antigen in paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration Strategy for anti-aquaporin-4 auto-antibody identification and quantification using a new cell-based assay The styrene-maleic acid copolymer: a versatile tool in membrane research Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis in children and adolescents Immunological characterization of a neuronal antibody (anti-Tr) associated with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration and Hodgkin’s disease Antibodies to Delta/notch-like epidermal growth factor-related receptor in patients with anti-Tr paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration and Hodgkin lymphoma Antibody titres at diagnosis and during follow-up of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis: a retrospective study Neuropsychiatric disease relevance of circulating anti-NMDA receptor autoantibodies depends on blood-brain barrier integrity Exploring the membrane proteome—challenges and analytical strategies Höftberger Neuroimmunology: an expanding frontier in autoimmunity Höftberger Encephalitis and GABAB receptor antibodies: novel findings in a new case series of 20 patients Höftberger Encephalitis and AMPA receptor antibodies: novel findings in a case series of 22 patients Phage display of cDNA repertoires: the pVI display system and its applications for the selection of immunogenic ligands Cellular and synaptic mechanisms of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis Cerebellar degeneration associated with mGluR1 autoantibodies as a paraneoplastic manifestation of prostate adenocarcinoma Antibodies to Kv1 potassium channel-complex proteins leucine-rich glioma inactivated 1 protein and contactin-associated protein-2 in limbic encephalitis Morvan’s syndrome and acquired neuromyotonia N-methyl-D-aspartate antibody encephalitis: temporal progression of clinical and paraclinical observations in a predominantly non-paraneoplastic disorder of both sexes Morvan syndrome: clinical and serological observations in 29 cases GABAB receptor autoantibody frequency in service serologic evaluation Frequency and characteristics of isolated psychiatric episodes in anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis AMPA receptor antibodies in limbic encephalitis alter synaptic receptor location Investigation of LGI1 as the antigen in limbic encephalitis previously attributed to potassium channels: a case series an autoantigen of encephalitis and neuromyotonia Antibodies to metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 in the Ophelia syndrome Antibodies to the GABAB receptor in limbic encephalitis with seizures: case series and characterisation of the antigen IgG1 antibodies to acetylcholine receptors in ’seronegative’ myasthenia gravis Lopez-Chiriboga Metabotropic glutamate receptor type 1 autoimmunity: clinical features and treatment outcomes Martinez-Hernandez Clinical and immunologic investigations in patients with stiff-person spectrum disorder doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2016.0133 [Epub ahead of print] PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text Martinez-Hernandez myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein and the glycine receptor α1 subunit in patients with isolated optic neuritis Serum IgG antibodies against the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor not detected in schizophrenia Disrupted surface cross-talk between NMDA and Ephrin-B2 receptors in anti-NMDA encephalitis Clinical spectrum and diagnostic value of antibodies against the potassium channel related protein complex Acute mechanisms underlying antibody effects in anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis An improved diagnostic assay for Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome Cellular plasticity induced by anti-α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor encephalitis antibodies Peränen A method for exposing hidden antigenic sites in paraformaldehyde-fixed cultured cells applied to initially unreactive antibodies status epilepticus and antibodies to the GABAA receptor: a case series characterisation of the antigen and analysis of the effects of antibodies Anti-DPPX encephalitis: pathogenic effects of antibodies on gut and brain neurons Detergents for the stabilization and crystallization of membrane proteins Standardized test for anti-Tr/DNER in patients with paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration Anti-neuronal autoantibodies: current diagnostic challenges Comparison of diagnostic accuracy of microscopy and flow cytometry in evaluating N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibodies in serum using a live cell-based assay A novel non-rapid-eye movement and rapid-eye-movement parasomnia with sleep breathing disorder associated with antibodies to IgLON5: a case series characterisation of the antigen and post-mortem study Survival and outcome in 73 anti-Hu positive patients with paraneoplastic encephalomyelitis/sensory neuronopathy Paraneoplastic cerebellar ataxia due to autoantibodies against a glutamate receptor Increased prevalence of diverse N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor antibodies in patients with an initial diagnosis of schizophrenia: specific relevance of IgG NR1a antibodies for distinction from N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor encephalitis DPPX potassium channel antibody: frequency clinical accompaniments and outcomes in 20 patients van Coevorden-Hameete Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying anti-neuronal antibody mediated disorders of the central nervous system No evidence for the presence of neuronal surface autoantibodies in plasma of patients with schizophrenia The clinical spectrum of Caspr2-antibody associated disease Google Scholar The relevance of VGKC positivity in the absence of LGI1 and Caspr2 antibodies Anti-LGI1 encephalitis: clinical syndrome and long-term follow-up EFNS task force report: a questionnaire-based survey on the service provision and quality assurance for determination of diagnostic autoantibody tests in European neuroimmunology centres Disease-relevant autoantibodies in first episode schizophrenia Sillevis Smitt PAE and Hoogenraad CC (2016) Detection and Characterization of Autoantibodies to Neuronal Cell-Surface Antigens in the Central Nervous System Received: 18 March 2016; Accepted: 09 May 2016; Published: 31 May 2016 Copyright © 2016 van Coevorden-Hameete, Titulaer, Schreurs, de Graaff, Sillevis Smitt and Hoogenraad. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution and reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Casper C. Hoogenraad, Yy5ob29nZW5yYWFkQHV1Lm5s Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete Natalie Van Coevorden and Sophie Linn have successfully navigated a technical course and pushed through the adverse weather conditions to record strong performances in the Women’s Triathlon at Paris 2024 Sophie was consistently placed across all three disciplines to finish 21st in 1:58.52 where she did well to avoid a bike crash.  French athlete Cassandre Beaugrand surprised herself delivering a brilliant performance to run away from the lead group and win in 1:54.55 Julie Derron (SUI) won silver and Beth Potter (GBR) hung on for bronze The current and tricky bike course caused her problems “We were more worried about the current than the actual dirtiness of the water by the end,” Natalie said “The current was way stronger than the test event last year and caught us off guard in the first lap and I got a bit panicky The current bunched up the weaker swimmers and I just couldn’t get around them it wasn’t until the second lap that we actually got a bit of space to move “I got on the front of the second chase group they came down in front of me and I had to click out I didn’t go down but once you clip out you slow right down to a halt I’m still healthy and ready to start in the mixed relay.” Sophie was pleased with her Olympic debut in front of family I can’t ask for much more than 21st,” Sophie said I didn’t crash and every time something bad happened in the swim or a crash on the bike I remained calm and kept pushing on That’s all I could ask of myself today.” The strong current in the River Seine and the wet cobblestone roads were more challenging for the athletes than the murky water the rain was gone but the conditions were hot and muggy.  