Dr Ben Stephenson
Dr Ben Stephenson is working as a Physiologist and Performance Planning Lead at UK Sports Institute, where he leads the athlete planning/review process for the British Triathlon’s Paralympic Performance Programme.
Ben's Journey
Ben began his sport science journey with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University followed by an MSc in Exercise Physiology.
In 2014/15, Ben became an intern within the Peter Harrison Centre where he supported Para Triathletes in laboratory physiological profiling. Ben also used this opportunity to conduct his MSc research project within Para Triathlon.
The project documented how changes in athlete training load impacted mucosal immunity and upper respiratory tract illness, which was published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance.
Ben’s main discipline is Physiology with a significant interest in thermoregulation, which led to him continuing his time with the PHC whilst conducting his PhD and travelling the world supporting athletes.
His PhD topic was “Para triathletes’ physiological and thermoregulatory response to training load and competition”, which resulted in not only high-quality research publications but practical guides that have been used by coaches and athletes.
My MSc internship was my first exposure to Para Triathlon which subsequently led to a funded PhD within the sport and the opportunity to provide physiology support. This then resulted in an employed role through UKSI (formerly EIS).
Physiologist and Performance Planning Lead, UK Sports Institute
Ben now works as a Physiologist and Performance Planning Lead at UK Sports Institute.
His journey started in 2015 as a physiologist (EIS, Para Triathlon) where he gained recognition for the impact of his work via the UK Sport PLx Awards in 2020, which has launched his career as the planning lead in 2023.
Ben provides physiology support and leads the athlete planning/review process for the British Triathlon’s Paralympic Performance Programme. Some of Ben’s main responsibilities include planning, tracking and reviewing the British Triathlon's Paralympic World Class Programme.
He also provides guidance, monitoring, and evaluation of British Para triathletes’ training load as well as devises and delivers physiological testing to determine the effectiveness of interventions and training cycles to map an athlete’s trajectory towards ‘What it takes to Win’.
My experiences have accelerated my development as a practitioner by being exposed to a higher degree of problem solving and finding solutions by focusing on what athletes can do, not what they can’t.
Looking to the future
Ben has big future ambitions within the field to lead impactful performance planning at future Games.
At the Peter Harrison Centre, we cannot wait to see him put all his hard work and experiences within Para Sport into practice to lead British Para Triathlon into the Games this summer.