"Faster on the swim, faster on the bike, faster on the run," Scott Fricks urged some 100 or so kids gathered around him Saturday morning. "Okay," he said, "form a football huddle, arms around each other.
"Now, altogether, let’s hear it: swim, bike, run!" With that, the kids shouted at the top of their lungs, while the first wave – the five- to seven-year-olds – made a dash for the water, parents running behind.
So began the Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise Kids Triathlon at Magens Bay Saturday, the first ever on St. Thomas.
Fricks, a Crucian, is president of the Virgin Islands Triathlon Federation and came to St. Thomas, along with vice president Roger Hatfield, to get things going. Speaking before the race, Fricks said, "The purpose of the federation is to identify and develop talented youth and to put them on the Olympic path. We just keep monitoring these kids and giving them opportunities to train and race."
Actually, the organization of the event was a thing to behold. Try getting 100 kids in three different groups quiet, for openers.
Some 60 volunteers came to the beach Friday evening for training, and were back at 6 a.m. Saturday, said organizers Shaun Pennington and fellow Rotarian Susan MacFarland-Helton, who were seemingly everywhere Saturday, like mother hens.
The volunteers learned well: The event went off without a hitch.
The transition from swim to bike is the really tricky bit. "Organized chaos," Fricks called it. You have the youngsters coming out of the water, running for their bikes, putting on their shoes and their helmets, then with help from the volunteers, setting off for the bike ride, returning to drop off the bikes, then taking off immediately for the run.
That’s the individual kids. Then there’s the relay groups of three, with the swimmers touching hands to send the biker on his or her way, and the runners waiting for the bikers to return and drop off the bikes and with a slap of a hand, send them on their way.
Whew!
Meantime, 15 "talking buoy" volunteers standing a few feet apart, lined up to delineate the deepest boundary, while Joey Hamilton, president of the St. Thomas Swimming Association, supervised the action. Proceeds from the event go to the not-for-profit STSA.
The youngsters charged around the race course, winding up finally on the new Magens road to be timed by race stalwarts Roy Watlington and Therese Hodge, while volunteers kept the numbers straight. The individual kids and the relay entrants all had numbers stenciled on their arms.
Parents, cameras at the ready, waited impatiently at the finish line along with volunteers, calling out excitedly to the happily exhausted finishers.
"Good job!"
"Great job!"
"You did it!"
The kids accepted a volunteer’s arm to lead them to water and a bright blue and gold ribbon.
"Everybody’s a winner," said race veteran Hatfield, while coordinating names and numbers. "These kids have something they will remember for the rest of their lives. It doesn’t matter where they finished; it’s the experience that will stick with them."
The event was the brainchild of Source publisher Pennington. "The Source got a release about the St. Croix Kids Triathlon, and I wondered, ‘why aren’t we doing that here?’" Pennington said. "I took the idea to my Sunrise Rotary Club, and Scott Fricks agreed to make a presentation. The response was unanimous."
That was a few short months ago. On Saturday, Pennington said, "I feel like this was the most amazing experience for the kids, the parents and the volunteers. For the kids, they all finished – that’s the most important thing. I know — I’ve run triathlons. The parents were great, right there with the kids, and we couldn’t have done anything without the volunteers, who just kept coming.
Pennington lauded the volunteers. "They all brought their expertise. Wally’s (Walter Bostwick’s) bikers were amazing. They adjusted seats, pumped tires, fixed chains."
Even My Brother’s Workshop got into the act, building the bike racks with materials purchased by Sunrise Rotarian Keven Quick.
One of the territory’s top athletes, Jude Woodcock, came from St. John to help. Before the race, she had the kids follow her as she ran from the beach, to a bike, and then a few strides down the track to give them the idea.
"Okay, you got that?" she asked, to a collective "Yes, ma’am!"
"I’m supposed to be on St. John for the annual Beach-to Beach swim tomorrow," she said, "but they asked me to help. It’s fun. I’m really enjoying it because I’m always in the race, and I don’t get to help behind the scene."
A beaming MacFarland-Helton agreed it had been wonderful. "Oh my goodness," she said. "We had hoped it would go well, we had no idea, but it was fantastic – the volunteers were just incredible, each group. The smiles on the faces, talking about how wonderful it was and what a good time they had. We were all a little nervous at first. It’s our first triathlon, you know."
In a plea for donations to the V.I. Triathlon Federation, Fricks said the 20 bikes brought over from St. Croix cost about $400 each, to say nothing of the helmets. "We need to double that amount to ship over here, and we need a trailer to keep the bikes in."
The prize for the school with the most entrants went to Montessori School and International Academy with 40, while Ulla Muller Elementary School followed with 26.
The race was sponsored by Diamonds International, Merchants Commercial Bank, V.I. Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine and the Source. The Fruit Bowl donated drinks and food, while juggler Steve Prosterman and Langford the Lizard from Channel 12 provided entertainment.
Pennington said Sea Trans and Marjorie Smith brought Triathlon Federation loaner bikes from St. Croix to St. Thomas and will take them back after Saturday’s event.
"That was key," Pennington said, as some of the children who really wanted to compete didn’t have their own bikes. "Marjorie never hesitated when I asked her if she could transport the bicycles."
"Anyone want to do this next year?" asked Pennington, to a resounding "Yes!"
The 5 to 7-year-olds competed in a 50 meter swim, 1/2mile bike and 1/4 mile run. For the 8 to 11-year-olds, the course was a 100 meter swim, one-mile bike ride and 1/2 mile run. The 12-15-year-olds completed a 200 meter swim, two-mile bike and one-mile run.
WINNERS:
Age 5-7, Individual
- 1st Place Taber Helton (7:25)
- 2nd Place Teagan Kappel (7:43)
- 3rd Place Christian Freyn (7:45)
Age 8-11, Individual
- 1st Place Jordan Knight (12:50)
- 2nd Place Latrell Sasso (13:06)
- 3rd Place Brittany Leonard (13:15)
Age 12-15, Individual
- 1st Place Adriel Sanes (20:14)
- 2nd Place Lukata Samuel (22:01)
- 3rd Place Joseph Charles (24:54)
Relay Teams
Age 5-7
- 1st Place, Blue Torpedos (Thomas Brunt, Paschal Bryan, Rohan Nagi) (7:32)
- 2nd Place, Miss Fits (Ellie Papataros, Abigail Wilson, Fairley Maltby) (10:56)
- 3rd Place, Super Dupers (Ronan Dodson, Naiya Lewis, Diana Hammond) (13:30)
Age 8-11
- 1st Place, Antilles (Shaw Clements, Karson Kendall, Sean Gurlea) (10:59)
- 2nd Place, Full Energy (Karen Gauriloff, Ammiel Maynard, Axel Bartsch) (12:14)
- 3rd Place, Wax On Wax Off (Sean Godfrey, Quinn Farrell, Thomas Gonzalez) (13:25)
Age 12-15
- 1st Place, The Assassins (Marina Parlatte, Hanna Clements, Sasha Klein) (22:01)
- 2nd Place, The Comets (Megan Godfrey, Christina Brett, Alison Bartsch) (23:01)
- 3rd Place, Ulla Muller (Shawn Doss, Troy Doss, Dajhani Petersen) (23:20)
