Three young Terrace triathletes have begun training for the BC Summer Games after qualifying late last month at the Kermode Kids’ Triathlon.
Avery Movold, Kleanza Cathers, and Harlene Takhar will be travelling with coach Crystal Thomas to the games, held in Nanaimo in mid-July.
“We’ll train a few days a week,” said Thomas, of the girls’ routine. “We’ll get some good fitness on bike and run, because really, those girls are all good swimmers because they swim with the swim club.”
At the games, the athletes will compete in a series of events – an aquathlon (swim and run) and a duathlon (bike and run) to warm up, and then finishing with the triathlon.
An FI Triathlon, with a 200 m swim, 3 km bike, and 1 km run will also be included this year. These youth races are draft-legal super-sprint distance races designed to provide an entry-level experience in the draft-legal format, according to the BC Summer Games website, and training will be provided.
And the northwest team typically comes home with at least one medal.
“It’s kind of cool to see these kids get medals,” said Thomas. “But medal or no medal, it’s pretty great to go and have that experience and be a part of it.”
The 2014 BC Games marks triathlon’s 7th appearance in the games. The BC Summer Games sees 14- and 15-year-olds from around the province compete every two years.
This year’s games runs July 17 - 20.