Good luck to all our CPT athletes who are taking part in the London Youth Games at Crystal Palace on Saturday. Adam, Alex, Greta and Joseph will be representing Lewisham, Tim for Lambeth and Ben for Southwark. Hope it goes well.
Change to training session - Saturday 2 July
There is a change to the schedule for this Saturday. The swim at Brockwell Lido will be replaced by bike/run session in Dulwich Park. Please be ready for a 09:30 start, with your bike and trainers.
Club aquathlon - Friday 1 July at Trinity
The second Club Aquathon will take place at this Friday night's swim at Trinity. The Aquathlons are open to all adult and junior members.
The junior Aquathon will start at 19:30. The adults at 20:00. Please make sure you are ready on poolside by these times.
Distances for juniors will vary dependent on age.
Cost of entry is the usual swim fee (or included within quarterly or annual swim fee) for adults and juniors.
The third Club Aquathlon will be held on Friday 29 July.
By Matthew Brogan
We gave a lift to Sara, Alice and Luc. When we arrived at the lake, Sara and I looked at the water and I saw how clear it was, not at all like Haysden or the lake in Ham. As we were walking from the car park we saw Adam and Nats on their bike and run and we shouted out encouragement to them. When we got closer to the main area, we saw Ron and Joseph too. The first thing we did was register and get our timing chips. After that we went straight to transition, it was at this point I felt a bit nervous. After setting everything out we went straight around to the area where we had to join the queue to get our swimming hat. Now it was time to get my wetsuit on. I had some baby oil so it would make it easier. My Dad was a bit enthusiastic with the oil and squeezed loads up my arms and down my neck once I was in the suit. As I was waiting for the start of the swim I felt like I was frying! Myself, Luc and Joseph were all in the same wave. It was good to be all together.
Once the group in front had started swimming away we stepped down into the water. All I could hear in my mind was Sheila saying "slow and steady, slow and steady" over and over. Once I got in and started swimming I started to get my confidence and swam quicker. Luc was in front of me and got out of the lake first, followed by a girl and then me.
I managed to get my wetsuit off really easily (thanks to Dad and all the baby oil!). I was then off on my bike, back in transition and off on the run. I felt really strong today.
I really enjoyed my first ever open water tri and am looking forward to the next one!
I would like to say some thank yous. Firstly to Jon for arranging the lake swims. I felt it was really good to have a couple of lake swims under my belt before today. Secondly, I would like to thank Sheila and Kati for helping me at Haysden Lake (which was my first ever lake swim). It was really Sheila though who helped me the most, thank you Sheila, you were really patient with me at every lake swim we did and your help and advice ("slow and steady") gave me lots of encouragement and it certainly helped today. THANK YOU!!!
Thanks to James and Sheila for the photographs.
By Matthew Brogan
My Mum and I arrived early at Brockwell Lido and we went in and asked at Reception what the temperature of the water was - it was 17c!!!!!! I was very lucky that my friend, Ben Hull, had lent me his short wetsuit to use, but at that point I didn't like the idea of getting into water that cold!! My Mum encouraged me to give it a go and we looked at all the people swimming who had no wetsuit at all.
When I got in it was FREEZING but I soon got used to it. We started to swim and Jon gave us some drills to do and all the time we were moving it didn't seem so bad.
After about 15-20 minutes Jay and I got out and along with Harry we went for a run with Ron around the park. This was just what we needed to warm us up - oh and not forgetting the hot chocolate in the cafe ..............aahhhhhh.
Half year 'all-in' training fee
Just a reminder to those juniors who still pay session by session. The Club offers an 'all in' training fee which is excellent value if you're a regular attendee at the training sessions. It is still possible to take this up... for £50 you could come to as many junior sessions as you like between 1st July and 31st December - so if you come to at least one session a week this will be a bargain (and it makes it a lot easier for for those collecting money too!). This will also include the open water swim and Hillingdon sessions we have arranged (but not the training camps or entrance fees to facilities such as CPNSC and the Velodrome).
