Kids Try Their Hearts Out

Illawarra Mercury

Monday April 21, 2008

By JODIE MINUS

ALMOST 500 children showed off their high energy levels and indifference to the cold as they swam, cycled and ran in a world record-breaking triathlon in Wollongong yesterday morning.

The event at Lang Park was the final in a round of Weet-Bix Kids TRY-athlons held across Australia and New Zealand in an attempt to become recognised as the largest children's triathlon series on the planet.

By 10am yesterday they had achieved that goal with the help of active children aged 7-15 from the Illawarra and surrounding regions, who were willing to dive into the ocean despite the temperature being in the mid-teens.

Mittagong's Megan O'Hea, 10, read about the TRY-athlon on the side of a breakfast cereal box and decided to enter because she thought it would be a good challenge.

"The hardest bit was the running because I was all puffed out from the swimming and the riding," she said.

"The water wasn't that cold. It was cold when we got in, but once we got moving it wasn't."

More that 12,000 children in Australia and 21,000 kids from New Zealand took part in the TRY-athlon series, which began in February.

The event was officially sanctioned by the sport's governing world body, the International Triathlon Union.

Megan said participants received a certificate and a medal for taking part. But the best aspect was that they didn't have to be highly-trained.

"There were a lot of kids that hadn't done it before and they were the same as me so that made me feel a lot better," she said.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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