Sophie was trying to comprehend her first Olympic experience in front of a huge crowd in Paris “I don’t really have any words for the last two hours that we just experienced,” Sophie said.  “That was every single possible adverse weather condition It was just incredibly overwhelming and incredibly special “I tried to ensure that I was always near the front to avoid any crashes The cobblestones take a lot out of your legs when you’re riding on them so you know I had to build into the run a little bit but I felt like I just ran really strong and enjoyed the experience “One of my biggest goals was to really soak up the experience I just felt an immediate lift anytime I saw my friends and family out on the course cheering and overwhelming and overstimulating for the past two hours It was a really weird video game I just played.” The NSW Institute of Sport acknowledges the Aboriginal people and pays respect to our Aboriginal Elders – past Sign up for NSWIS emails to be the first to see inspiring content and news you agree to NSWIS' Privacy Policy and Terms of Use Australian Olympian Natalie Van Coevorden has won the Ironman 70.3 Geelong triathlon (HANDOUT/KORUPT VISION)Natalie Van Coevorden nearly pulled out of her triathlon on Sunday morning and is rapt she was talked into starting but rallied and stormed to a breakthrough win at the Ironman 70.3 Geelong race The Australian has stepped up in race distance this year and stunned a strong women's field beating New Zealand star Hannah Berry by 30 seconds While Geens started as the men's favourite Van Coevorden needed some convincing pre-race that she should compete you’ve had a really good block of training and you’re probably fitter that you think," Van Coevorden said 14 years of doing triathlon now really paid off today because my body just knew what to do when I needed it most." Her Paris Olympics teammate Matt Hauser was making his 70.3 debut in Geelong but he was forced out of the race early on the bike leg because of a mechanical problem 90km cycle and 21.1km half-marathon event in four hours five minutes 58 seconds Berry and third-placed Australian Grace Thek Van Coevorden was near the front throughout the race taking the lead from Berry eight kilometres into the run and claiming the first round of the Ironman Pro Series Geens won in 3:33:23 after also pulling clear in the first half of the run the world champion had to overcome ill health ahead of Geelong because I wasn’t 100 per cent sure how I was going to feel because I got sick a couple of weeks ago and then my partner got sick and it was very busy with the baby," Geens said "But luckily we had a lot of help from her family Then in the end I actually felt really good but I needed it today because the guys were on fire." Geens won by 45 seconds from Australian Jake Birtwhistle who raced with Hauser at the Tokyo Olympics while New Zealand's Tayler Reid took third in 3:34:38 License this article Natalie Van Coevorden celebrated a breakthrough win at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong on Sunday – but admitted she could so easily have missed the race The Australian Olympian finished less than 30 seconds clear of New Zealand’s Hannah Berry in the opening race of the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series But it was almost a win that didn’t happen for Van Coevorden after she started the day feeling unwell you’ve had a really good block of training 14 years of doing triathlon now really paid off today because my body just knew what to do when I needed it most.” Van Coevorden had mainly focussed on short course but she’s gone close before at 70.3 with runner-up spots in Bahrain and Melbourne in 2022 and 2023 respectively she added: “Everything played out how I wanted it to today and it couldn’t have gone any more perfectly to be honest “We had a pretty fast swim and had a bit of a gap I had a plan to ride pretty hard for the first 10k so I could gap the field a little bit we then had four girls on the bike working pretty well together and then I paced the run to perfection today I really loved the undulation on the run course “Hannah was probably sitting 10 to 20 seconds ahead for that first eight to nine k and then it finally just came down in a k that gap you don’t need to do anything special and it paid off in the end and I ran the best race I could “At IRONMAN 70.3 Melbourne in 2022 I lost it with a k to go and I really made a focus on my nutrition today that’s been a big switch from short course racing and I think I really played it the best I could you’re not going to hold up the banner too many times in your career and holding up an IRONMAN 70.3 one so early in my switch is really special.” the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) announced on Thursday Matthew Hauser will become the fifth Australian man to compete in triathlon at two Olympics He took part in Tokyo 2020 where he finished 24th in the men’s event Hauser also competed in the mixed relay event The 26-year-old Hauser was the first triathlete to secure his place in the Australian Olympic team with an eighth-place finish at the World Triathlon Championship Series Final last year The triathletes will each contest the individual event and combine for the mixed team relay. As a team, the four Australians have already secured international success. They won the mixed relay silver at the World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg in 2022. Matthew Hauser sits fourth and Luke Willian 13th in the world rankings, finishing second and third, respectively, at the World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama last month. The two of them are training in Spain along with Natalie Van Coevorden ahead of the Olympics while Sophie Linn is training in Colorado, USA. “I’m absolutely stoked. After missing out in 2021, this has been the goal for the past three years - to qualify for Paris. To be able to do that, and to officially be selected just feels amazing,” said 28-year-old Luke Willian after the announcement. “There are only around 460 Australians selected for these Olympics, and I believe it's about the same every year, so, I’m in very special company. To have my name among some of the greats is pretty special.” Willian had earned an automatic nomination after winning the bronze medal at the World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama last month. The Paris 2024 Olympics men’s and women’s triathlon events will be held on July 30 and July 31 while the mixed team relay will take place on August 5. The triathlon course will see athletes crossing symbolic Parisian landmarks such as the Champs-Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. With the Men’s Triathlon postponed, until after the women’s race, Natalie Van Coevorden and Sophie Linn are scheduled to be the first Australian triathletes in action at the Paris Olympics. We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of all the lands on which we are located. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present. We celebrate and honour all of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Olympians. The Australian Olympic Committee is committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society and sport. Picture supplied.There's a good reason why Paris Olympian Natalie Van Coevorden goes out of her way to compete in Wollongong's annual Australia Day Aquathon All articles from our website & appThe digital version of Today's PaperBreaking news alerts direct to your inboxInteractive Crosswords Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueWhile competing in the 2010 event the talents of the Campbelltown triathlete first got noticed by national selectors That's why the 32-year-old continues returning to Wollongong and will compete again at the 25th edition of the annual event this Sunday "I did my first aquathon in Wollongong back in 2008 but it was at the 2010 race that things changed for me but I got scouted by the national development coach of the time to do triathlon and I was invited to participate in the national program," Van Coevorden said "It's kind of weird that this happened at a community event "That's why it is pretty special for me to return such a long time later as an Olympian "It just shows you that you never know who's watching......... and I think that's pretty cool to still have that sort of experience with this race on Sunday." Van Coevorden's first international podium finish came in 2013 when she finished third at the Triathlon World Cup in Tongyeong Van Coevorden consistently raced in various triathlon series worldwide most notably finishing fourth at the 2017 World Cup in Madrid Due to the suspended races caused by the pandemic and she did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics Van Coevorden made her Commonwealth Games debut finishing with a bronze medal in the triathlon mixed team relay and 14th in the women's individual triathlon race Van Coevorden raced all over the globe to become Oceania's top-ranked women's triathlete at the Games she finished 42nd at 2:03.01 and was tested by a strong current "It was pretty surreal," Van Coevorden said of her Paris experience "Many people have reminded me about the journey that got me to Paris I thought of that when I was competing for my country To have so many people there supporting me and the other Aussies was an amazing experience that I'll never forget." Using the January 26 race in Wollongong as a training run Van Coevorden added she was now concentrating on the next stage of her career and would no longer compete competitively in just triathlons "I've kind of stopped trying to go to the Olympics now I've moved into half Ironman distance events," she said "I'm racing in Huskinson next month and then compete in the Pro Series in Geelong "It's an exciting new challenge for this year and it feels like I'm being reborn as an athlete." North Wollongong Surf Lifesaving Club age-manager Luke Turby with some of the club's 35 nippers who will compete in the Australia Day Aquathon in Wollongong Picture supplied.All Australian states except the Northern Territory will be represented at the 25th edition of Wollongong's Australia Day Aquathon with over 2000 athletes registered to compete on Sunday Founder and long-term event director Rob Battocchio said that with a 5km fun run to accompany the four swim-run aquathlons from those out for a bit of fitness fun to the very elite Aquathon has attracted an incredible history of elite athletes gracing the podium and un-earthed multiple rising young stars," Battocchio said "Four-time winner Gwen Jorgenson from the US went on to achieve gold at the Olympics and World Triathlon Championships topping the international list that has seen over 15 athletes from across the globe at world-class level "Though the elite list is incredible, I am proud that MMJ Aquathon is now more about just having fun and not the elites." He added that the event also aimed to raise over $10,000 for the Black Dog Institute The January 26 aquathon will be held at Wollongong Harbour foreshore along the Blue Mile The events kick off with the Fun Run at 8am Mini and Kids at 9:15am and Short at 9:45am Visit www.aquathon.com.au for entry and event details Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure. Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening Get the latest property and development news here Find out what's happening in local business Test your skills with interactive crosswords Get the latest news to your email inbox FREE Jelle Geens and Natalie Van Coevorden have claimed the men’s and women’s professional titles at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong with both athletes impressing on their way to victory in the opening round of the 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series picked up where he left off when he was crowned IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion in New Zealand last December while for Australia’s Van Coevorden it was a first ever IRONMAN 70.3 race win Geens came home 45 seconds clear of a fast-finishing Jake Birtwhistle with New Zealand’s Tayler Reid rounding out the podium with Geens taking home the maximum 2,500 IRONMAN Pro Series points because I wasn’t 100 percent sure how I was going to feel because I got sick a couple of weeks ago and then my partner got sick and it was very busy with the baby but luckily we had a lot of help from her family but then in the end I actually felt really good but I needed it today because the guys were on fire “There was Aaron Royle and Matt Hauser who are two of the best swimmers in the world so they kept an honest pace on the swim but I was very happy that I actually came with them out of the water and was in the front straight away I tried to really push from kilometre 15 to kilometre 30 on the bike but you could really see that it was too hard to really make a gap and break people so then I decided to not spend too much energy and really focus on that run,” said Geens “The second lap of the bike was quite a bit faster which hurt some people’s legs I then set out on quite a fast pace on the run I guess they think it’s quite a chilled pace to keep for a couple of kilometres but then I got a gap and I slowly increased it and I could start running my pace that I knew I felt I could do for the 21k.” with just 19 seconds covering the top 12 men following the 1.9km swim The triple Olympian hit the front of the pack on the bike course before Australia’s Ben Hill pushed ahead to return to transition first The early stages of the run were fast and furious with the top 10 all within touching distance of each other Japan’s Kenji Nener and Reid were all covered by less than a second who ran shoulder to shoulder for much of the 21.1km Birtwistle stayed close throughout the middle stages of the run before making his move working his way up to second ahead of Reid In the women’s race Natalie Van Coevorden claimed a breakthrough win with the Australian Olympian finishing less than 30 seconds clear of New Zealand’s Hannah Berry extending her impressive run of podiums in Geelong to eight in a row you’re not going to hold up the banner too many times in your career and holding up an IRONMAN 70.3 one so early in my switch is really special everything played out how I wanted it to today and it couldn’t have gone any more perfectly to be honest,” said Van Coevorden you don’t need to do anything special and it paid off in the end and I ran the best race I could,” she said But it was almost a win that didn’t happen for Van Coevorden after starting the day unwell you’ve had a really good block of training and you’re probably fitter that you think and I think all those years of racing 14 years of doing triathlon now really paid off today because my body just knew what to do when I needed it most,” she said with Hannah Knighton and Hannah Berry third and fourth respectively Van Coevorden hit the front early in the 90km ride three-time IRONMAN race winner Regan Hollioake swapping positions a number of times across the two laps the reigning IRONMAN Asia-Pacific champion and a former winner in Geelong pushed ahead early on the run but Van Coevorden didn’t let her out of her sight moving into the lead after eight kilometres and then controlling the pace from there to go on to take her first IRONMAN 70.3 race win and the maximum 2,500 IRONMAN Pro Series points with Thek powering through the run to move up finishing the ride seventh to end the race on the podium For more information on IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong visit: www.ironman.com/im703-geelong Natalie Van Coevorden’s Olympic debut in Paris will be a heartfelt celebration of her journey enriched by the unwavering support of her family and the legacy of the women that have come before her the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) athlete brings with her a blend of personal perseverance and the backing of those who believed marking her long-awaited moment on the world’s grandest stage The 31-year-old is one of three Games debutants alongside Luke Willian and Sophie Linn the trio joining Tokyo Olympian Matt Hauser on the Australian team for triathlon’s sixth Games appearance The famous streets of one of the world’s great cities will welcome memories of when she first raced around the Eiffel Tower in 2012 Van