Just pay at one of the sessions this month or pay direct into the Club bank account (ref: Training fee). Full details can be seen on the Training fees page.
Colfe's Aquathlon - Saturday 3 September
The Colfe's 'Surf & Turf'Aquathlon will be held on Saturday 3 September. This is a new event, for children aged 8-14years. The entry fee is £6.50 (£5.50 for Triathlon England members) and everyone will also get a swimming hat to keep. There will be prizes for podium finishers. See attached PDF for more information.
Congratulations to Joe on beating all the adult CPT members at the Dulwich 5k on 22 June. Unfortunately the battery in my camera was flat so there's no photographic evidence of the effort put in to a muggy midweek race!
The 7th event in the CPT club champs series took place on Sunday 19 June, the Thames Turbo Aquathlon in Hampton. As always there was loads of encouragement for everyone and a lot of CPT noise! Well done to everyone, especially for completing those many, many laps around the field, it made me dizzy watching.
Which team had the most triathletes racing?
The Cavs had six juniors, scoring 60 but the Wiggos had nine juniors plus four bonus points, so they scored 94. It's getting closer!
Overall scores after seven events are....
Wiggos 594
Cavs 675
Three events left to go, can the Wiggos close the gap? See some of you at Dorney Open water race this weekend.
Tri 24/7 have launched GE's triVIEWER, an interactive, online race results visualization system which allows you to bring triathlon results to life by 'watching' your races, and comparing and tracking your performances versus your friends, rivals, celebrities, club mates - or indeed anyone else in the race.
The results from the Thames Turbo Aquathlon are now available on triVIEWER.
Open water swimming at Haysden Lake - 13 June
Report by Nik Pusey
I was a bit scared but more excited to do my first lake swim on Monday, at Haysden Lake in my brand new wetsuit. To the surprise of my mum I packed all my things the night before and felt really organised.
Driving to the lake was a nightmare as we got stuck in a traffic jam. We thought we would be too late and we would miss the swim. But when we finally arrived I was soooo pleased when Jon said to get into the water.
I put my feet into the water and it was freezing but mum said not to worry because I have got my super-duper wetsuit on which would keep me warm, and so it did.
The water was dark and green and it felt much more difficult than swimming in a usual pool where you can see the bottom. I felt a bit terrified but Jon made sure that I was safe and feeling fine. We swam quite far to an orange buoy where my goggles started leaking, which really got on my nerves. I kept telling myself not to panic and kept going. I didn't want to give up.
We really had a good swim and learnt how to do a turn and to swim behind each other. I felt so good after the swim as this was a really new thing to me and I was proud of myself.
Thank you Jon for the lovely swim and looking after us so well.....!!!!
If ordering from Evans, please use the link below to earn commission for the Club:.
Thames Turbo Junior Aquathlon - 19 June
The results from Sunday's Thames Turbo Junio Aquathlon are below.
Congratulations to Alex Yee for 1st place male TriStar 3 and Greta Sharp for 3rd place female Youth.
Thanks to Ron and James for their photos from the race.
Hopefully someone will write a race report soon?!
A massive turn out for the CPT club Aquathlon at Trinity on Friday, well done to everyone who raced, especially the first timers. Looking through Brian's photos, there's a mixture of joy and pain on your faces! Thank you to Suse, Jon and Phil for organising the race. Results are listed below.
So which team had the most juniors racing? Well it was even at 12 juniors per team, so both the Wonderful Wiggos and Courageous Cavs score a bumper 120 points each!
If you would like to write a short piece about any of the recent club champs for the website, please send to the webmaster who will happily publish here.
Team scores so far are...
Wiggos 500
Cavs 615
Next three Club Champ events are all London League races too... and may not be full, so if you fancy having a go get online and enter. Go to the Events page for more info.
