TRIATHLON

Dunedin's world-class facilities play host to young triathletes

By Triathlon NZ

A dozen promising young triathletes gather in Dunedin this weekend for another Tri NZ Regional Youth Academy Camp, aimed at further nurturing some of the brightest young prospects in the sport.

Wanaka based Coach Val Burke is heading the camp and spoke in glowing terms as to the benefits of the Regional Youth Academy Programme, with this being the third such opportunity in the Southern region.

“The south decided to do three Regional Youth Camps a year, Invercargill hosted one with the Southland Tri Club, in Wanaka we hosted one in January alongside the Sovereign Tri Series event and this is the third in Dunedin held with the support of the Dunedin Tri Club and Dunedin Swim Club.

“Having this programme has been awesome, the athletes, coaches and parents are seeing there is a pathway with Tri NZ and they are very motivated. Each camp has a different topic, in the middle of the summer it was about what they needed to get through the season, all racing related tools to have a good season.

“This camp is more of a debrief and gives them a lot of swim techniques at the flume at Otago University. That and more run and bike technique ideas, so over winter they know what they can work on and get better for next season.”

Burke mentions the flume and speaks highly of the access to world leading technology, something that will help the athletes and coaches tremendously with their work on technique.

“The technology we have access to in Dunedin is almost above the regional camp level – ideally we would use it with the National Talent and Elite Squads, but it is a gift to us and is just amazing.  We are going to get video feedback and will work closely with Dunedin Tri and Swim Clubs with coach Gennadiy taking the sessions. They will be very technical with strong use of video – a huge point of difference in a world-class facility.”

Burke says she has seen the benefits of the Regional Youth Academies from her base in the Central Otago region and loves that young athletes and coaches are being challenged in an inclusive manner.

“Tri NZ deserves credit for establishing the Regional Youth Academies, they are uniting the country and bringing together coaches and athletes. They have set up some swim and run challenges to give our young athletes the challenge to work on their skills. These challenges have already brought up the standard of our National Talent Squad and hopefully will be giving these athletes intermediate goals to work towards during the off-season rather than just being focussed on the summer season.

“It is my belief that athletes in the 15-18 age range will get the most out of the Regional Youth Academies, however there are always exceptions and so the age limits of nominated athletes are open to discussion.”

The Camp is being run with the assistance of the Dunedin Triathlon club & Dunedin Swim Club, led by Lindsay Dey & his team.  Thanks also go to St Hildas School for offering their school/fitness area for Sunday’s clinics, and to the University of Otago & Dunedin Swim club for offering the flume & swim coaching expertise.

The camp will feature a number of presenters, including Sports Scientist Rob Creasy and Alana Coomb, along with assistance from other coaches including Gennadiy Labara, (Dunedin Swim Club Coach).

Ahtletes will arrive into the Camp on Friday evening, working throughout the weekend (see attached schedule) until Sunday afternoon when they debrief and head back to their homes.

The 12 athletes at the Regional Youth Academy Camp in Dunedin this weekend are:
Name, age, hometown, coach

Gregor Findlay, 14, Wanaka, Val Burke
Phoebe Young, 14, Wanaka, Val Burke
Janus Stauffenberg, 15, Wanaka, Nicky Samuels and Val Burke
Julius Stauffenberg, 14, Wanaka, Nicky Samuels and Val Burke
Lorenz Kissling, 19, Wanaka/Dunedin (University), Val Burke
Anna Lindsay, 19, Dunedin, Lindsay Dey
Olivia Thornbury, 16, Invercargill, Southland Tri Club
Sam Thornbury, 14 Invercargill, Southland Tri Club
Josh Tayor, 15, Invercargill, Southland Tri Club
Finn Rogers, 14, Invercargill, Southland Tri Club
Matthew Prince, 14, Invercargill, Southland Tri Club
Flynn Sinclair, 14, Invercargill, Southland Tri Club