Coevorden has experienced the ups-and-downs of a professional triathlete overcoming the heartbreak of missing selection for Tokyo 2020 but somehow picking herself up to finally get the call up this time around I just burst into tears,” Van Coevorden said I’m really grateful for this opportunity and I’m going to grasp it with everything I’ve got for myself and the other three people on this team’ “I was just so excited and grateful to have my partner and one of my best friends there to share that moment The girl from Campbelltown in Sydney’s south-west admits the last few years have been a real resilience battle for her “The past five years been nothing short of challenging I’ve had to pick myself up as an athlete many times,” Van Coevorden said “There were lots of times I could have called it quits There were times I didn’t believe in myself “I’ve gone through a lot and all the support I’ve got from AusTriathlon but we’ve made it with both feet on the ground.” Perhaps no support has been more significant over the past eight months than current coach who stood by Van Coevorden after she anchored Australia to 14th place in the Mixed Relay at last year’s Paris test event “I was in a pretty bad place after walking home after the Mixed Relay with Dan,” Van Coevorden said “He literally picked me up from off the ground and took me with open arms into his coaching environment “It’s been a great eight months learning from him and getting feedback from him on what we can do better especially over the shorter distance of the relay.” Van Coevorden’s gratitude extends to her family whose unwavering support has been instrumental throughout her career “You realise when you get older your parents do a lot for you when you are a kid and I would not be an Olympian without them,” Van Coevorden said “Mum and Dad have not been able to see me race over the past few years with me spending so much time in Europe It will be great to have them here in Paris to cheer me on and not having to watch from behind a TV screen for once.” Having spent a decade racing with Poissy Triathlon in the French Grand Prix Van Coevorden’s connection to Paris extends beyond her Olympic debut Her long-standing involvement with the team has created a deep bond with the city A bond that was first forged when she raced beneath the iconic Eiffel Tower in 2012 “They are all going to come down and watch,” Van Coevorden said “It will feel like I’m part of one big family “One of my Facebook memories popped up recently from 2012 with Charlotte McShane and myself pictured at the Eiffel Tower for the Paris Grand Prix “To think that ‘wow’ 12 years on I’ll be back there racing on the world’s biggest stage at the Olympics “It was the first time we’d been to Paris and such landmarks as the Eiffel Tower and ever since then it has been a fascination “Over the past 10 years I’ve been so close to Paris with so many connections so it will be great to be back in one of the great iconic cities of the world.” Van Coevorden’s path to the Olympics reflects the inspiration and support she has garnered from those who came before her Her connection to the Games was first kindled by watching Erin Densham The early exposure instilled in her the belief that the Olympic stage was within reach I did a lot of sport but I wasn’t really good at any of them and never thought I could ever go to the Olympics “But my special memory was when I was in school watching 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Erin Densham make her Olympic debut in Beijing in 2008 my triathlon club and went to my high school John Therry Catholic College in Campbelltown “That was the first memory of the Olympics that I had – and I thought if she could do it then maybe I could too Van Coevorden drawing inspiration from the achievements of Beijing gold and bronze medallists Emma Snowsill and Emma Moffatt “It’s been so nice to catch up with Emma Moffatt in her role (as Olympic Campaign Lead) with AusTriathlon and Emma Snowsill came into Italy when we were racing recently,” said Van Coevorden “It so good to get some advice and support and great to have them around “They built that pathway for us and recognising what they’ve done and getting as much back from them as possible is so important “There are only a handful of women that have been before me It’s nice to be a part of that select group of women from Australia.” The 2025 IRONMAN Pro Series got off to an unexpectedly muted start as technical difficulties pretty much wiped out the planned live broadcast of 70.3 Geelong But the racing itself took place and Jelle Geens (BEL) and Natalie Van Coevorden (AUS) emerged as the winners of the opening race of the campaign Geens was starting the year as he finished 2024 having been crowned 70.3 World Champion in New Zealand in mid-December But for Van Coevorden it was a first-ever IRONMAN 70.3 victory With no live broadcast it was hard to decipher exactly how things panned out in real time but this has been the week of ultrarunning’s Barkley Marathons It was Australian Paris 2024 Olympic Games representative Natalie Van Coevorden who led out the swim with her 26:08 giving her a 10+ seconds buffer to the rest But onto the bike and midway through we had a front ‘pack’ of five – Van Coevorden fellow Aussie Regan Hollioake plus a New Zealand trio of Hannah Berry moving into the lead after eight kilometres and then controlling the pace from there to go on to take her first 70.3 race win and the maximum 2,500 IRONMAN Pro Series points with a charging Grace Thek (AUS) moving up from seventh to third thanks to a 1:18 half marathon In the men’s race there were no fewer than 13 in the front pack of the swim with Josh Ferris leading out fellow Aussie Matt Hauser as the latter dipped into middle-distance racing It remained similarly tight on the bike – there were 20 within a minute at halfway But it wasn’t a huge surprise to see reigning 70.3 World Champion Geens stamp his class all over the run He had moved to the head of affairs before the 10k mark but Kenji Nener (JPN) another athlete trying out a step up in distance to good effect But Geens was always going to be hard to contain and a fastest-of-the-day 1:07:58 half marathon proved decisive Jake Birtwhistle (AUS) was the only person within a miinute behind IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong – Sunday March 23 20251.9km / 90km / 21.1km NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) triathlete Natalie Van Coevorden along with Matthew Hauser, Luke Willian and Sophie Linn will represent Australia at Paris 2024, with the quartet selected today by the Australian Olympic Committee. Van Coevorden, Willian and Linn all make their Olympic debut while 26-year-old Hauser becomes the fifth Australian man to contest the triathlon at two Olympics. Hauser, Willian and Van Coevorden are currently training in Spain ahead of the Games while Linn is in her Colorado training base. Today’s announcement takes the selected Australian Olympic Team size to 203 for an expected 460-strong team for Paris. Australia’s triathletes will each contest the individual event and combine for the mixed team relay. Fresh out of a gruelling swim session, Van Coevorden was overcome with emotion upon receiving the news of her selection over the phone. “When I got the good news I just burst into tears,” Van Coevorden said. “I said ‘Thank you so much, I’m really grateful for this opportunity and I’m going to grasp it with everything I’ve got for myself and the other three people on this team’. “I was just so excited and grateful to have my partner and one of my best friends there to share that moment. All of us were in tears to be honest. “Shortly after I called my parents. They’ve been part of the journey since I was a young kid. They took me to swimming when I was young at five o’clock in the morning. “They gave me everything when I was young to be the best athlete I could. It’s great to share this moment with so many people in my life.” Hauser sits fourth and Willian 13th in world rankings, finishing second and third respectively at the World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama last month. The four athletes have already tasted international success as a team, combining to win mixed relay silver at