Coming up

• Sunday 27 February 2011 – South Island Schools Triathlon and Duathlon Champs
• Wednesday 23 March 2011 – Primary Sports Canterbury Triathlon Championships
• Thursday 31 March 2011 – National Schools Triathlon Championships

Juniors finish the summer season in style

While the February earthquake might have dashed plans to host the Contact National Schools Triathlon Championships at Pegasus, the Southland Triathlon Club came to the party and delivered a fabulous event at Jacks Point, Queenstown on Thursday 31 March.

It’s not known whether the change in venue resulted in a reduction in entries over the Pegasus location, but over 600 students still travelled to Queenstown for races catering for ages  Year 7 through to the much anticipated Under 19 grade.

The event was centered around the Jacks Point Clubhouse, with the swim taking place on the golf course’s Lake Tewa, the cycle on the resort’s hilly internal roads, and the run on an offroad track up and around the hills above the lake.  The water temperature was a rather frigid 15 degrees, but some hardy athletes still ditched the neoprene in favour of a quicker transition.

Nineteen of our juniors competed across the five age groups with some excellent results, some disappointments, but of most importance, an opportunity to experience and learn through racing at a high level.  Afterall, this was a New Zealand championship event!

It was certainly no Weetbix Tryathlon day out, with aero helmets appearing even in the Under 14 grade, rollers at the ready for team cyclists, and no shortage of carbon in transition.  Of particular note were the large contingents from some secondary schools – schools that clearly contribute significant resourcing to triathlon and this commitment went on to pay dividends for those schools.  In stark contrast, many of our juniors were sole representatives from their schools, but camaraderie from their Canterbury Tri Club affiliation shone through and there was no shortage of support for our athletes.

The Club enjoyed six podium places with a gold, three silvers and two bronze medals – Arlia Schurr of Heaton Intermediate was 1^st in the Year 7 Girls, Ella Harris of Cashmere Primary was 2^nd in the Year 8 Girls, Rainer Pye of Shirley Boys was 3^rd in the U14 Boys, and Jaye Atkin of Rangiora High was 3^rd in the U19 Women’s race.  Anneke van Heyningen was in the 2nd placed team in the Year 7 Girls race, and Lorna Pairman and Ella Harris teamed together and earned a silver in the Year 8 Girls.

An important lesson learnt for some was that races don’t always go to plan, and as bad luck would often have it, plans can go awry on just the day when it really matters.  There were bike spills, illness and bike malfunctions out there.  There were also those who just couldn’t fire despite having trained hard and prepared for every eventuality.  We know there are juniors who were disappointed with how their races panned out, but the tenacity shown on course was admirable, and we know they’ll be back!

Full results

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Year 7 Girls (150m swim, 7.5km cycle, 1.7km run)

• 1^st – Arlia Schurr – Heaton Intermediate (28.32)
• 5^th – Lorna Pairman – Cashmere Primary School (32.00)
• 7^th – Anneke van Heyningen – Selwyn House (34.02)

Year 7 Girls Teams Event

• 2^nd – Including Anneke van Heyningen – Selwyn House (30.05)

Year 8 Girls (150m swim, 7.5km cycle, 1.7km run)

• 2^nd – Ella Harris – Cashmere Primary School (26.49)
• 7^th – Paige Waddington – Cobham Intermediate (28.59)
• 11^th – Kate Smith – Heaton Intermediate (30.14)
• 13^th – Taylor Waddington – Cobham Intermediate (31.00)

Year 8 Girls Teams Event

• 2^nd – Ella Harris/Lorna Pairman – Cashmere Primary School (25.28)
• 7^th – Kate Smith/Arlia Schurr – Heaton Intermediate (27.47)

Year 8 Boys (150m swim, 7.5km cycle, 1.7km run)

• 10^th – Angus Bailey – Kirkwood Intermediate (26.39)
• 15^th – Henry Idiens – Medbury School (28.02)

Under 14 Boys (350m swim, 10km cycle, 2.5km run)

• 3^rd – Rainer Pye – Shirley Boys High School (37.06)
• 12^th – Cameron Avery – Cashmere High School (40.11)
• 23^rd – Nick Allan – Christchurch Boys High School (42.06)
• 26^th – Rory Swanson – Christs College (43.31)
• 32^nd – Patrick Leckie – Christchurch Boys’ High School (51.49)

