Sports

West Hartford Kids Triathlon a Success

Fifty-two kids took part in the program, which culminated in a race on Saturday.

The following was contributed by Leland Brandt

Normally, Eisenhower Park would be fairly quiet at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning, but it was buzzing with activity today as children and their parents gathered for a kids triathlon.  Many siblings, parents, grandparents and friends stood along the racecourse to cheer their athletes on their way.

The race offered three different distances depending on the child’s age, with the youngest swimming one pool length, biking one mile, and running one quarter-mile. The oldest group swam four laps, biked four miles, and ran one mile. In all, 52 children participated, the youngest was 5 years, 11 months and the oldest was 13.

The race is part of a weeklong kids triathlon camp offered by the Town of West Hartford and Team Training New England. Most of the campers participated in the race, but several children signed up for the race only.

This is the camp and race’s fourth year and there were several repeat campers.  Each child took the race seriously, checking in and getting their race numbers marked on their arms and legs. They carefully set up their transition area, making sure their bikes, helmets and shoes were properly arranged. Finally, they joined Eric Kopp of ProEx Physical Therapy in Farmington, as he guided the athletes through a dynamic warm up prior to the race.

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The athletes moved to the pool where they were instructed on the specifics of their particular race course, how many laps they would swim, followed by their bike and run routes and distances.

The athletes were broken out into groups, separated by age. The first group featured children 10 and older, swimming four laps before heading off for their bike portion, followed by 8-9 year olds and finally the 6-7 year olds. Overall, there were five waves of athletes who started the race.
 
All of the athletes finished by running down Maiden Lane to reach the finish line at Sheep Hill Drive.  This last stretch was filled with an excited crowd, urging each athlete onto the finish line. Each finisher received a high-five and a medal.  

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The race and camp was one of the camp programs offered by the Town of West Hartford. It is operated by Team Training New England, a local business that trains adults and children to do triathlons. Lynne Tapper, one of the coaches said that she and the program’s two coaches and three assistant coaches enjoy working with these young athletes.

“This camp is unique because it combines boys and girls from ages 6 through 13 to work together as a team," Tapper said. "Even though triathlon is an individual sport, the campers came together to help each other out all week long. This camp offers the opportunity for the child who doesn’t consider himself or herself an athlete to achieve something they never imagined they could do. These campers showed up every morning with huge grins on their faces, ready to learn and sweat and you could see their confidence building through the week. This year’s team really came together and to see them rooting each other on race day made all of us coaches smile.”


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