Triathlon Canada’s new look National Youth and Junior Series
Triathlon Canada has revamped the National Youth and Junior Series for 2014 in order to to attract young athletes to the sport of triathlon and provide more high level racing opportunities for junior triathletes.
The four-race National Youth and Junior Series will now offer the following categories: Youth Super Sprint, Junior Sprint and Super Sprint, and a Provincial Mixed Team Relay. The youth category will be for athletes ages 13-15, while junior division will be for athletes ages 16-19.
The super sprint will be a 250-500 meter swim, 6.5-13 kilometer bike, and 1.7-3.5 kilometer run. The sprint remains the same with a 750 meter swim, 20 kilometer bike, and a five kilometer run. The provincial mixed team relay will include 4 x (250-300 meter swim, 5-8 kilometer bike and a 1.2-2 kilometer run).
The 2014 National Youth and Junior Series schedule:
June 13-14 Pike Lake, Sask.
Youth Super Sprint Race
Junior Super Sprint Race
Provincial Mixed Team Relay
July 12-13 Quebec City
Youth Super Sprint Race
Junior Sprint Race
Provincial Mixed Team Relay
July 19-20 Magog, Que. (National Championships)
Youth Super Sprint Race
Junior Sprint Race
Provincial Mixed Team Relay
August 16-17 Kelowna, B.C.
Youth Super Sprint Race
Junior Sprint Race
Provincial Points Challenge
National Youth and Junior Champions will be crowned at the Magog, Quebec event. Athletes will also accumulate points at each of the races to determine national rankings and the overall series winners.
“The reshaping our development race series to the National Youth and Junior Series is an essential first critical step that will begin to take to increase the talent pool and develop the next generation of elite triathletes for Canada,” said Libby Burrell, high-performance director, Triathlon Canada. “Experience, exposure and opportunity are key to the development of athletes and we feel the new-look series will fill this void.”
“I believe we have the talent amongst our youth athletes to ensure Canada continues to have a world-leading generation of athletes leading into the 2020 and 2024 Games,” said Burrell. “We will keep working hard, being innovative and pushing the envelope to ensure our young athletes have the race opportunities they require to develop, and deserve.”
Triathlon Canada is the governing body for triathlon in the country. Recognized as an Olympic medal sport since 2000, Triathlon Canada’s mandate is to promote, foster, organize and develop the sport of triathlon, and its related disciplines, in Canada. For more information on Triathlon Canada and the National Youth and Junior Series, visit www.triathloncanada.com
