British Triathlon recently hosted a paratriathlon open day, where athletes from around the world of sport had the opportunity to experience this fast growing and dynamic sport and find out more on local clubs and events.
The day also offered a paratriathlon classification for attendees, working through a series of tests with British Triathlon classifiers Penny Broomhead and Sam Densem. This enabled athletes to have their official classification enabling them to compete in future events.
This was no ordinary open day however, as all attendees were joined by current members of the British Paratriathlon Performance Squad who provided some top training tips and advice.
The day aimed to enable both open day athletes and current performance athletes to learn from each other, utilising the vast amounts of experience in attendance. The day attracted talented athletes from across the sporting community including previous Commonwealth Games medallists and London 2012 Paralympic hopefuls.
Together with our existing four world champions from the GE British Paratriathlon Team and two previous Paralympic athletes, the potential for success was clear as athletes were given the opportunity to take part in a coached swim and run session using the world class facilities at the National Performance Centre at Loughborough.
Fifteen open day athletes attended on the day, which was considered a huge success and the levels of interest and motivation for wanting to become fully-fledged triathletes in 2011 were high. British Triathlon supported this by offering discounted rates for entry into the 2011 Tata Steel British Paratriathlon Championships.
British Triathlon had six experienced and well-qualified coaches to help support proceedings throughout the day. Sports specific expertise, coaches from British Cycling, England Athletics and wheelchair racing were also on hand to make sure athletes of all abilities were given the time they needed to achieve their personal goals throughout the day.
Similar schemes will be organised in 2011, therefore if you or somebody you know may be interested in paratriathlon please get in touch with Jonathon Riall, the National Paratriathlon Programme Manager on jonathonriall@britishtriathlon.org.
