Sport England’s latest statistics indicate that there’s a growth of female participation in sport, and a continued rise in triathlon participation. This is matched with nearly a 10% increase in Triathlon England membership in 2015.
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Sport England’s Active People Survey measures the number of people taking part in sport across the nation. It reaches 165,000 adults (age 14 and over) and began in 2005/6. Findings are published every six months.
Participants report their individual activities, such as swimming, cycling and running, so measuring triathlon data accurately is problematic. The number of individuals participating in triathlon is recognised to be well in excess of 100,000 on an annual basis.
While this number isn’t picked up by the Active People Survey, there was a 38% rise since last year in the number reporting that they were taking part in triathlon on a monthly basis; an increase from 9,700 to 13,400.
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Furthermore, there has been a 5% growth in participation in open-water swimming. Female participation levels in sport have risen, which is being attributed in part to the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign. There are now 148,700 more women playing sport and getting active once a week, every week, than there were a year ago.
British Triathlon Chief Executive Jack Buckner added: “These are encouraging figures from Sport England, and our internal indicators are all positive too. Home Nations membership has reached its highest ever level, with Triathlon England membership having risen 9.8% since this time last year.
“GO TRI has introduced a lot of new people to triathlon. There were 10,000 race starts in GO TRI events this year, and 47% of those registered on the GO TRI website are female. In fact, our highest participation growth area is women over 55, which is hugely encouraging and demonstrates the broad appeal of participating in triathlon.
“Increased participation in triathlon is one of the major strands of our recently launched vision for sport to 2024. So we’re pleased with the positive indicators that have been released by Sport England via the Active People Survey.”
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