CEO Update | January 2026

The recent Scottish budget has delivered a much needed and welcome level of support to Scottish Governing Bodies of Sport (SGB). 

In the Budget, Cabinet Secretary for Finance Shona Robison revealed a total uplift of £40m for sports funding in 2026. Around £18m of that will go to sportscotland with a focus on supporting sports governing bodies (SGBs) and their day-to-day operational needs. The announcement comes in the wake of the SGBs’ powerful Running on Empty campaign highlighting how sports in Scotland were struggling to operate amid increasing financial pressures and standstill funding decisions over the last five years.  

In 2021, the Scottish Government pledged to double annual funding to £100m per year by 2026 but had yet to increase sport’s annual budget during the current Parliament. Running On Empty, supported by more than 30 sports, shone a strong light on the risks created by the lack of funding especially around the valuable work done by governing bodies at grassroots, community and elite levels. 

Sports governing bodies in Scotland (SGBs) have begun discussions about how to get much needed cash to their organisations as quickly as possible after welcoming the Scottish Government’s announcement of a financial boost for sport.  

Looking at the race year ahead, we’re now only 6-weeks away from our first Scottish National Championships of the year.  The Scottish National Duathlon Championships and European Qualifier is the first of ten championships across the year and it kicks off the championship season at East Fortune Duathlon, Sunday 22 March 2026, East Fortune Motor Racing Circuit. Hosted by TriWorks Edinburgh.  Full details of the ten championship events can be found here https://www.triathlonscotland.org/events/scottish-championships/ Two of our Scottish Camps events also double up as British Championships this year, the Scottish National Aquabike Champs hosted by Monifieth Triathlon Club and the Scottish National Cross Championships hosted by Durty Events. 

Celtic Cup 2026 planning is well underway and those that were selected for the cancelled 2025 race will have received an email from us this week, please check your inbox.   We will be shortly releasing dates for the qualification events for the remaining places on the 2026 team…and…the qualification events for the 2027 race. 

Whilst we continue to train in the Scottish Winter some of our athletes have been warm weather training in various parts of the world.  The athletes from the National Triathlon Centre have been out in Aguilas with coaches March Austin and Ailsa MacArthur.  This opportunity is invaluable to the athletes as they prepare for the coming race season.  They posted footage of their camp on the National Triathlon Centre Instagram feed and is worth a follow.  https://www.instagram.com/stories/nationaltriathloncentre/3816270497814779538/?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MWM5eGJmcXY2YnFqZg%3D%3D  

Scottish Pro athlete Cameron Main has been training over in Australia following his success in his debut Ironman down under in the Asisa-pacific championships.  The whole team were delighted at the news of Cameron signing for Bianchi Pro Tri team https://www.instagram.com/p/DS1-m-ZDNLt/?igsh=cHFyb3VnMGUyNzR2  

I was thankful to John Lunn, CEO Scottish Swimming to be invited along to the Saving Lives Changing lives hustings event this week.  Five politicians representing five political parties were posed a series of questions in relation to school swimming, access to and cost of pools, keeping pools open and they committed to: 

• That there should be consultation around pool closures 

• Sport is cheaper than sickness and important for wider health 

• We need more collaboration to solve the facility crisis 

Being able to swim is a critical life skill and plays such an important part in the health of our nation.  

Swimming is a sport for all and a sport for life and we at Triathlon Scotland support our partners at Scottish Swimming in being passionate about ensuring everyone can swim through: 

• School swimming – giving every child the opportunity to experience water in a safe and fun environment. 

• A task force on swimming – a joint task force to be set up to assess in more detail the national investment need and deliver an action plan to combat pool closures. 

• Protection of pools – the closure of just one pool has huge implications for local communities 

Lastly, many congratulations to the Edinburgh New Year’s Day triathlon team for reaching the fantastic milestone of 30th edition of this iconic race.  220 Triathlon magazine ran a great article showcasing the event and its special place in the race calendar https://www.220triathlon.com/news/edinburgh-sprint-triathlon-new-years  

Steve 

CEO