the World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg in 2022. Chef de Mission Anna Meares welcomed the four athletes to the Australian Olympic Team for Paris. “Congratulations Matt, Natalie, Luke and Sophie on your selection to the Australian Olympic Team,” Ms Meares said. “I know the team are currently deep in preparation for the Games, training hard in Europe and North America. While they may be away from home, each of them will be feeling the joy and support of their families, friends and the triathlon community who are rightfully celebrating their Olympic achievement today. “With only 36 days until the cauldron is lit in Paris, I am thrilled to see today’s announcement take the Australian Team size past 200 – with more than 250 more athletes set to be announced in the coming weeks to chase their Olympic dream in Paris.” After earning an automatic nomination at last month’s World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama, Willian shared his excitement at making his selection official. “I’m absolutely stoked,” Willian said. “After missing out in 2021, this has been the goal for the past three years – to qualify for Paris. To be able to do that, and to officially be selected just feels amazing. “There are only around 460 Australians selected for these Olympics, and I believe it’s about the same every year, so, I’m in very special company. To have my name among some of the greats is pretty special.” AusTriathlon CEO Tim Harradine congratulated the athletes on their selection. “This is a historic moment for Australian triathlon as we celebrate Matt, Luke, Natalie and Sophie’s selection for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” Harradine said. “Congratulations, Matt, on your second Olympic selection. And to Luke, Natalie and Sophie on the realisation of a lifelong dream. Only 25 Australians have ever worn the green and gold triathlon suit at the Olympics, and your selection for the Paris 2024 Games places you in an exclusive group. “Behind every athlete’s success stands dedicated coaches who have nurtured their talents and supported them every step of the way. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dan Atkins, Warwick Dalziel, and Danielle Stefano for their guidance. “We also recognise the invaluable support of the athletes’ families whose love, sacrifice, belief have been instrumental in their journeys to the Olympic Games. To the parents, siblings, partners, and extended family members, your support has been a cornerstone of their success. “As a sport and as a nation, we are incredible fortunate to have these four exceptional athletes representing us in Paris.” The NSW Institute of Sport acknowledges the Aboriginal people, the Traditional Custodians of this land, and pays respect to our Aboriginal Elders – past, present and emerging By submitting this form, you agree to NSWIS' Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Picture by Robert PeetWarm conditions didn't wipe the smiles off the faces of the more than 2000 people from around the world who took part in the 25th Wollongong Aquathon on Sunday The swim leg took place in Belmore Basin and the longest race taking people up past Puckeys View +32 PhotosOrganiser Rob Battochio described the event as "spectacular" "We had probably the most ideal conditions you could ask for - the water was extremely clean and calm with little to no wind," he said were held during the 25th edition of Wollongong's annual Australia Day event Read about all the action here and see more photos here Today's top stories curated by our news team. Also includes evening update. Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. Love footy? 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Or sign-in if you have an account Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience Vancouver’s family name was originally van Coevorden This info comes courtesy of philanthropist Yosef Wosk and writer Alan Twigg who have been delving into George Vancouver’s heritage and for years I wondered (about) Vancouver — what does that mean?” said Wosk Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Wosk was so taken with what he found that he decided to mount a “pilgrimage” to Europe to trace Capt which he planned to film to show at schools The 75th anniversary of the liberation of Coevorden during the Second World War is April 5 and the town was liberated by Canadian troops they made plans to be in Coevorden for a celebration of the liberation They were to bring along a proclamation by Mayor Kennedy Stewart announcing April 5 will be Coevorden Appreciation Day in Vancouver and personal messages to Coevorden from B.C Premier John Horgan and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson the celebration has been postponed after the COVID-19 pandemic Vancouver had such an interesting story that he wanted to share it now The pilgrimage was to be called the SS Chuck Davis after the late and beloved civic historian “Chuck Davis dedicated his life to tell us how interesting (Vancouver history is),” said Twigg Davis often took schoolchildren to see the Capt Vancouver statue in front of Vancouver City Hall I’ll give you a hint — his first name is George,’ ” said Twigg “Whereupon all the schoolchildren would answer Vancouver’s family was once prominent in the Netherlands but their fortunes turned and in the 1600s some van Coevordens moved to England but at least one branch of the family anglicized their name to Vancouver He was on-board the HMS Discovery in 1778 when it “discovered” the Hawaiian Islands for Europeans and Vancouver nearly met the same fate: Twigg said “the day before Cook was killed Vancouver was badly beaten by Hawaiians.” In 1791 Vancouver was placed in charge of two vessels charged with charting the Pacific Coast of North America “Part of their surveying was trying to find a connection between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans to try and find if there was a Northwest Passage,” said Wosk “In his expedition in the 1790s they went up (north) as far as anyone had ever gone They conclusively reported back to the Crown that there was no Northwest Passage.” Vancouver and his crew charted the coast from California to Alaska the second European to visit today’s Vancouver “Quadra and Vancouver met on the coast here and became very good friends,” said Twigg even though England and Spain were at naval loggerheads When they were making these maps they decided to call it Quadra and Vancouver Island.” After a record 4 1/2-year surveying voyage Vancouver returned to England in September 1795 A three-volume journal of his voyage was completed by his brother John after his death In 1885 the Canadian Pacific Railway decided to locate its terminus at the head of Burrard Inlet The small town of Granville was already there “The reason the city got named Vancouver is because people back in England knew sort of where it was (because of Vancouver Island),” said Twigg “So the name got appropriated from the Island to the town.” Wosk and Twigg’s postponed expedition was to touch down at both Vancouver’s birthplace in King’s Lynn They also planned to visit the Royal Naval College in Greenwich which has handwritten documents by Vancouver they were even hoping to meet with members of his family — the branch that didn’t change their name jmackie@postmedia.com transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account the 29-year-old looms as Australia’s best chance of a medal in the Commonwealth Games women’s triathlon Van Coevorden was a controversial non-selection for Australia’s ill-fated Tokyo Olympics triathlon team She tried to show the selectors the error of their ways in races after the team was picked but eventually realised her motivation at international races was all wrong “It was one of the hardest years I’ve been through,” she said of 2021 “I tried to race after the Olympics announcement and I was racing to try and prove a point rather than racing for myself “I really got caught in that bubble … it took me a while to get out of that “I know that’s behind me and there are good things to come rather than stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic and feels that counted against her when it came to picking the Tokyo team