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The Square Mile has long upheld the “work hard, play hard” mantra and the BNY Investments trio taking on the City AM Triathlon Team Challenge this weekend are doing their bit to honour that tradition.
Data analyst Matt Stearn, control and resiliency director Anthony Guinot and software engineer Ben Pudsey will be representing the global financial services giant in the corporate swim-bike-run event in London on Saturday, part of a weekend of T100 triathlon in the capital.
And it’s fair to say they are not shrinking from the adversarial nature of the race, which will feature 28 teams taking on a 750m swim in Royal Victoria Dock, a 20km bike ride and 5km run culminating at the Excel Centre.
“I’m really looking forward to the competitive nature of the race,” said Stearn, who is leading the BNY Investments team out in the swim. “To get back into the water and challenge myself to push to the best of my ability in a race setting is going to be fun.
“I think we have a strong team but also a competitive one. If I can put in a quick swim leg, then we have a really strong cyclist and runner to finish, so anything is possible!”
Keen runner Pudsey, who is training for the Great North Run and is hoping to beat his 5km personal best at the City AM Triathlon Team Challenge, is even more matter-of-fact: “Did someone say competition? Game face on and let’s go.”
As well as other corporate teams from the likes of the FCA and architects Populous, BNY Investments will be racing among 5,000 amateur athletes on Sunday, including three-time Olympic champion swimmer Adam Peaty and his future in-laws Tana and Gordon Ramsay, who are raising money for charity.
BNY battling jet lag as well as rivals
For cyclist Guinot, however, there is another opponent he will have to overcome: the effects of a lengthy business trip across the pond and the last-minute journey back to London.
“I am a very competitive person but the main competition on the day will be the jet lag as I land from NYC the morning before the race,” he said. “Finishing in a good time, in one piece, and not disappointing my team mate will be a good achievement.
“I have been in the USA for three weeks so have had little training other than trying to walk as much as I can. I am betting on my daily cycle to work routine back in the UK and the recent Brighton to London charity bike ride to perform on the day.”
The trio has been pulled together by UK sales team business development manager Jasmine Hallworth, who is herself taking on the amateur 100km solo race.
Of BNY Investments’ relay team, only Stearn has previously tackled a triathlon. But like many others in the sold-out amateur races this weekend, the shorter distance has proved a lower barrier to entry for those curious to try the sport.
It’s not just weekend warriors racing in London, however, with 40 of the world’s top triathletes competing in the men’s and women’s elite races on Saturday, the fourth leg of the T100 Triathlon World Tour’s 2025 season.
Among the 20 elite women set to line up in the capital are no fewer than nine Brits, including Kate Waugh, Jessica Learmonth, Lucy Charles-Barclay, Lucy Byram, India Lee and Georgia Taylor-Brown.
The elite men’s race is set to include Hayden Wilde and fellow Kiwi Kyle Smith, Germans Rico Bogen and Fred Funk and British wildcard Will Draper. Attending the races is free but for those unable to, the pro competition will be broadcast live from 11:45am on TNT Sports.