Race Reports

Mid Sussex Tri Club held a well-attended and well-received GoTri! training day for local children at Ardingly College on Saturday 24 July.

Twenty six enthusiastic children aged 8 to 13, from local schools including St Joseph’s Primary School, Oathall Community College and Burgess Hill Girls, took part.

Using the Ardingly College swimming pool and sports pitches, coaches and volunteers from Mid Sussex Tri Club helped the children learn basic triathlon skills and techniques in swimming, cycling and running, plus the crucial ‘fourth discipline’, transition.

This was complemented by a ‘What is triathlon?’ session, putting the sport and its history into context, with the help of slides and video. And all delivered just a day before Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown provided further inspiration by winning silver medals for Great Britain in the men’s and women’s triathlons at the Tokyo Olympics!

Several of the children who attended the GoTri! training day then went on to compete successfully at the Billingshurst Kidstri on Sunday 25 July, despite the cancellation of the cycling element of the race, enforced by torrential rain.

Brothers Finlay and Noah Blythe finished second and fifth, respectively, in the TriStart3 and TriStart2 categories. Anya Cole was third in TriStart2 and Charlotte Mason was sixth in Novice1, while Amber Mason was sixth, Mirabelle Hogan was seventh and Isabella Jarman was 12^th in TriStart1.

Congratulations to all participants at both events!

Mid Sussex Junior Triathlon Event Sunday 15th May

Many members and club coaches were at Great Walstead School's playing field and pool for the club's Junior Triathlon event on Sunday 15th May. About 25 juniors from 8 - 15 years participated in triathlons of varying lengths depending on their age. They were divided into 3 groups, each with a club coach, and had all received some training on previous weekends. The young ones did a 30metre swim, followed by a 700m bike ride and finished with a 700m run. The older ones did up to a 240m swim, a 2-3km bike ride and a 1.4km run. They received a full briefing and bike safety check before commencing. They were encouraged by many parents and grandparents, all cheering and ringing cow bells, which made it all very enjoyable, and much easier for the participants,  leading to some excellent performances.

Swashbuckler Middle Distance Triathlon

Four keen members participated in the Swashbuckler Middle Distance Triathlon event at Bucklers Hard in Hampshire on Saturday 15th May.  This involves a 1.9km swim in the chilly (16 degrees) Beaulieu River, a 90km bike ride in the New Forest and a 22km run. All recorded personal bests in glorious sunshine, with Steve Alden coming first in his M55 category on 5.04.01. Brad Williams was 6th in the same category on 5.53.50 with his wife Julie Williams placing 3rd in the F50 category on 6.22.15 and Jean Fish placing 3rd  in the F55 category on 6.38.28.

4 Sight Charity 40 mile Bike Ride

Steve McMenamin, Jo Fleming, Lawrence Wintergold and Paul Virgo helped out at the 4 Sight Charity 40 mile Bike Ride which started at The Thatched Inn, Hassocks on Sunday 15th May. This comprised of 14 tandems and 2 triplets where the back riders (stokers) are blind or severely visually impaired. The Mayor of Haywards Heath and the Charity's Chief Executive were on the triplets.

Dear All

A big big big thank you to all those involved in GoTri! 2011... It was a superb weekend with 29 young people between the ages of 10 and 16 years of age investing in GoTri! our Junior Training Camp... There were 15 volunteers from the club including level 1 and level 2 coaches delivering a variety of sessions.... Paul Hedger from HedghogTri was a great help, giving advice and being rigorous with our race preparations...... and of course the support of Andew Lennox of Nuffield Health who was our sponsor...

If I was Callum or Steve Alden I d be able to write an indepth report but alas I am not gifted in that way!.... So I thought Id collate some of the feedback for everyone ...

Some comments from the participants evaluations...

What did you like?

The swimming, the transition and the cycling and running EVERYTHING

I enjoyed it all it was really fun... the best was the cycle

The atmosphere, how friendly everyone is...

I enjoyed all of it but if I had to choose it would be cycling..

I enjoyed the nutrition session because I liked tasting the smoothies, I also enjoyed the swimming and the bike/run session :)

I enjoyed everything - most of all the running because I felt I improved a lot

The friendly atmosphere mixed in with a lot of fun exercise

I enjoyed how nice the coaches were from Mid Sussex Tri Club and the different things to do

I liked the nutrition session and enjoyed the games

Swimming , I'm not a great swimmer, but have improved a lot and can now go at a reasonable pace.

The cycling was fun and so was running

What did you learn?

The M check on my bike..

How to breathe in water whilst swimming.....

Generally about triathlon

Running styles/efficiency... cycling gears... transitions

I learnt new techniques in my running which I will use in the future..

How you do all the transitions and what gears to use when and what body parts to use at what part of the race...

Stay stream lined in the water

In the swimming especially about using your arms a lot more than your legs. Also the technique for running and when to change gears in cycling.

The importance of transitions

How to swim professionally

Better swimming techniques

Foods to avoid and to eat, transitions, running technique, how to swim a lot better.

I think I learnt a lot from transition

That transitions are really important and you can lose a lot of time if you don't do it efficiently

Some comments from parents.....

Just to say please pass on our thanks to all concerned for a fantastic tri summer camp. Elspeth and Harry both really enjoyed it and we were all impressed with the fantastic organisation. Thank you for all the hard work and preparation from the tri members. Please, please put it on again next year (and please start a junior/teenage section at Mid Sussex Tri Club)!!

Thanks again,

Nathan and I both wanted to say thank you to you and all at MSTC and everyone else involved in making the GoTri! weekend such a success.  Nathan enjoyed the whole thing and we really appreciate the time and effort everyone put in.

One parent was heard to say it was the best organized event they'd been too!!!..... Military precision!!!

Again thank you one and all.... I'm off on holiday to have a rest ... Hope to see you all at the club half

Author: Rose Ryan