She felt as though she had gone outside the national squad system and paid for it “I was the only one who was racing internationally,” she said “I kind of got punished for doing my job her family’s 14-year-old labrador Keisha died while she was away “It was really sad – when I left (overseas) I was like ‘you can’t leave me I’m going to be back home eventually but unfortunately she died while I was away,” she said who kept Van Coevorden busy when she returned to Australia earlier this year for a few weeks “After last year … it was pretty cool that finally my results could get me onto a major Games team,” she said “I’m looking forward to getting out there and proving I deserve to be on that team … I really want to put my best foot forward.” The great Flora Duffy is the woman to beat on Friday at Sutton Park The Bermuda star is the reigning Commonwealth champion and also dominated last year’s Olympics race England will also be formidable opposition Sian Rainsley and Georgia Taylor-Brown above Van Coevorden (20th) in the international rankings Charlotte McShane and Sophie Linn will also race for Australia in the 750m swim A strategic and comprehensive investment through Commonwealth Games Australia’s (CGA) Green2Gold2Great (G2G2G) Program is enhancing preparation and performance capabilities for Australian athletes ahead of Glasgow 2026 Jack Caldwell’s breakthrough victory at the Australian Junior Super Sprint Championship where he clinched his first national title has earned him the title of Commonwealth Games Australia’s (CGA) Emerging Athlete of the Month for February Four Commonwealth Games medallists are set to lead the charge for triathlon at the upcoming Paris 2024 Paralympic Games with the nation’s biggest squad yet to contest the event Australia’s best triathletes will be led by three-time Commonwealth Games medallist Matt Hauser as the team looks to return to the Olympic podium following the announcement of the final squad last week Join to receive our 'Greater Together' e-Newsletter filled with all the latest news regarding the Commonwealth Games Australia family Become part of our Commonwealth Games Australia family and get all the latest news on our team members Hauser will compete at his second Olympic Games to go along with his two Commonwealth Games appearances that have yielded him a gold and two bronze medals The 26-year-old came third in the men’s Individual competition at Birmingham 2022 and has produced strong results in the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) since then A maiden win in Montreal last June paired with a second-place finish at the most recent WTCS event in Yokohama hold him in good stead to become the first Australian man to medal in an Olympic triathlon Nipping at his heels in Yokohama was Gold Coast 2018 Team Member Luke Willian whose efforts there were enough to line him up for an Olympic debut in Paris It will be Willian’s first Olympic Games after he narrowly missed out on selection for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and a chance to build on his eighth-place finish at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games six years ago After competing against each other in the men’s individual event, Willian and Hauser will team up with Birmingham 2022 bronze medallists Natalie Van Coevorden and Sophie Linn to take on the recently added Mixed Team Relay event The quartet came together to claim a silver medal in the relay at the 2022 WTCS event in Hamburg showing what they can do on the world stage as a team Van Coevorden and Linn will be coming off their own individual races in Paris, where they will look to join the likes of Melbourne 2006 gold medallist Emma Snowsill and Manchester 2002 Team Members Michellie Jones and Loretta Harrop as Australian Olympic triathlon medallists The unveiling of the four triathletes tips the number of Australian athletes confirmed for next month’s Olympic Games past 200 with a further 250 athletes expected to be announced in the coming weeks The triathlon events will be held on 30 July (men) and 31 July (women) and 5 August (Mixed Relay) The start and finish line of the triathlon events will be at Pont Alexandre III has a single 107-metre arch and three hinges enabling it to span the Seine in a single unbroken curve The course will see athletes competing against the backdrop of symbolic landmarks such as the Champs-Elysées With thanks to Triathlon Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee Natalie, Matt, Luke and Sophie with her no.1 supporter (Willie 🐶) have punched their tickets to the #Paris2024 triathlon! 🇫🇷#AllezAUS | @AusTriathlon pic.twitter.com/smkXYGTOtT — AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) June 20, 2024 Current Australian Triathlon Olympic Team (as of 25 June 2024) Para-triathlete Jack Howell is the Commonwealth Games Australia (CGA) Emerging Athlete of the Month for March after a strong performance saw him snare his first win on the World Para-Triathlon Series Rheem announced this week that it has acquired Netherlands-based gas boiler and water heater company Intergas Intergas will join Rheem’s Global Water Division and will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary Intergas’ headquarters will remain in Coevorden commercial boilers and refrigeration products that are available in more than 50 countries Its parent company is headquartered in Atlanta but Rheem has been a fixture in Montgomery's manufacturing community since 1972 Rheem has added jobs and invested in upgrades here in recent years it announced the addition of 26 new jobs and a $2.5 million investment as part of an effort to make a new line of metal-free water heaters It opened a new facility in Montgomery in 2017 and now employs about 900 people here “The addition of Intergas into the Rheem family of brands increases the breadth of our boiler and water heating offerings, while also providing Rheem with competitive solutions to meet consumer demands in Europe,” Paloma Rheem Global President and CEO Chris Peel said in a release announcing the acquisition Intergas makes high-efficiency residential gas boilers and water heaters It’s a Dutch market leader for gas-fired condensing boilers and has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom “Rheem understands our core business and its leadership is committed to long‐term growth plans for Intergas,” Intergas CEO Janno de Haas said in a release “We look forward to accelerating product innovations together with Rheem and expanding into new markets and regions in the future.” Gault & Millau UAE Home - News - Schilo van Coevorden in town this weekend for omakase experience at Taiko The influential chef holds four toques at the original Taiko in Amsterdam Dubai’s Taiko is welcoming founder Schilo van Coevorden for two nights only The eight-course menu is available from 6pm to 11pm and costs AED450 per person (plus taxes) Orignally from the Netherlands and trained in classical French cuisine van Coervorden’s culinary inspiration comes from Asia The tasting menu will include dishes such as wasabi vychysoisse snowcrab chilled chawanmushi and yuzu chicken and more The 2023 review of Taiko by Gault&Millau UAE guide said: “The restaurant’s ambience is characterised by dim lighting in The Netherlands it was named Asian Restaurant of the Year 2023 Reservations are recommended for the Chef’s menu Subscribe to our newsletter and receive a digital copy of the Gault&Millau UAE 2025 guide This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Birmingham bound triathlon rookies are rounding into form ahead of next month’s Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Birmingham bound rookies Natalie Van Coevorden and Brandon Copeland have produced confidence-boosting performances in the intense heat of Montreal today leading into next month’s Commonwealth Games The pair both finished in 11th in their respective Elite events in the World Triathlon Championship Series gut-wrenching Super Sprint Eliminator – missing their respective finals by one place Campbelltown’s Van Coevorden was again the best placed of the Australian girls backing up her 11th place in Leeds – and pushing in to 13th in the overall Series pointscore The women’s eliminator final eventually