Richard Westover’s impressive athletic career is a testament to his dedication and tenacity in a highly competitive and challenging field. Throughout the last few years he has achieved excellent results at more than a dozen triathlonsand continues to go from strength to strength.
Richard first came to our attention when we learned that he was attempting the unimaginable feat of cycling from John O’Groats to Lands’ End for charity, in May 2011. Throughout the mammoth 875-mile route, he faced treacherous weather, with high winds in Scotland, freezing nights and near constant rain from there on in.
He also battled injuries and, understandably, total exhaustion, thanks in part to only stopping three times to snatch 20 minutes of sleep on the roadside.
Incredibly, the entire trip took him just 72 hours. Not long after completing the challenge, he described it as, “The best and worst experience of my life.” We describe it as amazing.
Through a Just Giving page Richard was able to raise £1,784.40 for Barnardo’s, a charity which supports vulnerable children in the UK.
We were introduced to Richard by his father, Tim Westover, a valued client since our formation in 2009. Richard’s discipline, focus and drive immediately impressed us, and although seemingly a world away from financial services, we felt a strong synergy.
In both athletics and financial planning, a strategic approach with defined goals are essential, as is the patience and dedication necessary to work towards achieving them.
That’s not the end of the journey though, rather the beginning.
Regular reviews ensure you remain on track to meet your objectives with a key strength being the flexibility to change direction and adapt, to continually improve performance.
Richard has had to continually adjust his trajectory over the years to accommodate for the injuries that every high-performing sports’ professional endures. Coupled with this, he has made constant tweaks to his training schedule and nutrition for optimal performance. It’s a process of continual improvement.
And as any professional sports person will tell you, it’s a team effort.
Coaches have played a crucial role in Richard’s success. Their expertise helps to guide Richard’s career, just as we at bdhSterling, help to guide our clients.
This year, Richard will be attempting no less than eight triathlons and we hope that even if you can’t imagine combining swimming, cycling and running, you can hone in on your favourite. But as if that wasn’t enough, Richard is also participating in an Ironman triathlon.
An Ironman triathlon is more than double the overall distance of a typical triathlon and requires strategy, endurance and resilience, both mentally and physically. It’s exhausting just to think of it.
We’ll be supporting Richard throughout this race season and sharing updates on his progress.
We hope that our sponsorship will help Richard achieve his personal best. For those of us who can only dream of emulating his achievements, we can at least enjoy watching his progress and celebrating his success together.
For us, the decision to sponsor Richard on his journey simply made sense. Yes, there are synergies between our financial planning services and the sports professional – planning, goal setting, flexibility and ultimately, achieving your goals.
But it’s much more than that.
For us, it’s about support, relationships, dedication and community. It’s about giving back. It’s about living our values and sharing those values with others.
