My 9 y/o son did a Triathlon today. RD announced record numbers for the race. 400 kids showed up to race. Caused a bit of delay but it’s really exciting to see this happening. A lot of the poor kids appeared to have zero swim experience with a lot wearing no goggles. I wonder what percentage of kids will stay with the sport. Anybody have a study showing percentage of kids staying with the sport?
400 kids??
The best we see in Ohio is maybe 30
A lot of the poor kids appeared to have zero swim experience with a lot wearing no goggles. I wonder what percentage of kids will stay with the sport.
i had a terrible experience volunteering as a swim buddy for one of these races. had to swim with kids on my back because many were drowning and not enough life guards. probably more so parents are to blame for not enrolling them in proper training. luckily i reached out to my local RD and she made the kids take a pre race qualification session, but this may have been forgotten about since 3 months after that lovely 2 year disease shutdown happened
Very small percentage.
If the race had 400 kids age 6-15’ish (40 per age group)
That would suggest 40 kids would show up in sprints at 16.
Generally you see a handful at most in any age group from 16-2X.
I volunteered for many years at kids races and a few make it to still compete at college, but not many.
Look at USAT ranking in 2019 (2020 - o-well)
308 ranked kids in 16-17 (roughly 6 per state)
383 ranked kids in 18-19
I was surprised to find that many parents who had literally zero interest or background in SBR let alone triathlon, were happy to enroll their kid into a kids triathlon, especiall at the <8 year old ages. I think it worked out fine, but I had always though the ‘diehard’ triathlon parents were the ones seeking these out for their kids, but turns out none of my triathlon dad friends sent their kids to the race, yet plenty of no-athletic-background parents did. Interesting.
Triathlons for young kids are basically a farce, that’s why triathlon parents aren’t pushing their kids into them. Like mentioned earlier, none of these kids later show up in the 16-24 age groups. That’s triathlon’s big problem no one discusses. Lack of racers especially under 35 years old.
My guess is that most serious, long term adult triathletes were serious single sports athletes as kids.
It is probably not that important what sport they were serious about. (Although swimming and running have some applicability).
(Wheras semi- sedentary sports that encourage high body mass like football baseball, bowling, shooting - are less applicable).
Triathlon for kids usually seems to be about -“being active”, “being outdoors”, building self esteem- not about focus, discipline hard work.
“Triathlon for kids” is usually not serious and therefore probably doesn’t have a huge carry over.
Lot’s of kids do ballet, highschool football (usually not seriously), drama.
Very few grown ups do these activities as grown ups.
And those that do, were usually serious as kids.
I do think that knowing that triathlon exists is important for growth.
My team puts on two kids races a year here in Michigan. Not USAT certified, which is typical here for kids events. We offer 3 distances based on age groups (6 and under, 7-10, 11-15). We average about 100 kids per race.
I have seen a lot of one-timers, and I also have seen kids go through all 3 age groups and onto adult races.
Ultimately our goal is to have distances accessible enough that kids can do them, but challenging enough that they feel like they accomplished something. We want them to view tri as something they can do, not something for other people.
No idea what percentage continue, but I like at least planting the seed that they can enjoy the sport without being incredibly fast or doing iron-distance races.
My guess is that most serious, long term adult triathletes were serious single sports athletes as kids.
It is probably not that important what sport they were serious about. (Although swimming and running have some applicability).
(Wheras semi- sedentary sports that encourage high body mass like football baseball, bowling, shooting - are less applicable).
Triathlon for kids usually seems to be about -“being active”, “being outdoors”, building self esteem- not about focus, discipline hard work.
“Triathlon for kids” is usually not serious and therefore probably doesn’t have a huge carry over.
Lot’s of kids do ballet, highschool football (usually not seriously), drama.
Very few grown ups do these activities as grown ups.
And those that do, were usually serious as kids.
I do think that knowing that triathlon exists is important for growth.
The Boulder 70.3 used to run an IronKids triathlon- I think IronKids used to run at a bunch of the Ironman races. Mini Moonrocket did it when she was tiny and oh so cute running through knee deep water and stridering her way around the course. I don’t know why they stoped doing them but mini was pretty bummed. (Based on the fact she wears my shoes now this was probably 9 summers ago or so). She still has an IronKids medal hanging in her room. They even had Mike Reilly calling them in. Mini Moonrocket you are an IronKid!
I thought it was really well done.
There were older age groups that were more serious with actual swimming too and kids with coaches.
Triathlons for young kids are basically a farce, that’s why triathlon parents aren’t pushing their kids into them. Like mentioned earlier, none of these kids later show up in the 16-24 age groups. That’s triathlon’s big problem no one discusses. Lack of racers especially under 35 years old.
I’ve seen some serious helicopter triathlon parents that have their kids doing flying mounts and dismounts in the kids triathlons here in AZ, there’s more than handful of them.
A few years ago I went to the Black Fly Triathlon Weekend in NH. Keith Jordan’s baby. It was a ton of fun. Bike Time Trial. Two triathlons on successive days, family 5k and a kids triathlon.
The kids triathlon was my favorite part. Seeing all the bikes lined up with baskets and streamers. Oh man. If triathlon wants a big future, this is the kind of thing it needs to promote.