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Youth Triathlons

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  • 23-05-2012 8:23pm
    #1
    merc230ce
    Registered Users Posts: 274 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    My 13yo is meant to be going in his first Tri (350m, 10k, 2.5k) on Saturday, but he went for his first OW swim this evening and it went less than well! I wasn't there (he lives with his mum) and he was too upset to talk to me on the phone earlier, the poor fella :(

    His problem (I think) is that he was trying to freestyle constantly and just wouldn't be practised enough - he got out of breath and knackered. I am going to tell him two things: 1) That there is no shame in doing breaststroke, which I think he'd be well able for, and 2) If he just wants to do the cycle and run (as plenty of others are doing) that's fine too.
    As part of that though, I was wondering if there is a Youth section in the Dublin City Tri (which I have targeted as my first) or if there are others on during the summer that we could train for and do together, and I could make sure he was better prepared. Does anyone know?

    (I did a quick search on here for 'Youth Triathlon' but didn't find anything)
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    #2
    BTH
    Registered Users Posts: 3,075 Mod ✭✭✭✭BTH


    merc230ce wrote: »
    Hi all,

    My 13yo is meant to be going in his first Tri (350m, 10k, 2.5k) on Saturday, but he went for his first OW swim this evening and it went less than well! I wasn't there (he lives with his mum) and he was too upset to talk to me on the phone earlier, the poor fella :(

    His problem (I think) is that he was trying to freestyle constantly and just wouldn't be practised enough - he got out of breath and knackered. I am going to tell him two things: 1) That there is no shame in doing breaststroke, which I think he'd be well able for, and 2) If he just wants to do the cycle and run (as plenty of others are doing) that's fine too.
    As part of that though, I was wondering if there is a Youth section in the Dublin City Tri (which I have targeted as my first) or if there are others on during the summer that we could train for and do together, and I could make sure he was better prepared. Does anyone know?

    (I did a quick search on here for 'Youth Triathlon' but didn't find anything)

    I think DCT have a junior tri, but I believe it's restricted to over 16s. Not sure though, the website will likely explain all.

    And no shame in breast stroke. I did a lot of my first tri swim on my back just kicking as I wasn't used to swimming OW and was a poor swimmer. I was over twice your sons age at the time.


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    #3
    griffin100
    Registered Users Posts: 4,817 ✭✭✭griffin100


    It might also help if he knows that he can float easily in the wetsuit so if he needs a rest he just need relax and float.


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    #4
    dited
    Registered Users Posts: 257 ✭✭dited


    Was it his first OW swim of the season? It's natural for the first OW swim to be a bit of a shock to the system; cold shock can really knock your breathing, and confidence. If he's willing to give it a go, try to persuade him to go again tomorrow, Thursday, and even Friday, even if it's only for a quick dip. The acclimatisation process will be pretty quick, and he'll really be an awful lot more comfortable by this weekend if he goes through the bit of discomfort (and gets over the psychological hurdle) in the next day or so.

    I wouldn't really recommend the DCT as a first event for a 13-year-old; having done the sprint last year, the only kids I could see doing it were the Junior Squad members, who were all about 16 and would be pretty intimidating to try to swim/race alongside (at least they were for me :o)

    My nine-year-old (not a great swimmer yet, tbh) did the TriLaois junior event a few weeks ago and, despite his having serious concerns beforehand, and having a few minor difficulties during the swim, was absolutely delighted with his performance afterwards, and couldn't wait for the next one.

    I'm sure that the most important part of his having a positive experience was the fantastic (I really can't emphasis this part enough!) support provided Trilogy members on the day, and by his racing against kids who were roughly in the same age/ability grouping. This wouldn't be the case in DCT, where junior are racing on the same course as the adults.

    There seems to be a distinct lack of junior races, and particularly close to Dublin (where I'm assuming you're based). If you're willing to make a weekend or overnight of it with him, the junior triathlons that I know of are run alongside Hell of the West (the day after, I think, but I'm not entirely sure on this one), and Loughrea Triathlon on the 9th September (going to go for this one ourselves). And, for next year, TriLaois as an early season taster ;)

    If you can manage to arrange your calendar around the few events that cater specifically for kids too (the joys of parenthood) not only will he enjoy the experience all the more as he'll be racing against his peers, but I've found that the shared excitement on the day, and sense of achievement afterwards, really makes for a wonderful bonding experience.

    Best of luck to him on Saturday!


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    #5
    merc230ce
    Registered Users Posts: 274 ✭✭merc230ce


    Thanks everyone for your replies. He's decided not to do the swim, and while I completely take your points (griffin100 and dited), I don't think I'll push him to try it on Saturday. Better I think to let him get an event under his belt and then work on his swimming without pressure for a couple of months.

    Thanks dited for the tip about Loughrea - I reckon that could be handy enough as he lives in Mayo (you're right, I'm in Dublin). The only potential problem I can see is that I've semi-committed to doing a charity cycle from Monaghan - Skerries the week before. Maybe this could be the excuse I need to get out of it :o

    So - he'll fly the duathlon on Saturday (he's already done a full-distance Brick session), we'll do a good bit of OW swimming training during the summer in the Shannon and in Wexford, and then he can (Whaddya call those support people that cyclists and ultra racers have?) be my assistant for the DCT, and by the time September rolls around he'll be champing at the bit to do Loughrea :D


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    #6
    onimpulse
    Registered Users Posts: 350 ✭✭onimpulse


    Would he be comfortable in a pool? What about a pool based Tri?


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    #7
    merc230ce
    Registered Users Posts: 274 ✭✭merc230ce


    He was simply undertrained and was caught out by the OW shock factor. But that's nothing that can't be overcome with training and practise.

    He did the duathlon in the end and completed in 48 mins, delighted with himself :)


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    #8
    sconhome
    Registered Users Posts: 5,468 ✭✭✭sconhome


    dited wrote: »
    There seems to be a distinct lack of junior races, and particularly close to Dublin (where I'm assuming you're based). If you're willing to make a weekend or overnight of it with him, the junior triathlons that I know of are run alongside Hell of the West (the day after, I think, but I'm not entirely sure on this one), and Loughrea Triathlon on the 9th September (going to go for this one ourselves). And, for next year, TriLaois as an early season taster ;)

    Loughrea is the Junior national championships this year and there is an adult Sprint race too.


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