saw Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) break away on the final bike leg to beat Cassandre Beaugrand (FRA) and Beth Potter (GBR) In the first eliminator it was Van Coevorden Australia’s WTCS debutant Matilda Offord and Tokyo Olympian Jaz Hedgeland who all qualified inside the top 20 for round two with Kira Hedgeland and Sophie Linn missing the cut who scraped into the final 30 in last place on Saturday was quick to react when racing reverted to a full Super Sprint Triathlon (300m swim; 7.2km bike and a 2 km run) “I knew after yesterday that going back to a triathlon would play into my benefit and although I missed the qualifying by one place I finished 11th in Leeds and 11th again today so that’s really good for my consistency and leading into Commonwealth Games it’s a really good place to be,” said Van Coevorden Offord certainly made her presence felt in her first WTCS race in the grueling Super Sprint Eliminator The youngster from Sydney’s Northern Beaches where she trains under NSW Performance Coach Liam O’Neill was quick to respond to the words of Olympic Program Head Coach Joel Filliol that: “Position going into transition becomes one of the demanding skills where it rewards aggressive and positive racing.” And that was certainly a standout trait developed by Offord who experienced rubbing shoulders with the world’s best for the first time in a highly competitive series of races who is setting up for the Under 23 World Championship race in Abu Dhabi in November will now line up in tomorrow’s Under 23/Junior Relay Kingscliff’s Gold Coast-based Copeland produced a series of aggressive races right from Saturday’s qualifier and into Sunday’s cut throat rounds before collapsing over the line for 11th in the second race – his best ever WTCS finish – and a huge confidence booster In today’s opening eliminator Copeland was the first of the Australian trio out of the water and he worked his way out of transition cleanly to ensure he was well placed on the bike as the entire group of 30 came together Out of T2 and it was Copeland who ran his way into sixth as New Zealand’s Olympic bronze medallist Hayden Wilde dictated proceedings up front as he did for most of the day In the end Copeland maintained his place in the main group to qualify for round two with teammates Jake Birtwhistle and WTCS debutant Callum McClusky both out of the running – Birtwhistle suffering a 10 second time penalty which cost him a top 20 spot – crossing in 21st while McClusky crossed in 28th before being disqualified for a swim course infringement Copeland again worked hard through the swim in the second round of 20 coming out of the water in 11th working his way towards the leaders on the bike where he sat inside the top three on the bell lap Coming out of transition onto the final 2km run Copeland worked his way into the top 12 before staging a belated charge to the line for an agonising 11th but amongst the best of the best as he sets himself for his Games debut in Birmingham on July 29 favourites Alex Yee (GBR) and Wilde staged another thrilling finish who fought his way back bravely on the bike after suffering a mechanical fault with Leo Bergere (FRA) finishing strongly for third The Seven Network will remain the home of the Commonwealth Games in Australia announced today as the official broadcast media partner of Glasgow 2026 next year Lianna Davidson’s golden throw at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne and a personal-best season opener in the US have earned the rising javelin star the title of Commonwealth Games Australia’s Emerging Athlete of the Month for March Named in recognition of one of Australia’s most accomplished Paralympic and Commonwealth Games athletes this year’s cohort of Kurt Fearnley Scholarship (KFS) recipients have ambitions to make their own marks on the world stage Sign In Register If you know a little about Vancouver's history a British naval officer and explorer who sailed through the area in the 1790s Vancouver's family name can be traced back to a northern Dutch town on the German border with very little in common with the Canadian metropolis It's called Coevorden It's from there that the ancestors of George Vancouver came; at one point they were the van Coevordens, which is essentially saying they were "from Coevorden." At a talk given in Coevorden by Michael Francis (a central figure in Expo 86) in 1986, he spoke about the name's history The name Coevorden originated from the Dutch words for "cow crossing"; it's not unheard of for towns to be named that way (Oxford in England just like Vancouver (though it's significantly smaller than the Fraser) Vancouver means "from the cow crossing." The earliest reference to the town, according to its own histories is in the name of a man called Fredericus van Coevorden in 1036 In 1407 it was officially made a city and for a long time held an important role as a fortified city and military stronghold (at points both the Spanish and French held it) still with military connections (there's a storage facility there) and using its proximity to Germany as the impetus for a multinational business park For those thinking of visiting the town, a travel blogger suggests the museum and castle as the top spots to see. They put together a top 10 list for the town The community itself has plenty of older buildings, including a middle ages castle in the middle of the town. For Expo 86 a replica was built here, in Vancouver. It's now in Richmond, which is a whole different story While most Vancouver residents likely don't know much about Coevorden the Dutch town hasn't forgotten the connection the town sent a delegation here to host an event and pitched the idea of the area it's in host a future Olympic Games (that plan was abandoned and L.A They also have a restaurant named after Vancouver Home - News - Schilo Van Coevorden visiting Dubai for an exclusive omakase experience at Taiko The influential Dutch chef holds four toques at the original Taiko in Amsterdam Schilo van Coevorden from the award-winning Taiko restaurant in Amsterdam will visit Dubai next month for an immersive omakase menu experience at Sofitel Dubai The Obelisk The chef, whose Amsterdam restaurant scored 17/20 this year and holds four toques in Gault&Millau Netherlands will be at his restaurant Taiko Dubai from March 22nd to 29th for an exclusive 8-course omakase experience Originally from the Netherlands and trained in classical French cuisine van Coervorden’s culinary inspiration comes from Asia Taking advantage of the amazing spices and local produce of the region he has also created specialities such as his famous watermelon sashimi In the recent publication of the Gault&Millau UAE 2024 guide, Taiko was rated 12.5/20 with the review saying: “The chef has embraced his return to the region and the menu at Taiko has nods to the geographical area adding a Middle Eastern flavour to the contemporary Asian plates.” the review points to dishes such as a mezze platter with black garlic hummus wasabi falafel and Hokkaido milk bread or Persian black cod with miso saffron as “dishes which demonstrate van Coervorden’s influences perfectly.” www.sofitel-dubai-theobelisk.com/restaurants-bars/taiko-dubai/ The omakase tasting menu will be served across evenings at 7pm from March 24 to 28 and priced at AED450 pp. For reservations, call +971 04 281 4111 or email Dine.DubaiTheObelisk@Sofitel.com Birmingham bound Team Members Matt Hauser, Sophie Linn and Natalie Van Coevorden were joined by Gold Coast 2018 Team Member Luke Willian to snatch a solid second place finish behind Great Britain with Germany, after serving a 20-second penalty, hanging on for third. Van Coevorden, who was forced to withdraw from Saturday’s WTC Series race after a mechanical mishap early on in the bike, brought the Australians home in the dramatic dying stages. British anchor Katie Waugh and Germany’s in-form Laura Lindemann had opened up a narrow lead over Van Coevorden in the final run leg but the Australian sped past her German counterpart who was forced to spend 20 seconds in the penalty box – for her teammates “untidy” misdemeanours in the swim and transition legs. Van Coevorden was full of running after strong opening legs from Willian, Linn and Hauser keeping