VERONICA VLECK, Ph.D.

Veronica Vleck, in addition to having a Ph.D. on triathlon training and injury, has over 30 years of sports science support and/or coaching experience with multiple levels of triathlete, from novices to Olympic medallists. She is a previous long-term chair of the Medical and Research Committee of the European Triathlon Union, and a former Laboratory Director of the National Sports Medicine Institute of the UK. Dr Vleck has authored almost 100 peer reviewed academic papers/book chapters on triathlon, including invited ones for both the IOC and for World Triathlon.

A. KEY RESEARCH AREAS:

-Demands and optimisation of triathlon training and racing performance.

 -Triathlon injury and illness

 - Investigation of the extent to which positive outcomes of combined swim, cycle and run endurance training such as decreased risk for non-communicable disease may be outweighed by negative ones such as injury, illness, and increased cardiovascular risk, as a function of age and or training/racing load.

 -The use of training diaries both as a means of determining which risk factors have most influence on triathlon injury and illness, and as a method of predicting impending maladaptation (e.g. using neural networks).

B. EDUCATION:

Ph.D., 2003:  “Triathlete Training and Injury Analysis: an investigation in British National Squad and age-group triathletes”: Development of training diary based models for monitoring training status so as to prevent maladaptation and optimize performance in endurance athletes.

 M.Sc. Sports Science, Loughborough University, 1993; B.Sc. Hons. Biochemistry, Edinburgh University, 1991:

C: UNIVERSITY APPOINTMENTS:

(2009-2025): Three consecutive FCT research fellowships (“Fatigue and (mal) adaptation in multidiscipline sport (triathlon), “Triathlete fitness, fatigue & adaptation” and “The changing relationship between multidisciplinary endurance sport participation and health status across the lifespan"). Univ. of Lisbon, POR.

Degree Leader/ Senior Lecturer, Univ. of Westminster, 2003-2009, Univ. of Greenwich, 2001-2003. Ad hoc lecturer, University of Lisbon, 2009-2024.

D: COACHING/ SPORTS SCIENCE/MEDICAL SUPPORT EXPERIENCE:

 1997-2000 National Sports Medicine Institute of the UK (Laboratory Director, 2000): Integrated sports science and coaching support for clinical, exerciser and novice to elite athletes in multiple sports. Set up and was head coach for an associated triathlon club that also provided access to various levels of integrated exercise physiological test services to both age-group triathletes and Olympic hopefuls.

 2000 onwards, various Olympic Teams (including Olympic silver medalists in triathlon):  Performance modelling, technical analyses, & sports science support (including training diary monitoring and design).

1998 to 2013. Chair, Medical & Research Committee, European Triathlon Union. Major role and responsibility in the medical support setup for the pre-Olympic 2011 European Triathlon Championships, and a research/ medical logistics related role at the 2013 (World Championship), 2014 and 2015 ITU London triathlons.

E. RESEARCH ACTIVITY: (See also https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Veronica_Vleck)

Orcid ID: /0000-0001-8168-8633. Scopus Author ID: 6603303072. ResearcherID: H-6473-2011. H index: 22.

Click here to access a list of Dr Vleck´s triathlon related publications and here to access most of the actual papers.

F. EVIDENCE OF ESTEEM

Section Editor (Triathlon): Journal of Sports Science and Medicine.  Guest Editor for the following MDPI Journal Special Issues:-  Maximising Triathlon Health and Performance: the State of the Art (Sports), Overtraining Prevention (JFMK), Open Water Swimming- Characteristics and Challenges (JFMK) and The Challenges of Open Water Swimmers (JFMK).

External examiner for 7 Ph.D.´s thus far (of which 5 were triathlon related) and ad-hoc reviewer for over 20 (Quartile 1-2) academic journals.

Invited speaker: ITU Science and Triathlon Conference, 2020; 2nd ITU World Conference on Science and Medicine in Triathlon, 2013; 6th International Congress of Physical Education & Human Movement & 12th São Paulo State Symposium of Physical Education, Brazil, 2009; ECSS Annual Congress, 2008; and the First United States Olympic Training Centre & USA Triathlon Congress, 2004. Occasional lecturer on British Triathlon, Spanish Triathlon Federation and Portuguese Triathlon Federation coaching accreditation courses, 1997 onwards. Organizer, 1st European Triathlon Union Medical and Research Committee European Championships Conference, 2001; Cascais Triathlon Conference, 2016; Global Triathlon Conference, 2017. 

G. LANGUAGES:

English, Portuguese, French, & Spanish. Some German.