A question for the Triathlon People re young stud

tergat

I am hoping someone in the know in the triathlon world may be able to help me out. I coach a young athlete just turned 16 who is a distance runner. He has 2 years left at school and is one of the fitest kids I have ever seen. This guy has an aerobic engine that most would die for and on top of this he has cycled to school over hills since he was a kid. He does some cycling in his own time at weekend also with some adults who tell me he is very good. I asked him can he swim and he says hes pretty good and his mother says he is too. Its hard to tell but I believe we could have a triathlon stud on our hands.

My mind began to wander and I thought about sticking him in a triathlon next summer to see what he can do. I predict he will be in 15.40-15.50 shape for running 5km by then. So could anyone on here fill me in on the events for kids this age, any high performance programs in place, any schools competitions in place etc. Any info much appreciated.

Tergat

MrCreosote

The triathlon ireland people have talent identifications around the country from time to time, which sounds perfect for this chap. You could give them a shout via their contacts. They take a close look at swimming ability I think.

tunney

MrCreosote wrote: »

The triathlon ireland people have talent identifications around the country from time to time, which sounds perfect for this chap. You could give them a shout via their contacts. They take a close look at swimming ability I think.

Aye, they have the criteria very clearly defined.

At 16 his 1500m time needs to be less than 4:30 and his 200m (long course??) swim time needs to be 2:22

Sounds like he'll hit the run times but without the swim time its a no go.
He may place well in an Age Group triathlon (think fun run) but without a top end swim its never going to be anything more than for fun.

MCOS

MrCreosote wrote: »

The triathlon ireland people have talent identifications around the country from time to time, which sounds perfect for this chap. You could give them a shout via their contacts. They take a close look at swimming ability I think.

Tergat, pm'ed you a contact for this.

tergat

Many thanks guys Ill speak with Mark.

Tergat

--amadeus--

A good guy to bounce ideas off is Seb Locteau. He's an occasional poster on here, helps run runireland.com and has coached triathletes to Olympic level. His website is here with contact details. He could probably point you towards some good swim or tri programs.

interested

tunney wrote: »

At 16 his 1500m time needs to be less than 4:30 and his 200m (long course??) swim time needs to be 2:22

Im guessing that doing sub 4.30 for 400m f/s was what was intended above.
Long course times refer to a 200 f/s in a 50 metre pool.

If the guy can really swim but cant make the times, time / interest permitting getting him to a local club - sub 4.30 should be very doable for a guy with that much aerobic fitness.

tunney

interested wrote: »

Im guessing that doing sub 4.30 for 400m f/s was what was intended above.
Long course times refer to a 200 f/s in a 50 metre pool.

If the guy can really swim but cant make the times, time / interest permitting getting him to a local club - sub 4.30 should be very doable for a guy with that much aerobic fitness.

No times were right, just didn't specify sport.

At 16 the criteria for a boy are:

4:30 1500m running (+/- 20 sec)
2:22 200m fs swimming (+/- 10 sec)

tergat

tunney wrote: »

No times were right, just didn't specify sport.

At 16 the criteria for a boy are:

4:30 1500m running (+/- 20 sec)
2:22 200m fs swimming (+/- 10 sec)

tunney,

He has ran just outside 4.30 for 1500m Steeplechase so is well inside it on the flat. So is the 2 mins 22 secs a strict criteria for the swim or would inside 2.30 do (you have +/- 10 sec)? I may get him to try 200m in the pool, time him and report back.

Also if a guy were to achieve the criteria above what kind of support would they get etc? Thanks in advance.

Tergat

Racing Flat

tunney wrote: »

No times were right, just didn't specify sport.

At 16 the criteria for a boy are:

4:30 1500m running (+/- 20 sec)
2:22 200m fs swimming (+/- 10 sec)

Is there a cycling criterium?

tunney

tergat wrote: »

tunney,

He has ran just outside 4.30 for 1500m Steeplechase so is well inside it on the flat. So is the 2 mins 22 secs a strict criteria for the swim or would inside 2.30 do (you have +/- 10 sec)? I may get him to try 200m in the pool, time him and report back.

Also if a guy were to achieve the criteria above what kind of support would they get etc? Thanks in advance.

Tergat

Hi - yes 2:22 is the time but 2:32 is acceptable. But I would time him and see what the actual development squad and TI people say. They may be able to work with him and bring his swimming up.

As for levels of support and the rest, I can't really say as I've not kept up to date on the development squad but accessing to testing, labs, coaches, equipment. I don't know but it would definitely help someone who was thinking 2016.

tunney

Racing Flat wrote: »

Is there a cycling criterium?

No - generally the view is if they can meet the swim and run criteria then they have the engine to be brought up to the cycling level through hard work and time in the saddle. The running criteria takes of the engine size requirements and with coaching and dedication the biking comes.

Plus ITU racing is draft legal so the bike is not as important as the other two disciplines, hang with a group in the swim, sit in on the bike, spank the run. I'm less and less a fan of ITU style racing but thats the olympic format.

baldykav

Sounds like he has potential. At that age if has swam before then IMO he would be able to get to a decent level.

Maybe you've had this chat with him about Tri's already, I can't tell by your post, but I'd suggest that you don't get too carried away with criteria etc until you know that he actually wants to do a tri'!

Nothing is worse for athletic development than kids with potential being pushed into things they don't enjoy/don't want to do.