IAS Tri Squad Report from IAS Triathlon Coach, Brendan Sexton OLY
The past week has been a big one for the IAS Triathlon Squad with NSW All Schools, Wollongong Splash and Triathlon Australia National Youth Series.
First up was the NSW All Schools Triathlon, a major event and focus for the IAS Tri Squad. The NSW All Schools Triathlon was held at Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith Lakes over 28 Feb (Individual) and 1 March (Relay). It was the first time this season we were able to have the full squad at the same event – not an easy feat with the multitude of events and sport our guys are covering! With everyone there it was inevitable that some new personal achievements were garnered. For nine of the eighteen strong squad this was a debut start at the state-wide competition. Of those three were racing over a distance they had never competed over! IAS Squad Coach was immensely proud of the guys who may have faced some daunting fears and not only overcame them but punched out a solid performance to boot.
Also, amongst the cohort were some stand out performances in a competitive sense. The IAS has a new State All Schools Champion in Brooklyn Henry who triumphed in the Intermediate age. Two others were able to step onto the dais in Liam Hinchcliffe (2nd Intermediate) and Joel Offord (2nd Junior), with Jacinta Cliff repping the girls with a hard fought 4th place in the Female Senior race. These four athletes now have the opportunity to represent NSW at the National All Schools event in the Sunshine Coast, Queensland in May. A mention also goes to Grace Mahon, Taj Hopper and Mitchell Blackbourn named as Reserves on the team (Senior, Intermediate and Junior respectively). It was a tough day with the wind and heat playing a factor on the Penrith Regatta Centre Course. Many of the crew racing up an age group from previous years taking on older competitors without a word of complaint.
The racing in Penrith didn’t stop there! The following day saw the NSW All Schools Team Relay Events take place with many of the squad taking part in either a swim, cycle or run leg – many of who, along with their team took home championships and medals.
The weekend swung around and back to local ground for the Splash event at North Wollongong Beach on Saturday 2 March 2019. Athletes had an option of racing the Aquathon event, the open water swim or both. Some notable achievements include Kye Robinson winning the U18 category of the BIG aquathon, Liam Hinchcliffe taking out the Open Male category of the Mini Aqua as did Freya Robinson-Mills in the Females. Angus Waddell joined Liam on the podium in 3rd. In the open water swims there was a 2km event and an 800m. A few of the crew backed up – some for a 4th time in 3 days – taking on a competitive field of pure swimmers and doing the IAS proud.
The final series of events happened all the way down in Devonport, Tasmania where Brooklyn Henry flew to the Triathlon Australia National Youth Series Event, fresh off the back of his Thursday State title. Only just making the flight down after rushing from the Penrith race site, Brooklyn backed up his first stellar performance to finish 5th in the Youth A category. He then stepped back on the race course the following day racing in the NSW Mixed Relay team to help them to a 7th place result.
Off the back of this huge couple of days the squad will rest, settle back into home training squads and build towards to the Academy Games!
Highlight Results from NSW All Schools, including top 15 placings and medals from NSW All Schools and school category (Independent – CIS, Government – GOV, Catholic – CCC):
Junior Race
Joel Offord – 2nd Juniors Male (1st CIS)
Mitchell Blackbourn – 7th Juniors Male (3rd CCC)
Intermediate Race
Brooklyn Henry – 1st Intermediate Male (1st CIS)
Liam Hinchcliffe – 2nd Intermediate Male (1st GOV)
Taj Hooper – 8th Intermediate Male (3rd GOV)
Senior Race
Jacinta Cliff – 4th Seniors Female (1st CCC)
Grace Mahon – 8th Seniors Female (3rd GOV)
Blake McKenna – 14th Seniors Male (6th CCC)
Angus Waddell – 15th Seniors Male (4th GOV)
