Action gets underway in the second Junior Triathlon Event with the Under 11 individual start at Trellis Bay.

The Under 15 relay gets cyclists set off at the Junior Triathlon development meet in which over 35 youngsters took part.

As Organiser Chris Ghiorse explained, “Children under 15 with interest in any portion of the triathlon - swim, bike, or run - were encouraged to participate regardless of their individual ambitions.”

The day started with three age group relays to get everyone warmed up and to give them an understanding of the course. Despite the numbers, most of the relays comprised of a few swimmers tagging multiple riders that were also interested in running.

“It was really exciting to see the young swimmers take to the water,” said Ghiorse. “A few of these team competitors said they would like to do the whole thing next time around once they saw how short the swim was.”

Ghiorse knows his stuff when it comes to Junior Development in Sport having worked for years teaching Primary School students to ride. “The idea behind keeping the events very short is that it keeps the kids focused on being competitive there are no insurmountable leads generated in any leg, so everyone keeps trying right to the line. Many of the finish times were less than a few seconds apart.”

Trellis Bay is the perfect location for this type of development event, there was a good rhythm to the layout of the course and having radios to communicate with all the volunteers made the event that much safer and easier to run.

There were plenty of volunteers on hand to ensure a smooth event including Rochelle and Grant who made a huge effort to get kids pre-registered so competitors arriving on the day were able to find a team to swim, ride or run for easily; Rotaractors Christian and Petal recorded results at the finish line with Angelle Cameron, who also doubled up as photographer for the day; the “radio course marshals” Ken, Richard, Orano and Mobsy; and water marshals Ross and Peter.

Also lots of parents turned out to support their off springs.

The 3rd youth development event will be held on Saturday April 21 at Trellis Bay. Registration starts at 8:00 a.m., the first race will start at 9:00 a.m. Events 4 and 5 will be held on Saturday May 19 and Saturday June 23, the venues have yet to be determined.