TRIATHLON Limerick Talent Identification Day Report
On Saturday, 14 March, Limerick Arena played host to Irish performance triathlon, but this time in the form of Triathlon Ireland's first talent identification day. As they have found previously, the Arena was an excellent venue for performance sport.
The day started with registering the throng of children and parents who arrived from 9:30. Many had traveled great distances, and some clubs had arranged to bring groups of children together. Trilogy Triathlon Club went to the effort of bringing a bus of keen youngsters ready to try out to become the high performing triathletes of the future. The enthusiasm of the children was evident for all to see.
The official part of the day started with a talk from Head Coach, Chris Jones who explained what high performance triathlon at world level was. The parents and children were shown video of an ITU race, and an outline was given on what being a high performance triathlete involved. Characteristics of a high performance athlete, including physiological, mental and lifestyle were discussed. The content was advanced and detailed, but it set the tone for the day - we are looking for people who want to compete with the best of the rest of the world.
They then proceeded to the pool where the children of 16 years and under completed a 200m time trial. They were followed by the 17 and 18 year olds who swam a 400m time trial. There was a wide spread of ability, but the level of enthusiasm remained high.
As a reminder of the level of talent Triathlon Ireland were looking for, the talent model we are using gives the times below. A large proportion of the children made the swim criteria.
| Age | Male | Female | ||
| Swim (200m) | Run (1,500m) | Swim (200m) | Run (1,500m) | |
| 13-14 | 2:30 | 5:00 | 2:35 | 5:41 |
| 14-15 | 2:25 | 4:50 | 2:30 | 5:30 |
| 15-16 | 2:22 | 4:30 | 2:26 | 5:20 |
| Swim (400m) | Run (3,000m) | Swim (400m) | Run (3,000m) | |
| 17-18 | 4:50 | 9:25 | 5:05 | 11:10 |
| 19-20 | 4:40 | 9:07 | 4:50 | 10:46 |
| 21-23 | 4:35 | 8:50 | 4:46 | 10:26 |
Following lunch we went to the track for the run time trial. Children of 16 years and under ran 1,500m, with over 16 year olds running 3km. The children gave it there all, both in their own efforts and supporting the others. We were reminded what sport is all about by the sight of children running down the home straight, competing with their closest competitor, but shouting each other on too.
A number of the children were within the criteria that we were looking for, but they all achieved something and benefited from participating in the day. All coaching staff were impressed with the conduct, maturity, and effort of the participants. The day also confirms our theory that there is a great talent in the sport, they've just not developed it in the past.
Developing junior triathlon is going to be one of Triathlon Ireland's key focuses over the next four year cycle. Sufficient effort has not been put into the junior area of the sport in the past, hence the lack of junior members and races.