Under 14 Boys Teams Event

• 4^th – Including Nick Allan – Christchurch Boys High School (37.37)
• 11^th – Including Patrick Leckie – Christchurch Boys High School (42.25)

Under 16 Girls (500m swim, 15km cycle, 3.4km run)

• 9^th – Laura Steffens – St Andrews College (1:00.38)

Under 16 Boys (500m swim, 15km cycle, 3.4km run)

• 10^th – Macaulay Pye – Shirley Boys High School (53.37)
• 12^th – Sam Elstob – St Bede’s College (54.35)

Under 19 Girls (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5.1km run)

• 3^rd – Jaye Atkin – Rangiora High School (1:14.48)
• 14^th – Emily Wood – St Margaret’s College (1:26.44)

Summer Season Recap

It’s been a pretty impressive season of racing so far for our juniors.  Those juniors who are nudging towards, or are now at high school have been provided with greater opportunities to race, with some event directors allowing our juniors to compete in ‘adult’ races, largely because of their affiliation with the Tri Club.  This is just fantastic and a big thumbs up to those event directors!

We had previously reported on the House of Travel Triathlon which took place on 19 December – we had terrific representation from the junior programme, and some great results.

Since then, there have been numerous opportunities for our juniors to put their skills and fitness to the test, and some of the results are listed below.

Surf n Turf – 8 race series over December, January and February

Leanne Feary, Ella Harris, Rory Swanson, Charlie Hunter, Rainer Pye and Coach Sarah are some of the Junior Programme members who have been racing in the weekly Surf n Turf events.  With one race to go in the series, Ella Harris is currently placed second in the Short Aquathon for Junior Women, and Leanne is sitting in third place.

Physiomed and Blokes Triathlons (400m swim, 15km cycle, 4km run)

• Rainer Pye – 1st Male 13-19, 2nd overall (45.14)
• Macauley Pye – 2nd Male Secondary School (Year 9-10) (49.49)
• Liam Tyrell – 4th Male Secondary School (Year 9-10) (51.51)
• Rory Swanson – 5th Male 13-19 (52.07)
• Ella Harris – 1st Female 13-19, 2nd overall (54.04)
• Laura Steffens – 1st Female Secondary School (Year 9-10) (54.26)
• Leanne Feary – 2nd Female Secondary School (Year 9-10) (58.38)

Contact Energy 3:9:3 Triathlon – Wanaka

• Ella Harris – 2nd overall (39.57)

Contact Energy 3:9:3 Triathlon – Pegasus

• Angus Bailey – 1st Male (37.30)
• Ella Harris – 2nd Female (36.39)
• Rory Swanson – 3rd Male (38.52)
• Leanne Feary – 9th Female (41.33)
• Kate Smith – 10th Female (41.59)
• Corrie Hoult – 14th Male (42.32)

Contact Energy 1:2:1 Triathlon – Pegasus

• Luke Glen – 1st Male (14.27)
• Lorna Pairman – 1st Female (14.33)
• Laura Glen – 2nd Female (15.06)
• Kathryn Glen – 3rd Female (15.41)
• Sean Swanson – 4th Male (16.05)
• Louis Harris – 7th Male (16.34)
• Dakota Bristow – 14th Male (18.44)

Physiomed and Blokes Triathlons (250m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run)

Physiomed Triathlon

• Ella Harris – 1st Female 13-19, 4th overall (1:10.34)
• Laura Steffens – 1st Female Secondary School (Year 9-10) (1:11.25)
• Leanne Feary – 2nd Female Secondary School (Year 9-10) (1:21.03)

Blokes Triathlon

• Rainer Pye – 1st Male 13-19, 2nd overall (59.38)
• Samuel Elstob – 1st Male Secondary School (Year 9-10) (1:01.24)
• Macauley Pye – 2nd Male Secondary School (Year 9-10) (1:03.03)
• Rory Swanson – 3rd Male 13-19 (1:07.53)

Canterbury Secondary Schools Triathlon Championships

Includes results for general Triathlon Club members as well as the Club’s Junior Programme members

