Athletes, coaches and organizers of the Estevan 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games triathlon competition got a first-hand look at what the event will encompass this past weekend.
The Saskatchewan Triathlon Association Corporation (STAC) held their second of five Summer Games qualifying meets in the Energy City on Saturday allowing the athletes an opportunity to earn a spot on one of the nine district teams while also enabling the Games organizers a chance to give the event a trial run. The age 12-15 athletes began the competition with a swim race at the RM of Estevan Aquatic Centre pool before hopping on their bikes for a seven-loop cycle from Souris Avenue to Smith Street to Arthur Avenue to King Street and back to Souris Avenue, which was followed by the triathlon-ending run to the finish line at 7th Street.
Kevin Reed, local triathlon representative for the Summer Games, said the event run on the weekend will be similar to the individual triathlon competition that all 72 qualifying athletes will compete in on July 25. As at the Games, both the age 12-13 athletes and the age 14-15 athletes biked 10K in the Estevan triathlon with the younger group completing 300 metres in the pool and three kilometres in the run as opposed to a 500m swim and 4K run for the older kids.
Reed said the third Games triathlon, which follows an introductory 37-athlete event at the Lloydminster 2008 Saskatchewan Summer Games and a sophomore 40-athlete competition in Meadow Lake in 2012, also features a team relay competition on July 26 and a mixed team relay race on July 27. He said all of the four male and four female athletes who make up a district team will compete in the individual event, but the district coaches will select who is going to compete in either the team or mixed competitions.
The eight-member district teams are dependent on how many kids try out and qualify for the Summer Games. If not enough kids for one district fail to try out for the team at a Saskatchewan Triathlon qualifying meet then another district is allowed to use that team’s roster spot to include an extra athlete from their district in the Games in order to keep the number of competing athletes at 72.
Reed said if an athlete who wishes to compete with Team South East failed to make it to the meet in Estevan this past weekend they can still qualify for the team through one of the remaining meets in Yorkton on June 12, North Battleford on June 19 or in Saskatoon at the Subaru Living Sky Triathlon on June 25. He said these future competitions can also serve as practice for the Games just as the Estevan meet did for many out-of-town athletes.
“There are a number of kids from Saskatoon and Regina (who came) down in preparation for the Games just as a practice run,” said Reed. “They’ll know what the course is.”
