coaches so much, he believes it could be a blueprint for other countries to follow.

Troy Jacobson, a professional coach and a three-time, long course US national champion, said he was amazed by the popularity of triathlon on the Island and praised the way it was run by the Bermuda Triathlon Association.

Baltimore-based Jacobson was on a visit to the Island as the guest speaker of the BTA on the association's awards night last weekend.

"I live in the area between New York and Washington DC, which is the most heavily populated part of the United States,'' said Jacobson. "There are two million people in the Baltimore area alone and we don't have as many triathletes as you do here.

"I'm so impressed with the organisation of triathlon with the different groups and I'm impressed with the junior programme and the many events.

"I'm amazed how well triathlon does in a relatively small country. I think Bermuda has a model triathlon programme.'' That is praise indeed for the BTA from the 31-year-old Jacobson, who founded and now runs The Triathlon Academy, which he claimed was the world's largest for-profit coaching organisation.

Jacobson has 40 coaches working with him and offers coaching via the Internet to triathletes all over the world, including those in Bermuda.

One of his top clients is Joanna Zeiger, one of the first-ever US Olympic triathletes. And locals who have benefited from his advice include Female Triathlete of the Year Karen Smith, Laurie Orchard, Greg Bernius, John Brunson and Aaron Smith.

Jacobson said he offered several different levels of coaching, and sent training programmes by e-mail, supplemented by telephone consultations.

He has also produced several indoor training videos, including a cycling workout entitled `Spinervals' and a running workout used by Bermuda's Kent Richardson.

Jacobson started out as a college football player at a time when he weighed around 200 pounds.

"My ambition was to play in the NFL, but I realised I just was not quite good enough,'' said Jacobson.

"Then I lost 40 to 50 pounds of body weight and I felt better, stronger and healthier. What appealed to me about triathlon was that you could be average at three different things and then you combine them and you could be competitive.'' His triathlon talent became clear in his first race, the Columbia Triathlon, when he finished 10th in a field of 700.

Since then he has won three US Long Course National Championships in successive years between 1996 and 1998 and claimed a 20th place finish at the 1998 Hawaii Ironman World Championships.

Troy Jacobson: Three-time US triathlon champion.