Junior Individual Boys

• 1st – Rainer Pye (41.45)
• 3rd – Nick Allan (45.32)
• 4th – Rory Swanson (46.11)
• 5th – Cameron Avery (46.34)
• 14th – Corrie Hoult (58.09)

Intermediate Individual Boys

• 3rd – Sam Elstob (44.49)
• 4th – Macauley Pye (47.34)

Senior Individual Boys

• 4th – Ben Fraser (48.55)

Junior Individual Girls

• 9th – Laura Glen (58.58)

Intermediate Individual Girls

• 1st – Laura Steffens (49.20)
• 2nd – Sophie Evans (49.29)
• 3rd – Kiri Atkin (50.45)
• 12th – Leanne Feary (56.52)

Senior Individual Girls

• 1st – Jaye Atkin (46.52)
• 2nd – Selena Metherall (54.05)
• 3rd – Emily Wood (55.00)

Full results can be viewed here:  Secondary Schools Results

Promoting Triathlon in our schools

The Triathlon Club (Junior Programme) is currently visiting 3-5 primary and intermediate schools each week to lead triathlon training sessions, with a view to preparing children for the upcoming Primary Sports Canterbury Triathlon and National Schools Triathlon Championship events.  Facilitating these sessions is Sarah Helmore, with assistance from John Newsom, Craig Moore, Tom Davison and Marty Van Barnveld.  They take the wind trainers along and go through a general session with the children.

This is a fantastic initiative, and certainly a great way of promoting the sport within our local schools – well done to John and Sarah for implementing this programme.

Finally, congratulations to all our juniors on a great season of racing.  We look forward to watching you all in action during March, for those two significant events – the Primary Sports Canterbury Triathlon, and the National Secondary Schools Triathlon Championships.

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Juniors finish the year in style

Coach John didn’t fail to impress today.  His latest initiative, the House of Travel Triathlon Festival out at Pegasus Town, was extremely well received by competitors and spectators.  Our Juniors raced in the Uvex Classic Triathlon (500m swim, 15km cycle, 5km run), the Team Challenge, and the John Bull Tri Kids Challenge races (150m swim, 10km cycle, 2.5km run for 12-13 year olds, and 150m swim, 5km cycle, 2.5km cycle for 9-11 year olds).  Inbetween those events, we were also able to watch the Try a Tri race and the Elite Cup, which took place as the last race of the day.

There were two races in particular that made for exciting spectating.

In the John Bull Tri Kids Challenge, the Canterbury Tri Club’s 2010 Junior Athlete of the Year, Rainer Pye, went up against Max Jones from Christchurch Boys High in the 12-13 years age group.  Rainer exited the water 12 seconds down on Max, who was first out overall.  Onto the bikes, Rainer briefly caught up to Max, before Max powered away and came into the cycle to run transition holding onto first place.  Max’s mum conceded while waiting for the run to conclude that Rainer is the stronger runner of the two and Max had gone into the event with a strained hip flexor.  Sure enough, Rainer came through for the win – 1.09 minutes ahead of Max, but we’re sure they’ll be looking forward to when their events next cross, wherever that may be!

In the Female 12-13 race, it was almost a mirror image of the boys’ race.  Jess Kikstra of Christchurch Girls High exited the water in first place, 11 seconds ahead of Ella Harris.  Jess maintained the lead heading out of transition on the cycle, but Ella kept her within her sights throughout that leg.  Coach Ken, acting as MC for the day, kept the tension high with his commentary – will or won’t Ella catch Jess?  Jess increased her lead to 24 seconds on the cycle, but the pressure was definitely on for the run.  Normally a stronger runner than Ella, Jess started well but Ella’s motivation was high.  Jess held on to her lead to finish in first place, but Ella took 10 seconds out of Jess on the run, with Jess’s lead reducing to just 14 seconds by the end.

Overall, everyone performed really well and it was a great turn-out from our Juniors.  We had a number of podium finishes – congratulations in particular to Laura Steffens (Black Squad) who finished 2nd in the Classic (F0-19), Edward de la Cour who finished 3rd in the Kids Challenge (M9-11), Kate Smith who was 2nd in the Kids Challenge (F9-11), Lorna Pairman who was 3rd in the Kids Challenge (F9-11), Rainer and Ella in their categories, and Cameron Avery who was 3rd in the Kids Challenge (M12-13).  There were also loads of top ten finishes.

