Training for Triathlon Begins

THIS morning locals hit the pool to start their training for Singleton triathlon on January 8.

Nicky Western, a seasoned triathlete said it is a great opportunity for local people to try a triathlon.

“We just want to encourage more people to do it and I’d like to encourage more people in Scone to have a go at it, it’s just a bit of fun,” said Ms Western.

“You can put in a team, one of the boys today said he wasn’t a very good swimmer and one of the other boys said they’d swim for him and he’ll just do the bike and the run, so you can put all of your kids in as a team,” she said.

Training has begun for the Singleton triathlon on January 8.

Nicky Western began competing in triathlons seven years ago and won her age group world championship in Beijing and then won the duathlon world championship in Adelaide in 2015.

Nicky is now the Hunter academy triathlon coach and said she enjoys seeing coaching at the next level.

“The reason I started was because I hated swimming, so it was a good challenge and now I just really enjoy that I am not just doing the same training all of the time, I like just being able to get out and get on my bike, go for a run, I don’t like going for a swim but I do it because you have to be able to swim,” she said.

“I’d encourage children to do a triathlon because it’s a good way to stay fit and it doesn’t matter if you’re not particularly good at one part of it, it’s a great way to meet people, it’s something you can do long term for yourself and if you go to new towns you can join the triathlon club meet people and they are all friendly, it seems to attract a good crowd,” she said.

“I am really enjoying the coaching and they do much shorter sharper racing for the kids, they have to go super fast, which brings in the whole transition thing so you can’t be getting on your bike slowly if you are going to keep up,” she said.

Nicky will coach some bike training tomorrow at 9:30am at the Bill Rose Sport Complex and again on Friday.

There will be another bike session on next Tuseday, a swim on Saturday and then the race on Sunday.

Age groups:

• 7 – 9 year olds – 100m swim, 2km bike and 1km run.
• 10 – 12 year olds
• 13 years and over – short course –
• 13 years and over – long course – 500m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run.

For more information call Nicky Western: 0414 806 074 or visit the Singleton Triathlon site: www.singletontriclub.com.au.