19 June - Thames Turbo Aquathlon
26 June - Eton Open Water Triathlon
10 July - Trinity Triathlon
A very late result from Michael Eagling who ran his first parkrun on 23 April in 22:22. Michael runs for Croydon Harriers so that's why his result was missed.
Times from Friday's Club Championship Aquathlon at Trinity are now available. Congratulations to everyone who took part. There will be an update to the team scores soon.
Harry completed three laps of the adult run course as he and Elle had to share a pair of trainers!
View Brian's photos from the Aquathlon.
Our new TriStart members have been placed in teams for the Club Championships. Lottie will be racing for the Cavs and Oliver for the Wiggos.
Herne Hill Velodrome
Tuesday was a night of exhilarating racing between the Cavs and Wiggos at Herne Hill Velodrome, with tons of team and club spirit! Sam was directing the Cavs whilst Adam led the Wiggos. Everyone really put in an all-out effort with the Wiggos just pipping the Cavs 5 races to 4. Photos will be added here shortly.
The scores were....
Cavs 60
Wiggos 80 (20 bonus points)
Halfway through the Club Champs series the Cavs lead the Wiggos 495 to 380.
Young Volunteers for 2012 test event
British Triathlon are seeking nominations from Home Nation members in Great Britain for 16-18 year-olds (must be in at least school year 11 during 2011) if they wish to be considered as a Young Volunteer for the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championships London presented by TATA Steel, and potential future volunteer at London 2012.
More information
Application form
It’s a fantastic opportunity and a step towards being up close to the 2012 action!
The Club would like to offer juniors the opportunity to practice swimming in open water over the coming weeks, so if you have entered the main junior open water triathlon at Dorney Lake (Eton) on 26 June or would just like to try it out read on....
IMPORTANT - To swim in cold water you will need a wetsuit, any type will do. To swim in the lakes you must be a BTF member for insurance purposes and wear a brightly coloured hat (or two if you really feel the cold!)
Saturday 11 June
Get into your wetsuit and practice in the cold water of Brockwell Lido. Meet in reception at 08:45, entrance fee is £2.10, ready to start at 9:00. As well as getting used to the chilly water we'll be practicing sighting, swimming as a mass group etc...
Monday 13 June
Don't just get into your wetsuit but into the lake too! From 18:30 at Haysden Lake near Tonbridge, the lake is hired by Sevenoaks Tri Club therefore a swim fee of £5 is paid to them. Swimmers will be grouped depending on experience. Those new to open water swimming will have a 15-20 minute session in very small groups and those more experienced will do a larger group session. You must let Jon know if you are coming by Friday 10 June, Jon will then sort out the groups and timings and let you know.
Saturday 18 June
A further opportunity for a lake swim, this time in Ham, near Richmond starting at 7:00. The lake is hired by RGactive therefore fees payable to them are £5 for swimmers who are coached by Jon or the more experienced open water swimmers have been invited to join their coached session from 07:300-8:30am for £10. Again, you need to reply and let Jon know if you are coming by Friday 10 June, so groups and timings will be sorted out.
Welcome to new members Lottie Hull and Oliver Cahill who have recently joined the Club in the TriStart age-group. They both have older brothers who are already members. We hope to see them at training soon.
Apologies for not reporting this before!
Congratulations to Joe for coming 3rd in his age group and 22nd overall at the Speedy Beaver Triathlon on 29 May. Joe has also qualified to represent GB at the ETU Triathlon European Championships to be held in Eilat, Israel in April 2012.
Joe completed the 750m open water swim, 20k bike and 5k run in:
12:11 33:23 19:00 1:06:33
There are more photos and race report by Sally on the June news page.
Dulwich 5k - Wednesday 22 June
Instead of a fartlek session on Wednesday 22 June, the Club session will be replaced by the Dulwich 5k.You can enter online or by post, or if the race isn’t full, on the night (although that option costs more!).