We also can’t forget Thijs, who raced in the Elite Cup – we hope you enjoyed watching him in action and feel suitably inspired to one day race as an elite athlete too.

Thijs (far left) in action

On behalf of the Junior Programme, we wish everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year period.  We hope you’ve enjoyed this term’s training and events, and look forward to seeing you all back in Term 1 (especially those of you who have their sights on the National Secondary Schools Triathlon Champs (including Years 7 and 8) which are being held at Pegasus Town in March).  Between now and then, we have the Contact Tri Series Race on 30 January, also at Pegasus – consider doing the 3:9:3 race as a way of finishing off the holidays!

Results (in finishing time order per race)

Uvex Classic Triathlon

• 11th (M0-19) – Macauley Pye (9.21 swim, 27.02 cycle, 25.49 run) – 1:02.13
• 2nd (F0-19) – Laura Steffens (10.30 swim, 31.45 cycle, 20.34 run) – 1:02.51
• 4th (F0-19) – Emily Wood (10.25 swim, 29.42 cycle, 23.44 run) – 1:03.51
• 12th (M0-19) – Liam Tyrrell (12.37 swim, 31.36 cycle, 21.49 run) – 1:06.03
• 10th (F0-19) – Leanne Feary (10.48 swim, 32.41 cycle, 27.43 run) – 1:11.13
• 13th (M0-19) – Corrie Hoult (12.07 swim, 32.40 cycle, 26.53 run) – 1:11.14

Team Challenge

• 14th (M) – Team TNT – Max and Charlie Hunter (11.48 swim, 35.12 cycle, 24.31 run) – 1:11.32

John Bull Tri Kids Challenge

• 3rd (M9-11) – Edward de la Cour (4.06 swim, 22.23 cycle/run combined) – 26.29
• 5th (M9-11) – Charlie de la Cour (3.48 swim, 12.12 cycle, 11.38 run) – 27.39
• 6th (M9-11) – Sean Swanson (4.21 swim, 12.04 cycle, 11.14 run) – 27.41
• 7th (M9-11) – Sean Emms (4.12 swim, 24.42 cycle/run combined) – 28.54
• 2nd (F9-11) – Kate Smith (3.45 swim, 25.14 cycle/run combined) – 28.59
• 10th (M9-11) – Hunter Ferguson-Wilson (3.42 swim, 25.28 cycle/run combined) – 29.11
• 3rd (F9-11) – Lorna Pairman (3.49 swim, 25.33 cycle/run combined) – 29.23
• 15th (M9-11) – Louis Harris (5.07 swim, 26.09 cycle/run combined) – 31.16
• 7th (F9-11) – Stephanie Emms (4.51 swim, 13.41 cycle, 14.38 run) – 33.10
• 20th (M9-11) – Lachlan Robertson (5.05 swim, 28.40 cycle/run combined) – 33.46
• 8th (F9-11) – Kathryn Glen (4.21 swim, 14.39 cycle, 15.01 run) – 34.02
• 22nd (M9-11) – Dakota Bristow (5.59 swim, 14.27 cycle, 14.26 run) – 34.54
• 29th (M9-11) – Michiel van Heyningen (8.15 swim, 16.41 cycle, 14.49 run) – 39.46

Long Course

• 1st (M12-13) – Rainer Pye (2.59 swim, 30.25 cycle/run combined) – 33.24
• 2nd (F12-13) – Ella Harris (3.32 swim, 32.19 cycle/run combined) – 35.52
• 3rd (M12-13) – Cameron Avery (3.30 swim, 32.36 cycle/run combined) – 36.06
• 4th (M12-13) – Rory Swanson (3.26 swim, 33.10 cycle/run combined) – 36.37
• 5th (M12-13) – Angus Bailey (3.54 swim, 23.40 cycle, 10.03 run) – 37.38
• 7th (M12-13) – Paddy Leckie (3.28 swim, 34.43 cycle/run combined) – 38.12
• 8th (M12-13) – Thomas Harford (3.59 swim, 36.19 cycle/run combined) – 40.18
• 6th (F12-13) – Sarah McLeod (4.54 swim, 27.37 cycle, 14.34 run) – 47.06
• 7th (F12-13) – Meg Roberts (4.43 swim, 27.54 cycle, 14.35 run) – 47.13

Anneke, Laura and Loren appear not to have finished their races – please let us know if this is an error.  And please let us know if we’ve missed you!

