Tough Girl Podcast Bianca Fernandez-Clark: 7x Ironman Finisher and Founder of Women in Tri UK, Making Triathlon More Inclusive for Women.
Bianca Fernandez-Clark is a 7x Ironman finisher, Chair, and co-founder of Women in Tri UK, a charity on a mission to bring more women into triathlon and break down barriers in the sport. With no background in sport, Bianca laced up her trainers at age 29 to tackle a 10km as a way to manage her mental health. From there, she progressed to marathons and, in 2016, took on the challenge of learning to swim and cycle to complete her first triathlon.
As a Black/mixed-race woman, Bianca has been vocal about the lack of diversity in triathlon, especially at long-distance events, and has worked to highlight the barriers faced by the Black community in accessing swimming.
In 2022, she co-founded Women in Tri UK, and the organisation has been growing ever since, working hard to make triathlon more inclusive and accessible for women everywhere.
By day, Bianca works full-time in the financial sector, but every spare moment is dedicated to continuing her own triathlon journey and supporting the work of Women in Tri UK.
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Show notes
- Who is Bianca
- Being based in London
- Being serious about the sport of triathlon
- Staring running at 29 and then moving into triathlon in 2016
- Working full time in the financial services
- Founding Women in Tri UK - which aims to break down barriers and make the sport more accessible for women
- Being at advocate for women, especially women of colour
- Building a community to support women in the sport
- Growing up in the Dominican Republic
- Not being encouraged in sports from a young age
- Dealing with curly, afro hair
- Having zero background in sports
- Not being naturally good at sports
- What changed at 29
- Living in Spain to study for her Masters
- How running gave her a life line
- Going from the couch to 5k
- Crossing the finish line of her first 10K race
- Feeling alive again
- Not falling in love with running straight away
- Going on a journey of self discovery
- Deciding to sign up for her fist Marathon
- Discovering the group - the running bug in the UK
- Meeting a guy who could give her advice…
- Being with her partner for 10 years
- Being a part of the running community
- Not being very fast and being more suited for endurance
- Getting into triathlon
- Signing up for swim classes and learning to ride a bike for the first time
- Doing her first triathlon which was a women only event.
- Wanting to take on an ironman
- The stress of cutoffs
- The time commitment involved in training
- Making training work for her lifestyle
- Doing the best training that she can with the time she has
- Having a goal of finishing the race
- Making training part of her lifestyle
- Hair advice and tips
- Alice Dearing
- Hairstyles for women in triathlon
- Black women role models in the triathlon space
- Sika Henry
- The lack of swimming lessons for children
- How Women in Tri UK came about
- Heading to Kona, Ironman World Championships
- Using lockdown for fitness and training more
- Women in Tri, First sponsored Athlete - Naomi Rumble
- Coaching programs and having realistic training plans for women
- Speaking with British Triathlon
- Advocacy work and partnering with SheRaces
- Barriers for women in triathlon and writing a detailed 63 page report
- Making sure the sport also changes
- The plans for Women in Tri over the next few years
- Partnering with Cycle Sisters
- The diversity of Women in Tri
- Wanting to remove financial barriers
- Working with brands
- Working on her personal goals and wanting to go back to Kona
- Recovering from a broken foot
- How to connect with Bianca
- Women in Tri US - being closed
- Final words of advice for women who do want to take on a triathlon
- "Women in Tri, Made me do it!"
Social Media
Website www.womenintriuk.org
@biancatriathlon @womenintriuk