Juniors have to be a minimum of 13 years old on race day.
Get your entries in and don’t forget to wear Club kit on the night!
Blenheim Youth Super Sprint Triathlon
Congratulations to James Allan on his 7th place finish at Blenheim on Saturday 4 June. The race comprised a 400m open water swim, 10k bike and 2.5k run. James' times were:
Swim: 05:06 Bike: 23:04 Run: 11:42 Total:43:44
Greta finished the swim in 05:54 but didn't finish the race.
Blenheim one year on... By James Allan
The Blenheim Triathlon is part of the British Youth Super Series and all the best youth athletes from across the UK take part. Blenheim 2010 was the first open water triathlon I had ever done, and so I was keen to go back again this year to see how I fared after a year of triathlon training. It was a long wait to see if I had a place at all - I submitted my race CV in January, but places were only confirmed three weeks ago.
My race wheels that had been due to be here at the end of April STILL hadn't arrived. Ruki kindly offered to lend me some wheels (thank you Ruki), but at the last minute the man from Ridley (the Belgium bike manufacturer) stepped in and gave me a set of wheels! I rushed down to the velodrome to give them a go and after a few minor adjustments I was all set.
Blenheim is a beautiful venue and with a fantastic weather forecast, we decided the whole family would go. As soon as we arrived we were bumping into familiar faces. John Petrides was looking after transition, Phil was also there as an official, and Greta was competing. There were lots of people from the London Region (Armani, Cheyene, Luke, Jack, Ellie, Beth) and from the South East Region (Kate Curran and James Kidd) and this made a big difference.
Originally, the plan was for the male and female Youths to go off together, but they decided to change it and set the girls off a minute later. Although this meant the swim was less crowded, I somehow managed to get boxed in, so my swim wasn't quite as fast as I had hoped but I was still 5th out of the water.
T1 was slow and I lost a bit of ground here ending up in the second pack for the bike. I worked my way back and came in to T2 in 7th place, but managed to hit my heel badly on the cobbles coming into transition putting me back coming out of T2. My heel was really painful, but I gradually managed to work my way back finishing in 7th place overall (last year I came 20th). I was pleased with my performance and taking part in an event on this scale really helps reinforce everything I have been learning in training over the winter months, so thank you to Jon and all the CPT coaches and volunteers for their help & advice.
Blenheim is a great event with around 5000 people taking part over the weekend. There are lots of stands and stalls, like the Speedo stand where you could try out the latest wetsuits and have a coaching session in the endless pool. See photos by Dad and Ben.
I can't wait to finish my GCSEs now, so I can get back into training for the next one!
Athlete of the Month - MayNatalie and Harry were awarded Athlete of the Month for May and proudly wear the Columbia Jerseys for the next month! Natalie has achieved an impressive number of podium places in the London Regional League races so far this year. Even when things have gone against Harry (after numerous accidents!) he has shown the courage and determination all good athletes need and is an example to others. Well done to them both.
Congratulations to Adam on a PB at the Crystal Palace first anniversary parkrun. After finishing the parkrun and drinking his free bottle of Lucozade Sport Lite he then went on to do the Club training session!
Children's Running Special
Running seems to come naturally to the younger generation - in fact, it's usually trickier getting them to stay still!
Discover all the mind and body benefits running could bring to your family, plus the Runner's World Essential Guide to Children's Running is packed with fun training games and handy advice.
2011 CPT Aquathons - Trinity - Friday 10 June, 1 July and 29 July
The Club Aquathons will take place at the Friday night Swim at Trinity this year. Open to adult and junior members (the junior club championship race (Cavs v Wiggos) is specifically Friday 10 June).
We will start the junior race first, followed by adullts.
The Junior aquathon will start at 19:30. The adults at 20:00. Please make sure you are ready at poolside by these times please. The distances will vary dependent on age.
Cost of entry is the usual swim fee (or included within quarterly or annual swim fee).
Ron's photos