Full Results can be viewed here

• Photos:  Swim and Cycle Legs
• Photos:  Run Leg
• Photos:  Prizegiving

Start List for House of Travel Triathlon Festival

Coach John has a great day lined up for everyone on Sunday out at Pegasus.  With around 470 people registered to compete in one of the various events/categories, it’s going to be a fabulous opportunity to race against your peers, or watch and learn from the Elites.  Even if you’re not intending to race, pop out to Pegasus and be a supportive spectator!

The full start list is now available on the Triathlon Festival website, and the following are the juniors who will be competing (what a great turn-out!):

• W9-11 – ADAMS, Ella
• M12-14 – AVERY, Cameron
• M12-14 – BAILEY, Angus
• M9-11 – BRISTOW, Dakota
• M9-11 – DE LA COUR, Edward
• M9-11 – DE LA Cour, Charlie
• M9-11 – EMMS, Sean
• W9-11 – EMMS, Stephanie
• M9-11 – FERGUSON-WILSON, Hunter
• W12-14 – GLEN, Laura
• M9-11 – GLEN, Luke
• W9-11 – GLEN, Kathryn
• M12-14 – HARFORD, Thomas
• W12-14 – HARRIS, Ella
• M9-11 – HARRIS, Louis
• Teams – HUNTER, Max (Team TNT)
• Teams – HUNTER, Charlie (Team TNT)
• W12-14 – MCLEOD, Sarah
• W9-11 – MEYN, Dasha
• W9-11 – PAIRMAN, Lorna
• M12-14 – PYE, Rainer
• W9-11 – PYE, Loren
• M9-11 – ROBERTSON, Lachlan
• W12-14 – ROBERTS, Meg
• W9-11 – SMITH, Kate
• M12-14 – SWANSON, Rory
• M9-11 – SWANSON, Sean
• M14-19 – TYRRELL, Liam
• W9-11 – VAN HEYNINGEN, Anneke
• M9-11 – VAN HEYNINGEN, Michiel
• W9-11 – WADDINGTON, Paige
• W9-11 – WADDINGTON, Taylor
• W14-19 – WOOD, Emily
• W14-19 – STEFFENS, Laura
• M14-19 – HOULT, Corrie
• M14-19 – PYE, Macauley
• W14-19 – FEARY, Leanne

If you’ve entered but are not on our list, please let us know by leaving a comment.

Surf n Turf – Race 2

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Race 2 of the Surf n Turf was held in fabulous conditions over in Corsair Bay on Wednesday evening.  A somewhat murky start to the day improved markedly by 7pm, and the Bay provided almost millpond conditions for swimming.

Our juniors once again competed in the Short Aquathon race (300m swim, 3km run), with Lorna opting to race in the 3km run.  First out of the water for the Juniors was Leanne, who was using the opportunity to trial a wetsuit.  She was followed soon after by Ella and Rory, both without wetsuits, but the water temperature was apparently tolerable! 

The race was an excellent opportunity for the juniors to experience the ‘mosh pit’ of an open water swimming race, and they weren’t disappointed with a few tales of being swum over and battered by other swimmers!

Short Aquathon Men – Junior 16-19

• 1st – Rory Swanson (3rd overall) – 22.59

Short Aquathon Female – Junior 16-19

• 2nd – Ella Harris (2nd overall) – 22.54
• 4th – Leanne Feary (7th overall) – 25.51

3km Run – Junior Female U20

• 1st – Lorna Pairman (1st overall) – 13.23

Full results can be viewed here and all the photos from the evening can be viewed through our online album.  The Series now takes a break over Christmas and returns on 19 January (Pegasus Town).  For further information, visit www.surfnturf.co.nz.

Pegasus Training – 12 December

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Thank you to Sarah McLeod’s mum Julie, for these great shots from Sunday’s training out at Pegasus.  A huge group came along to practise on the House of Travel Triathlon Festival course on Sunday, so we hope everyone is now prepared for this coming weekend’s race.  See you there!

