On the road – Fred Koenders,
Dean of the faculty of
Commerce and Technology.

Leading Hawke’s Bay triathlete Fred Koenders finds it special to wear the silver fern – but on his latest trip to China it was in a different role.

EIT’s Dean of the faculty of Commerce and Technology took time off from managing his large faculty to co-lead a Triathlon New Zealand team to the World Long Course Triathlon Champs in Weihai, China. New Zealand’s team of 37 triathletes competed over the 4km swim, 120km bike and 20km run distances.

Having competed over the Olympic distance at the 2011 World Championships in Beijing, Fred has first-hand experience of sports events in the China environment. He also works on Chinese university relationships for EIT.

Triathlon New Zealand selected him to jointly lead a team to Weihai because of his combined triathlon leadership and governance and China experience. Fred has been involved in triathlon  for 25 years and this was his first foray into team management. That doesn’t mean he won’t continue to compete at a high level in his sport.

“I am expanding my involvement in triathlon,” he says, “to include participation in this voluntary management role.”