Natalie van Coevorden

In a squad largely made up of domestic athletes, Van Coevorden would split her training commitments to spend six months a year in Wollongong, Australia, and relocate to Vitoria, Spain for the European racing season.

More recently, she has made the decision to switch coaches to Paulo Sousa’s more internationally-focused training group that includes the likes of USA’s Taylor Spivey. With Covid restrictions making travelling home more difficult, it has coincided with spending much more time in Europe. One bonus being not having to get up at 4.30am to train.

Van Coevorden has gained representative honours throughout her career, wearing the Australian gold and green from junior to elite level at multiple world championships, competing in her first World Triathlon Series race in Sydney in 2012 and earning a first podium on the ITU circuit at the following year’s Tongyeong World Cup.

In 2018, she gained her first WTS medal in Abu Dhabi, finishing third behind Rachel Klamer and Jess Learmonth, who have since both excelled in Super League racing. Van Coevorden was also part of Australia’s mixed relay team that placed second in the World Championship in Hamburg, and then won in Edmonton. In 2019, she returned to Hamburg as part of the quartet to lead out and earn bronze alongside Aaron Royle, Emma Jeffcoat and Jake Birtwhistle.

After missing out on last year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, Van Coevorden finished 12th in the World Triathlon Championships finals in Edmonton and was part of the Australian mixed relay team that won bronze in this summer’s Commonwealth Games. She’s also a fierce competitor on the French Grand Prix and Bundesliga scene, currently representing EJOT Triathlon Team in Germany. She also competed in Super League’s Championship Series in 2022 as part of the SLT Rhinos.

Still passionate about the sport, Van Coevorden hasn’t ruled out a move into coaching in the future.