Triathlon Training at Pegasus

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Our thanks to Dakota’s mum, who kindly took a selection of images of our juniors training out at Pegasus Town on Sunday 5 December.  Enjoy!

Surf n Turf

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Four juniors braved the chilly conditions on Wednesday to race in the first event of the Surf n Turf Series, held out at Pegasus (and there were no wetsuits to be seen either!).  The air temperature was around nine degrees, but fortunately the water temperature was warmer in than out.

The next event in the series is being held at Corsair Bay on Wednesday 15 December.  Full event details can be viewed here.

Short Aquathon Men (Junior 16-19) (400m swim, 3km run)

• 2nd – Charlie Hunter (26.37, 5th overall)

Short Aquathon Women (Junior 16-19) (400m swim, 3km run)

• 2nd – Ella Harris (21.22, 2nd overall)
• 3rd – Leanne Feary (24.34, 4th overall)

5km Run (Junior Men U20)

• 1st – Rainer Pye (21.53, 1st overall)

Full results are here.

Juniors on fire!

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Thank you to Sarah’s mum Julie, for contributing some of the photos from the weekend

What an AWESOME weekend of racing it has been for some of our juniors.

On Saturday, several lined up in the Mini Bays (cycling) race as part of the Festival of Cycling, and there were many success stories:

Mini Bays 5km (63 finishers)

• 2nd (M8-10) – Lachlan Robertson (2nd overall) – 10.54
• 2nd (F8-10) – Lorna Pairman (5th overall) – 11.22
• 12th (M8-10) – Louis Harris (15th overall) – 13.16

Mini Bays 10km (56 finishers)

• 3rd (M13-14) – Rainer Pye (6th overall) – 17.40
• 4th (M13-14) – Nick Allan (8th overall) – 17.52
• 2nd (F11-12) – Ella Harris (14th overall) – 19.09
• 9th (F11-12) – Sarah McLeod (32nd overall) – 22.55

Racing in the shorter 5km event was a short sharp effort for all.  In comparison, the 10km race was far more strategic and tactical, with Rainer and Nick in particular working well in the leading bunch to come away with great results.  Ella and Sarah on the other hand, did the hard graft on their own, missing the drafting opportunities provided by the bunches (we’re sure our girls will come away stronger cyclists as a result!).  An excellent effort by everyone considering the stiff easterly that prevailed around McCormacks Bay (although the tail wind on the causeway possibly made up for that, with speeds sitting around 50kph).

On Sunday, Rainer and Ella backed up Saturday by racing in the Blokes and Physiomed Triathlons.  They were joined by several other juniors.  The distances were a 400m swim, 15km cycle, and a 4km run.

Again, some great results for everyone which goes to show that all the practising and training is paying great dividends and it’s going to be a great summer of racing!  Congratulations in particular to 13 year old Rainer and 12 year old Ella – not only for winning their respective categories, but they also both placed 2nd overall on the day behind seniors Marc Ypelaar and Gail Harvey Heyward.

Triathlon Run (M13-19) – Blokes Triathlon

• 1st – Rainer Pye – 45.14 (2nd overall)
• 5th – Rory Swanson – 52.07

Triathlon Run (F13-19) – Physiomed Triathlon

• 1st – Ella Harris – 54.04 (2nd overall)

Secondary School Tri (Male Year 9-10) – Blokes Triathlon

• 2nd – Macauley Pye – 49.19 (Black Squad member)
• 4th – Liam Tyrell -51.51

Secondary School Tri (Female Year 9-10) – Physiomed Triathlon

• 1st – Laura Steffens – 54.26 (5th overall) – Laura progressed to the Black Squad this year from the Tri Devils
• 2nd – Leanne Feary – 58.38 (6th overall)

Physiomed Triathlon Report

Sarah McLeod recently competed in the first race in the Physiomed Triathlon Series at QEII.  The Series is made up of three races, gradually increasing in distance with each race.  While the Physiomed Series is for women only, Barbara Miller, the Series organiser, also organises a race for men – the Blokes Triathlon Series - which takes place the same day as the Physiomed Series and over the same distances.