Wellington Regional Youth Triathlon Academy a Huge Hit

Wellington Regional Youth Triathlon Academy a Huge Hit

Wellington was the latest host of a Tri NZ Regional Youth Academy this past weekend, with 17 budding triathletes from 15 to 17 years old hosted by coaches including former World Champion Jenny Rose, former Olympian Shane Reed, Tammy Reed and Cam Durno as well as invited specialists throughout the weekend.

The RYA’s are an important part of the National Talent Programme as young athletes are given opportunities to further progress in the sport. Jenny Rose led the camp and was delighted with the response from the kids and the parents.

“The kids were really attentive and keen to learn which was fantastic, there was an expectation that the weekend might result in quite a lot of changes for them based on the open learning and they were into it, open to learning and taking on more information.

“At this age it is not about racing a complete triathlon though, we focused on tactical and technical components for the three disciplines of swim, bike and run. The camp was about building on the fundamentals and triathlon performance for that age group, with a need to think about the basics as opposed to completing a whole event, at this stage of their development it is more about being good across each discipline.”

Rose brought in specialist coaches for those disciplines and ensured there was a great variety and high ‘fun’ element to what they were doing.

“The run session was with Jon Brown from Tri NZ. Jon is a renowned coach in triathlon circles and has a great pedigree as a runner at Olympic Games level. The swim may have been in a pool (Kilbirnie) but the session was based on open water swim skills, all the more important as many of the kids from Palmerston North and Fielding don’t get that chance for open water experience, we felt it was best to be skill based with the open water in mind, rather than simply swim up and down in a swim lane with the stop watch on.

“For the bike we had two sessions, one focused on tactical positioning for drafting races, they want to be able to read what is going on and react appropriately at the right times depending on their goals. David Rowlands is one of the top amateurs in the region and conducted a presentation on this. Dave is an Associate Professor at Massey University and is often called upon in a nutrition role but has great bike expertise as well.

“For track skills we used the Kilbirnie Velodrome. Fixed wheel bikes means we can do a lot of skills and technical riding in a controlled environment on the track, it is something different and put them in a new environment to nullify some of the skills from an everyday session – testing and challenging to concentrate on the technical aspects of bike control. We also put them on rollers to see how relaxed they were and talked about that and balance. Gary Gibson is a coach from the local club and was superb in this session.”

The athletes were also put through their running paces but with Rose leading an orienteering session to highlight the variety that athletes can bring to their training, in particular recovery or group runs. This was done on the Mt Victoria course and again delivered high on the enjoyment factor as well as the appreciation of the hard work required.

Locally based elite athlete Kate McIlroy also joined the camp, speaking to the kids about her experience in the sport, what she has learned along the way in coping with the ups and downs.

Rose says the response has been superb, with the kids already asking for the next dates to book in their diary.

“The feedback has been fantastic about a great and transparent camp, from both parents and kids. This has really hit the mark, they had lots of fun with a good group dynamic going on. We really wanted to have the kids get to know each other and work with each other in the future and to take some good learnings away from their two days with the Regional Youth Academy.

“It has been great from a coaching point of view as well, to have Shane and Tammy involved with all the experience that Shane brings and to know they are going back to Fielding with this experience to take to the kids up there is fantastic and great for the sport. These camps are equally a chance for Tri NZ to grow the coaching network, to have us all communicating and sharing in ideas and coaching expertise, it really does create a positive energy around the sport and young developing athletes.”

For further information on the National Talent Programme, CLICK HERE

Upcoming Regional Youth Academy 2014 Dates

• Central North Island, 5-7 Dec, Tauranga
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• Otago/Southland, 13-14 Dec, Gore
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• Canterbury, 15-19 Dec, Hanmer
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Athletes interested in joining a Regional Youth Academy should email talentid@triathlon.org.nz, including their name, date of birth, region, 200m swim and 1500m run times, and coach and parent contact details.

Guideline standards for the Academies can be found here CLICK HERE:

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