Upper St. Clair training young athletes for triathlons
Chris Biswick advises swimmers during training for the youth triathlon to be held July 25 at the Community and Recreation Center, located at Boyce-Mayview Park in Upper St. Clair.
Maddy Navarra, 11, of Upper St. Clair practices her freestyle in preparation for the youth triathlons in which she will participate this summer.
Cari Lackner, group exercise coordinator at the Community and Recreation Center, helps direct swimmers during their triathlon training session.
Chris Biswick directs the swimmers into the pool for training for the youth triathlon to be held July 25 at the Community and Recreation Center, located at Boyce-Mayview Park in Upper St. Clair.
Editor’s Note: This is a first in a series highlighting area youth triathlons.
Summertime doesn’t necessarily mark lazy, hazy days. For young athletes, it marks their first foray into competition, particularly triathlons, and July marks the commencement of a series of events for youths.
The 15th annual Kids Triathlon Series, benefiting the affordable housing programs of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh, kicks off competition with events July 18 at the South Park wave pool. The second in the series follows Aug. 15 in North Park. Upper St. Clair hosts a triathlon for ages 7-12 on July 25 at the Community & Recreation Center, located in Boyce Mayview Park. The Autism Speaks Kids Triathlon will be held Aug. 2 at Settlers Cabin Wave Pool. St. Patrick Parish in Canonsburg follows with an event later that month.
To help the young athletes prepare for these competitions, which include swimming, bicycling and running, the USC Community & Recreation Center is offering training sessions. The first, specifically for swimming, was held June 25. Prep seminars will follow from 1-2 p.m. Thursdays until race day. This week’s training centers around the cycling portion of the triathlon. Bikes and helmets are required. The third week is running and the last week of training will include an opportunity to cover the course.
C&RC aquatics supervisor Chris Biswick and Faith Gregorchick, who interned at the center last summer, devised the training program. “Parents were asking us what, if anything, they could do to help prepare their kids for a triathlon and get a feel for such an event,” said Gregorchick, who is finishing up her graduate studies in exercise physiology at the University of Pittsburgh.
These training sessions, added Cari Lackner, dispel the mysteries surrounding a triathlon. “We are trying to give you an understanding what you need to know and do on that day,” explained the C&RC group exercise coordinator to a group of participants attending the first seminar. “So there will be no confusion. There will be nothing to be nervous about,” she added.
Nothing makes a young triathlete more nervous than the swimming portion of the race. “For most of the kids, especially those not associated with a team, swimming is the biggest challenge,” said Biswick. “Some have never swam before and some don’t have the endurance to do the distance.”
The upcoming competition at South Park requires participants ages 7-9 to swim one length of the wave pool. The distance doubles for the older division, ages 10-12. For the USC event, the younger set completes three laps or 75 yards in the indoor facility while ages 10-12 cover five lengths of the pool for 125 yards.
Maddy Navarra, 11, of Upper St. Clair had no trouble swimming that far. Because she competes for the USC Swim Club, she paced the pack doing laps in the water. She said the training was not hard. “It was good though,” she added. “Training helps kids get better.”
Though it is the shortest event, swimming can tax the triathlete during the ensuing events. Because swimming comes first, Biswick noted, it gets the athlete’s heart rate up quickly. So the goal is proper pacing, he said. “You don’t want to be working too hard at the start because you have to complete the other elements of the event,” Biswick said. “We want to make sure the athletes are trained well. If you don’t train them well, then it can affect their whole race. It affects the bike and it affects the run.”
Though the training sessions are only once a week, Biswick noted, they do promote good habits. “We want to get kids moving around. We want to get kids away from being couch potatoes. If we do that, then we have accomplished something.”
In his own lifetime, Biswick accomplished just that. Through his school years at Northgate and Clarion University, the South Fayette resident tipped the scales at nearly 300 pounds. He dropped over 100 pounds thanks to exercise as well as alterations to his diet. Biswick is now an ultramarathoner. In fact, he once completed the Laurel Highands 70-mile challenge in 20 hours.
“I had gone over to the dark side,” Biswick admitted. “I was overweight until I really got into running. So, I know you don’t have to be an athlete [to do something like a triathlon]. It’s important to take care of your health and for kids a triathlon is a good place to start because it combines three events they enjoy. All kids like to bike, but not all swimmers run and not all runners swim, but this combination and training will help promote healthier lifestyles.”
While competitive, triathlons also promote fun. To encourage competition, events such as the USC triathlon offer multi awards. There are division winners as well as age-group awards. “So a fourth-place finisher can be a winner, too,” Biswick said. “When you have a lot of awards, it makes it more fun.” Biswick also explained that when participants are started in “waves” there is less of a sense of competition against others. The focus then becomes challenging oneself. “The goal is to get kids to participate, have fun and finish.”
Because USC’s triathlon is basically in its infancy, five years, the event offers an intimacy not found in other major races. The USC triathlon has grown from 25 to 70 participants and Biswick expects this year’s numbers to swell to 100.
“We are a small triathlon. Some use it as training for other triathlons. But, it’s a relaxed event,” Biswick said. “It’s a good atmosphere to try and get your feet wet and compete. Our goal is to get all to participate and have fun and finish. It’s a good experience.”