the Australians well and truly in the hunt from the start. Willian, back in the team for the first time since 2019, tagged debutant Linn in third as the New Zealand team, led by Olympic bronze medallist and Series leader Hayden Wilde set a cracking pace. Linn, who has had a whirlwind injection into the WTCS, hung on for her leg of the 300m swim, 7km bike and 1.7km run course, tagging Hauser in a close-up fifth. And it didn’t take long for Hauser to assert his authority on the field as he took the plunge into the waters of the Alster canal, catching the leaders and making sure he was well and truly in the mix for his two-laps of the bike, with a pumping swim leg. But it was Hauser’s eye-catching transition from bike to run that really put the Australians in the box seat, Saturday’s Elite Men’s silver medallist then showing all his class with a power-packed run to give Van Coevorden a 12-second lead at the final changeover. Van Coevorden put her head down on the bike before Waugh and Lindemann combined to reel her in, stealing a march on the Aussie in the two-lap run to the finish. “Luke, Matt and Sophie put me in such a good position and I knew if I stayed there we had a good chance of the podium today and I am really glad we’re back and it’s great to be part of such a great team,” said Van Coevorden. “Australians are really persistent and we never give up as we showed today…and hopefully we can lead this towards Paris and we have many, many good athletes to lead us with a great team and I am really proud of everyone today.” Hauser was quick to praise his teammates, saying, “I got well set up by Luke and Sophie early on and Nat finished really strong and we are so stoked to be on the beer shower again today…” And Willian reflected, “the last time I raced the relay was 2019 so it was great to be back in the team and to get away with a podium is amazing, everyone did so well.” While Linn admitted, “it was so much fun, Luke gave me such a good start and I knew Matt (Hauser) was coming off his second place yesterday, it was so, so good.” The second-place finish will be a huge confidence booster for Birmingham where the 2018 Commonwealth Games champions will face a tough battle to defend their crown when they will again face the might of England, Scotland, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa in only the third Mixed Relay since the event was introduced to the program in Glasgow in 2014. 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg | Mixed Relay A strategic and comprehensive investment through Commonwealth Games Australia’s (CGA) Green2Gold2Great (G2G2G) Program is enhancing preparation and performance capabilities for Australian athletes ahead of Glasgow 2026. Jack Caldwell’s breakthrough victory at the Australian Junior Super Sprint Championship, where he clinched his first national title, has earned him the title of Commonwealth Games Australia’s (CGA) Emerging Athlete of the Month for February. Four Commonwealth Games medallists are set to lead the charge for triathlon at the upcoming Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, with the nation’s biggest squad yet to contest the event. Australia’s best triathletes will be led by three-time Commonwealth Games medallist Matt Hauser, as the team looks to return to the Olympic podium following the announcement of the final squad last week. Join to receive our 'Greater Together' e-Newsletter filled with all the latest news regarding the Commonwealth Games Australia family! © 2025 Commonwealth Games Australia. All Rights Reserved Become part of our Commonwealth Games Australia family and get all the latest news on our team members! (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)Luke Willian and Natalie Van Coevorden know the easy way to put their Tokyo Olympics selection heartbreak behind them is also the most difficult Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueIf an Australian finishes in the top eight of Saturday's Yokohama world series triathlon race in Japan it's up to selectors' discretion - with the team to be named in June Willian and Van Coevorden narrowly missed selection for the Tokyo Games and that's been a key motivation for them ahead of this year's edition in Paris Matt Hauser is the only Australian who has fulfilled the selection criteria with a team of two men and two women likely to be confirmed for the Olympics Willian won the Wollongong World Cup race a fortnight ago as Van Coevorden bypassed that event in favour of a pre-Yokohama training block "It's given me a huge amount of confidence heading into Yokohama," Willian said of his Wollongong win "(Olympic selection) is why I get up every day and do what I do "Being so close last time and missing out really stung It took probably a year or so to move beyond that feeling and the real driver that got me out of that was Paris." Hauser will lead the Australian team in Yokohama and the Tokyo Olympian will also want a strong result after food poisoning forced his late withdrawal from Wollongong and Charlotte McShane round out the Australian team for the Olympic-distance race - a 1.5km swim Yokohama will also feature a paratriathlon with Australian star Lauren Parker racing in the sport for the first time since February Parker won para-cycling events in Belgium last week as she aims to compete in the two sports at the Paris Paralympics Don't miss updates on news about the Public Service. Your exclusive preview of David Pope's latest cartoon. Join our weekly poll for Canberra Times readers. We've selected the best reading for your weekend. but hopes her third placing at the World Triathlon Series opener is a launching pad for the year ahead Sudoku and TriviaAll articles from the other regional websites in your areaContinueTop trio: Emma Jeffcoat Ashley Gentle and Natalie van Coevorden the Australia Day Aquathon at Wollongong Harbour ahead of American Kirsten Kasper, forced to overcome a protest of the result to confirm her podium placing including fellow Illawarra-based talent Ashleigh Gentle the Abu Dhabi race featured eight of the world’s top 10 triathletes Emerging sixth out of the water, Van Coevorden stayed in the leading bunch on the bike and then part of a group of four break clear early on the run with Great Britain’s Jessica Learmonth second.   Van Coevorden was delighted with her third placing it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” she said after the race.  I just tried to keep myself out of trouble and do things I knew I could do really well and it paid off in the end.” The Abu Dhabi leg launched the nine-event WTS series this year finishing with the grand final at the Gold Coast in September The Commonwealth Games team features Wollongong Wizards stars Gentle and Charlotte McShane as well as former training partner Jake Birtwhistle.  Matt Hauser and Gillian Backhouse are also included in the Australian squad to compete on the Gold Coast next month.  Hotelier Middle East Home » Food & Beverage » Dubai is the ‘premier league of restaurants’ Having opened the first restaurants in Wafi’s pyramid two decades back van Coevorden is hoping to put the location on the culinary map as a dining destination Invited by His Highness Sheikh Mana bin Khalifa Al Maktoum to open a venue in The Obelisk Taiko joins Brasserie Boulud in the new hotel but founder and executive chef van Coevorden hasn’t simply transplanted it from the Dutch capital to Dubai we had to up our game and bring a much more international flavour to a more advanced palette especially when you consider that all of the major players within this culinary realm are in Dubai we wanted to bring something unique to the landscape we wanted to add a local touch to the flavours; this is something we don’t see anyone else doing and I have a huge passion for it Unlike some of the other ‘celebrity’ chefs that have opened restaurants in the UAE van Coevorden has committed a significant amount of time to Taiko and expects to be on site for a week each month He said: “I want this restaurant to succeed and have an impact towards Wafi and my commitment to the owner Having just had its grand opening last week Taiko and van Coevorden are now stepping up to the challenge of finding its role in Dubai’s restaurant community